Recently I was interviewed by Diane Bogino of Georgia Business Network about getting more business, being more productive in business and where we’re going for the future. This quick interview contains a lot of information you can use in your business.

Some of the topics covered include:

1. How Skype’s Group Video Calling can help connect many people
2. A critical formula (SEM) that you can use every day to be more productive in business and achieve your personal goals
3. Some of the hot topics at the recent Consumer Electronics Show
4. Relationships in Business and why they matter to you
5. How technology should be viewed in light of changing business situations
6. More on how you can be more productive

This interview is one you can share with others for a weekly motivational boost. Enjoy!

Terry L. Brock, MBA, CSP, CPAE
Chief Skype Enterprise Blogger
Member, Professional Speakers Hall of Fame
www.TerryBrock.com, Terry@TerryBrock.com

Discover some of the technologies which help sales guru Wayne Berry from Melbourne, Australia. In this video, Terry talks with Wayne Berry about his Top Gun Business Academy where he helps salespeople from many countries to increase their effectiveness and profitability.

In this video Wayne reveals key technologies he is using to achieve results. Watch this video and take note of what Wayne is using which you might be able to blend into your our work.

Panama!

I’m here in Panama and had to share some video of the city and a great principle that was brought home to me again. My friend, Francisco Apolstolo is Presidente of Euro Perfiles here in Panama. He and I had lunch today at a great Italian restaurant, Napolitis (try the chicken lasganga!) and he shareda great idea with me that can apply to you in your sales and marketing. Watch the video and you’ll get it.

Also, catch the end of the video and you’ll see some of the beautiful sky view of Panama City — including Donald Trump’s new building going up here.

Lots of good waiting for you on this 6:46 video. Enjoy and let me and the world know your thoughts in the comments (below). I look forward to hearing from you and yes, I read every entry personally! I look forward to your entry.

So long from Panama!

Terry

Terry L. Brock, MBA, CSP, CPAE

www.TerryBrock.com, Terry@TerryBrock.com

facebook.com/SpeakerTerryBrock

Francisco Apolstolo, Presidente – Euro Perfiles

Business-Building Action From Terry Brock

Social Media is growing fast because it addresses needs people have in real life. Businesses can grow which meet the same requirement. By leveraging the communication and connection abilities of prospects and customers your business can grow — but you have to do it right.

Social Media has its own “Big Four.” If you have a successful presence here, you will do well. Without some kind of presence here you will miss out on opportunities.

Here are the key players in Social Media and some specifics you can use to squeeze the maximum from them for bottom-line business profit

Facebook

This is a network you need to not only be involved with but also know well. For business here are some important pointers:
1. Get a Fan Page. This will give you the ability to connect with an interested community who wants to know about you.
2. Keep it updated. No more “once a month” entries, please! You need to keep it fresh with relevant, compelling content in your area of growth. For instance, a dentist could use Facebook to talk about new research and important dental care ideas. A hardware store could provide helpful tips for remodeling.
3. Treat Facebook like a mini-website—because it is. You can — and should — place relevant pictures, stories, videos and audios here. Link to those that are good on your website.

Linkedin

Think of Linkedin as a prestigious country club where you finally were able to join.

1. Treat it respectfully. This is where you want to help people with serious business concerns. Finding an expert is helpful. Helping others with job searches (both candidates and employers).
2. Don’t spam. Don’t use it as a platform to hawk your stuff. Remember it is like the prestigious country club where you connect with others first on a personal basis. Business flows from that.
3. Keep up to date with what others are doing. A quick “Congratulations on the new position” kind of note is appropriate. Use Linkedin as a tool to stay in touch in a favorable way.

Twitter

This is the tool to send out short (140 character max – 120 character preferred) messages. You can use it in a variety of ways.

1. Monitor what is popular. Watch the trends to see what others are tweeting about. Don’t just blabber about your new products. Get to know what others like and need.
2. Search. This is a WOW! You can find trends by searching key phrases. You can use the “looking for a ___” to find people looking for someone with your expertise.
3. Get advice. A tweet that says, “Does anyone have experience with the Oogaboger 342Q unit?” can help you find out about what others think before you make a purchase.
4. Use HootSuite to monitor Twitter as well as Facebook and Linkedin postings. It is a great time-saver and resource finder.

YouTube

Not everyone thinks of YouTube as part of social media but it is strong. This is a way for you to communicate your message quickly, easily and inexpensively (not a bad combination!). Specifically, remember to:

1. Get your channel. This is where prospects can learn about what you do and follow it.
2. Watch what the competition is doing — literally. Do a search on your competition. Learn and grow from it. Remember, there are no secrets on the Internet.
3. Link prospects to secret postings. With YouTube you can restrict the number of people who can see a video. Make it a private showing and only a few people can see it. Very nice for promotion and connection!

There are a lot more tips you can use but these can get you started and even tweak some of what you’re doing. The Big Four of Social Media can help you generate serious business. Use them wisely.

Copyright (c) 2010, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock. Join Terry’s Facebook Fan Page at: http://www.facebook.com/SpeakerTerryBrock

Business-Building Action From Terry Brock

I’ve been writing these columns for quite a while. I remember 10 years ago this month the world was in a frenetic tizzy (technical term!) about the Y2K or Year 2000 problems. Many thought the world was going to (literally) come to an end. Many thought all computers would crash, stoplights would cease operating and pandemonium would reign over the planet.

I remember writing a column where I said, don’t worry. If we made it through disco in the 70s, we’ll make it through this. Well, we got through disco (and Nixon, Ford and Carter!) in the 70′s and survived. We also made it through the Y2K scare as many of the “chicken little” shamelessly stole away to hide under the reality of the Earth still here with hardly any noticeable change.

Of course, many said it was because they made the necessary adjustments that we survived. Well, I’m not an IT expert so I can’t speculate with any certainty about what would have happened. What I can say as a marketer is that many people needlessly worried about something that didn’t happen.

The past 10 years have seen tragedies and calamities that we could not have imagined in 1999. From the economic recession in the early 2000′s to today’s Great Recession we have gone through a lot. We still remember the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and are still paying the price for that.

So what is the message to you and me as small business owners today? What lessons can we learn that will help us as we face the 2nd decade of the 21st Century?

Here are a few lessons that come to mind for me. See if you can relate:

Don’t Be Alarmed. Be Prepared. The wise approach to Y2K was to take necessary precautions and reasonable steps to make sure you didn’t have a loss of all data. In addition to that the more-important advice was to remain calm. Those who were extreme alarmists had to hang their head in shame because things really didn’t get that bad. For the future, we are going to face uncertain times. Duh! We always have through history! However, by being prepared for whatever is going to happen — and remaining calm — you are in a much better position to face the future.

Focus On Customers. This is truer today than ever. Help customers and prospects with their pain and you’ll help yourself. Focus on how you can help others relieve their pain and you’ll have a great opportunity to address your own.

Become More Skeptical. Yes, I believe we should question authority and be skeptical of all the claims of disaster of the moment. By being skeptical, not cynical, we force our brains to search for better alternatives and answers. It is the American way to question authority and demand straight talking and straight thinking. In times like these we need that more than ever! One of my heroes, H.L. Mencken said it well when he reminded us, The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

Live Your Life To The Fullest. No matter what happens in the big picture, the successful are those who have the best skills, the right kind of knowledge and can apply it in ways that are valuable to others. Constantly upgrade your market-valuable skills. Learn how to serve others and you’ll live your life to the fullest.

Today we have a host of new problems. I guarantee you (yes, I can make this kind of claim) that there will be problems in the future. However, I can also point to history that certain people survived and prospered when they applied the right principles for living.

These principles of character, discipline, genuine care for others, keeping your word, going the extra mile and others will serve you not only for the next 10 years but for the rest of our lives.

Special: Be sure to listen to the accompanying audio file below! 5:33 in length it is a great way to get more information and listen on your MP3 player of choice. You can listen to it in streaming audio or download as MP3 to listen on your favorite player.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock

Business Building Actions From Terry Brock

If you’re facing a problem of way too much business (work with me here) then I’ve got just the solution for you!  I’ve noticed many businesses doing these steps below and it is a sure-fire way to get prospects annoyed and drive them away.

It must be something some companies want because they do it so often. Maybe you can relate from being on the receiving end of some of these tactics.

Five Ways You Can Annoy The Daylights Out Of Your Prospects:

1. Bother Prospects Incessantly With Notices Selling Your Stuff. Don’t worry about listening to the needs of potential buyers. Hey, you know it all after all, don’t you? Just approach someone when you see them initially and start talking all about you, your stuff and how you have what they need (even if you haven’t listened to them).  Besides, you know more about what they need than they do, right?
2. Blare Loud Music When They Visit Your Website. You should automatically play blaring loud music when people come to your website. They should think of nothing but your stuff.  Don’t they know that you have really cool audio and want to blare it at them? Why else would they come to your site? After all, they probably don’t have any other websites to visit.
3. Drive Them Crazy With Fancy Technology. You should automatically start a video when they arrive at your page with someone yelling at them about how cool your stuff is.  Don’t worry that they might be in a situation where they don’t want to hear sound from their computer just yet. Besides, your message is so much more important than anything they are doing, right?  Have someone appear to walk on the screen from thin air and start yakking away. Oh, and here’s another good thing— do it each time they visit so they get the same annoying message every time! That will surely drive them crazy!
4. Always Ask For Their Name And Email Just To See Something.  Don’t give away anything for free which could build your reputation and credibility. Instead, force them to put in a name and email just to get your silly little report (which is a sales report anyway, right?). Besides, your prospects are too dumb to put in a fake name and bogus email address, right?
5. Annoy Them In Person. Be annoying when you meet people in person by always forcing your card on them. And you should never ask them what they do. After all, they’re more interested in YOU than they are in their own stuff, right?

Yep! These are sure-fire ways to destroy a good customer experience before it even starts. You have more business than you can handle today anyway, right? And besides, YOU know more about what to do and can’t afford to listen to anyone, right?

Of course, if you might need more business, maybe you should do the exact opposite of what I listed above in these five steps!

PDF Converter Professional From Nuance: Great Tool For PDF Files

PDF (Portable Document Format) files are a mainstay of business today.  You could spend a lot for some programs to create one or you could go with one of the best alternatives. PDF Converter 6 is now available from Nuance.

This software allows you to scan directly to PDF from your scanner. This is something we’ve had before with other tools and it is nice to have it from Nuance.

You can also create a PDF from Excel, Word and PowerPoint files. Then you can change them back into those formats as needed.

I find that I use it to read PDF files and use the yellow highlighter and built-in pencil to circle important words and concepts. I also use the Notepad to add notes of my own.

This is a good tool for salespeople and others who need to reference a magazine article or web page with personal annotations.

You can see a video interview I had with Michael Angelo, the product manager of PDF Convertor 6, at http://tinyurl.com/ygq994b. This is one you’ll enjoy. It is right here on this Blog so click on the link and you’ll see it.

The product sells for $99.00 and there is an enterprise version which is available for $149.00.  For more information visit www.nuance.com or www.BetterPDF.com

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results.  He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.  Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock

Business-Building Actions From Terry Brock

“Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.” Baltasar Gracian

We live in a world that wants everything now — or yesterday. We have little patience and seem to be constantly in a hurry. Just look at rush hour traffic and listen to the horns blaring away.

[Bonus! Listen to the podcast for an expanded version of this article. Just click on the "Play" button below!]

Nature has a way of achieving greatness over time. The myth of the overnight success is told often with how it often takes 10 years to become that overnight success. This is something that successful people know — and the unsuccessful attribute to a mysterious thing they call luck.

This applies directly in Relationship Marketing. To build quality, value-for-value relationships in business requires consistent performance over time. You build trust in a relationship by seeing performance over time. A relationship which takes years to build can be damaged or destroyed with one terrible misstep.

The same principle is true in knowledge acquisition. To master a new skill requires time, money and effort (TME).  Most people give up too easily. They aren’t willing to pay the price to achieve their goals. If you ask average people if they want to be rich, you’ll usually get an enthusiastic, positive response.  However, if you detail what is needed to accomplish riches, average people back off and are not willing to pay the price.

Last night I was talking with a friend of mine who is physician working in emergency care rooms. He told me that to become a medical doctor who is board certified requires not only four years of undergraduate school and four years of medical school but internship and an additional four years of residency.  Oh, and by the way, when you’re in residency, you get paid barely minimum wage. Not many people would be willing to work for minimum wage for four years after going through medical school. Yet, this is part of the price emergency room physicians have to pay to achieve their goals.

In business and in your personal life success requires persistence and doing the right thing in the right way over time. Don’t try to do everything at once. It takes practice. It takes a lot of patience.

In Relationship Marketing this means being willing to be pleasantly persistent in what you want. Start in small, meaningful ways to establish and build value-for-value relationships and then proceed forward.  Remember that not all people will embrace value-for-value principles. Many people only see the short term and try to take all they can.  Ultimately these people hurt themselves.  Behaving in short-term mode causes more and more people to distance themselves from the takers.

Taking the long-term view pays off. This means we have to keep the goal in mind and constantly aim for it. Don’t be surprised when setbacks happen. Hey, that’s just the way things work. When those inevitable disappointments and setbacks happen, you can gain control of the situation with an attitude of, Oh, so this is a current setback? What can I learn from this?  See each setback as an excellent learning experience to become an even better person.

George Leonard wrote a marvelous book years ago called Mastery.  In that book he talked about the importance of continuing forward and enjoying the plateaus of life.  Sometimes you’ll try hard and just can’t seem to break through to accomplish what you want.  In those moments, don’t allow the frustrations to overwhelm you. Instead, step back and see the big picture. Know your goals and what you ultimately want to accomplish. Be willing to pay the price in terms of time, money and effort. Celebrate the small incremental successes as they materialize.

And here’s your challenge for today: Do something specific today which will help you towards those long-term goals in Relationship Marketing.  It might be to write a note (yes, handwritten!) to that important customer or prospect. It might be to make a quick How’s it Going call that is devoid of any sales talk and just connects with the person. Do something today to establish, build and maintain quality relationships. This is what matters in business and in life.

It is in the gradual, step-by-step methodology that we grow and accomplish meaningful success. Use time as your partner to continue forward — unstoppable in your goals and success.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc.  Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.  Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock

With all the hype about social networking and social media it is easy to lose track of what is most important. That is connecting with people.

Recently I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Anne Bachrach, The Accountability Coach. Click here to visit her website. In this interview we were able to cover a wide variety of topics about social media, the skills you need to get ahead today and what business and social media are all about.

Listen to the audio podcast and enjoy. This is not your average “Social Media” presentation. We go much further dealing with the practical, business nature of how to use it, how to determine the right amount of time and more. This is one you want to hear!  It goes in-depth on a number of items that will benefit you.  Length is 30:45 so you might want to download this one to your MP3 player of choice to listen to while working out, driving or in other ways.  You can listen to the audio via streaming or via download.  See the icon below to do that.

I look forward to hearing from you. If you’d like to leave a comment on this page, please do so in the comments. Your opinions can help many others as they learn about you and your ideas.

For more information, contact Terry at www.TerryBrock.com or send an email to Terry@TerryBrock.com.

Enjoy!

Advice For Today From Ben Franklin
Surviving Any Economy

Business-Building Ideas From Terry L. Brock

We’re hearing about the economy, job losses, etc.; on a daily basis. One day the stock market is up, the next day we hear the pundits tell us things are dismal. This roller-coaster ride of economic news can be quite depressing and make us distraught — if we let it.

You can’t take the ostrich approach. Funny, I don’t hear people spouting that trite “We’ve heard there is a recession but we’re not going to be part of it” any more today. I’ve never believed that taking the ostrich approach is the way to success. I also firmly believe that being depressed is not the answer.

So what is the solution?

Well, I gained some wisdom and insight from a great book I read again yesterday. You might have read it also. If you haven’t, write this down immediately to buy it today. It is called, “The Way to Wealth,” by that sage philosopher and wise man Benjamin Franklin. Yep! That Founding Father of the US had a lot of wisdom. His words are truer today than ever. I think ole Ben has some profoundly accurate advice in this “Twitter-Facebook-YouTube and all-things-social-media” obsessed world which can help us.

Ben Franklin created a character he called “Father Abraham” who listened to a crowd and then dispensed wisdom.

The crowd asked, “Pray, Father Abraham, what think you of the times? Won’t these heavy taxes quite ruin the country? How shall we be ever able to pay them? What would you advise us to do?”

“Father Abraham” agreed that the taxes were high. However, he said we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. “We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride and four times as much by our folly.” In other words, yes the taxes were then, and are today, onerous and should be abated. However, as bad as the taxes — and the economy — we inflict ourselves with even greater pain by our own idleness, pride and folly.

You’ve got to read (or re-read) this very short book by Ben Franklin. He goes on to have “Father Abraham” tell us that most of our problems are our own doing. We have to work hard and not engage in being idle. We have to avoid laziness and embrace leisure (read the book for his definition of the important difference).

When I read that, I was taken aback by the wisdom of this great Founding Father. It was as if he were speaking to me directly — and smiling with that charming, legendary Ben Franklin grin.

Yes, times are tough. Yes, we recognize — and are aware of  what is going on. We don’t take the ostrich approach. However, in the midst of that, we know that our success is largely up to us. Yes, taxes are high and should be lower. Yes, there are specific steps that should be taken in the broad macroeconomic and political picture.

But all of these are insignificant compared to what you and I can do today in our own businesses and our personal lives. Pick up the phone (remember that?) and call that client you haven’t chatted with for a while. Just say hello and don’t try to sell anything. Be there and reconnect with them. This is what Relationship Marketing is all about. Find out the problems they are going through and help them.

I’ve seen smart, well-meaning businesspeople become obsessed with the nightly cable news and politics. If that same amount of time, money and effort had been devoted to reading good books (like Ben Franklin!!) perhaps they would have generated more income regardless of the crisis of the moment.

Take charge of your life and your business during tough times. Don’t be obsessed with the news of the moment. Don’t shut it all out either. Focus on what matters — building quality, profitable business relationships. Focus on Relationship Marketing.

Find the pain your prospects and clients are going through and come up with unique, creative ways to help them. This will be the way to get out of any problem. To paraphrase Jim Ziegler, a noted sales trainer in the auto industry whom I recently interviewed, “There is no problem in business you can’t sell your way out of.” Focus on doing what you can, with what you’ve got, right where you are (as Teddy Roosevelt advised us long ago).

This is a best way to take matters into your own hands.

And for starters, bounce over to your favorite online bookstore and purchase The Way of Wealth by Benjamin Franklin. It is a very short read and one that can change your life as it has millions of others through the years.

Sure, times are more challenging. But that will actually help us become better if we handle it right.

Somehow I can see Ben Franklin, beaming with a big toothy grin and giving us a “thumbs-up” signal!

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: @ TerryBrock

Business-Building Ideas From Terry L. Brock

Building quality, profitable relationships in business is much like farming. I call it Relationship Farming. Like the farmer who keeps us all alive (thank you, real world farmers!) you have to study the soil (know what is happening in the world and environment of your customers), plant the seeds (send your message in a positive, respectful way), nurture the plants and they grow (provide continued benefits), allow for ample moisture and fertilizer (keep providing what the customer needs), and be around for harvest (have systems in place to process sales). Then when all the work is finished it is time to begin for next year! In business this means, as the legendary Yogi Berra told us long ago, “It ain’t over till it’s over!”  In business, it is never over and that is good news.

But how do you keep those wonderful, delightful people who pay our bills (call them customers, clients, members, guests —- whatever —- they are the people who pay our bills!) happy?

Keep creating experiences that make customers say “WOW!”, when they deal with you.

Winston Marsh is a marketing guru from Australia who has shown us for years how to “Make ‘em say WOW!”, in his marketing. He says we have to focus on how to create experiences so that customers are dazzled with what happens to them.

This might seem like a lot of work. Fortunately it is and it isn’t. By that I mean that it does require serious thinking and planning. See the customers’ experiences from their point of view. What do they have to deal with in your business? In the market you serve, what are the major problems people encounter? Why are they buying from you? What problems are they seeking to solve?

Once you’ve nailed that very important first part, you want to sit down with your people and lay out your plans. Even if “your people” is “me, myself and I” you need serious planning. Where can you make experiences pleasant and easy for customers? What can you do to ease their pain?

Recently I had the chance to experience positive customer service at a conference I attended. It is called FreedomFest and is put on by Dr. Mark Skousen. He is a professor of Economics at Columbia University. You wouldn’t think of “good customer service” normally when you think of a university professor.  Yet, Dr. Skousen and his excellent team of people make this event a very positive experience for his market every July in Las Vegas.

The speakers addressed a wide variety of topics (something important to those attending), they were some of the tops in their respective fields anywhere in the world (knowledge and credibility are vital for those attending FreedomFest), and the price was right (always important). There were ample breaks and time to network with others. The exhibit hall provided many vendors who could help customers. This, by the way, helped both vendors and paying attendees.

Then for the finale, there was a wonderful banquet with really good food (often unusual in hotel settings), a great, fun, live band and a chance to cement relationships that were established during the event. It really was a WOW! experience for those in attendance. I heard that from many attendees.

So, what can you do in your business to create that WOW! experience? Here are a few ideas to get you started, and to use as a check-up on what you’re doing now:

1. See the world through your customers’ eyes. What is causing them pain? Where are they hurting? What can you do to help relieve the pain? Don’t just assume you know, talk with them and listen. Find out from them what is going on and what they want solved.
2. Do the hard work of thinking. Yes, it is hard work as you struggle with options. Mark Skousen spent many hours, days and weeks with his team formulating just the right concepts to make FreedomFest outstanding for those attending — a typically difficult market to please.
3. Provide important “extras.”  Find key areas that add that wonderful new dimension that brings a smile.  Not so much huge, expensive additions but little, important-to-the-customer touches that keep bringing them back.
4. Automate as much as possible. Make the systems around your business fine-tuned and bullet-proof.  Yes, use technology but think in terms of systems and developing better systems all the time.
5. Constantly review and revisit what you’re doing on how to tweak and make it even better.

Be so focused on their problems that they would complain if you weren’t around to help them!  Make it your goal to become indispensable in the minds of your customers. That is what Relationship Farming requires and that is the benefit for your long-term business.

Bonus Tip: Create multiple WOWS.  Most any business can do at least one WOW.  Find multiple ways to create those WOW moments for customers (at least three) and you’ll find you have won customers over for a long time. This is what Relationship Farming is all about.

Relationship Farming. Yes, it takes work. But the benefits are outstanding for your customers — and for you.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc.  Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.  Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: @ TerryBrock.

Business-Building Thoughts And Musings From Terry Brock

Yesterday I was presenting to a group in Memphis, Tennessee. I love that city with its Southern charm and all the benefits it offers. The best part of Memphis is the wonderful people who always impress me as genuine and down-to-earth.

As I was getting ready to present, I spoke to a Vice President of Customer Relationships at a local bank. I asked her how her bank was doing in the midst of the economy. Like many small banks, hers was doing well although they are feeling the challenges of the economy today.

What caught my attention more than anything was her comment about how she, working with customers with bank loans, reacted to those who were behind in their payments. She indicated that many of her bank customers would stay in touch with her and explain their situation even when times were tough. She told me that when a bank customer calls and explains what is happening and how they are working to make the payments and keep their commitments to the bank (that’s what a loan is all about — commitment), she wanted to help them.

She told me she also had a few customers who were behind in their payments who were trying to hide from her. She would make repeated calls and they would never return her calls. Imagine that! People trying to avoid a collections call!

It was interesting to hear her say — and I saw the fire in her eyes on this one — I don’t care if we have to foreclose on their property. If they won’t even return a call and talk to me, I don’t have any reason to help them.

WOW!

Relationship Marketing is about a lot more than just reaching and helping customers. It relates to your entire supply team (as Steve Epner would say). It is imperative to maintain good relationships not only with customers but also with suppliers, partners and other stakeholders in your business. This is particularly true in tough economic times.

Relationship Marketing is not just a smile and a shoeshine (to borrow from Willie Loman in The Death of a Salesman). Relationship Marketing is about finding the needs of others and listening to them. Yes, it is also about returning calls and being decent. You’ve got to think of the other person and where he or she is coming from.

This banker I spoke with demonstrated that she cared for her customers. She wanted to help them and she does. However, when someone refuses to exhibit even the basics of human decency — i.e. returning a phone call — it is only human to feel slighted and approach them at a different level.

Maintaining relationships during difficult times is most important. Hey, it’s most important all the time and during difficult times it makes the difference between keeping your house and moving to the curb!

Relationship Marketing requires drawing closer to all those in our supply team and finding their areas of need. By helping them succeed we amazingly help ourselves to get ahead. Find creative, interesting ways to stay in touch with important people in your supply team. Yes, stay in touch with customers but also stay close to others who can make or break your business.

During tough times, make it a point to listen to others. Hear what they have to say and how they feel. This can pay off in any economy.

Today, having the right attitude and care for all in your supply team can even help you keep you house!

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

Business-Building Thoughts From Terry L. Brock

Recently I had a talk with a wonderful lady who has been a successful marketer for many years. She was lamenting all the commotion with Twitter, Facebook, Email, LinkedIn and social networking today. She commented that she likes to connect by talking with people on the phone — real communication is what she called it.

I understand where she’s coming from and have to agree — partly. Technology can never take the place of true human-to-human communication. I love sitting with friends over a meal, over drinks and sharing about life, business, fun, ideas, concepts and more. Visiting is what it is called in the South. Hanging with your buds is another way to refer to it.

Relationship Marketing (I like to capitalize those important words!) is the most important activity we can do in business. Connecting with other people is vital. One way to do it is with live, face-to-face meetings. That was the primary way people connected centuries ago. Somewhere around the end of the 1800′s they came up with a new-fangled communication tool called the telephone. I’m sure there were people who said, well, if I want to talk with someone I’ll walk or take my horse over to see them. I want a real connection. They didn’t trust the new-to-them technology of a telephone.

I saw the same thing with email as it emerged a few years ago. Today we have so much of it that we crave short messages. I somehow think Twitter’s 140-character limit is an answer to that.

So, when we see Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking services emerge, does it mean the demise of real human connections?

Not on your life!

Relationship Marketing is about being close to prospects, customers and important stakeholders in business. It is about providing value to the other person. If your Twitter message is nothing more than I’m getting groceries now, — shame be upon you! You deserve to be ignored. Instead, pass along information that can be helpful to at least some of your followers. That’s where Twitter really shines.

All of these social networking services are about connecting with people. My friend who lamented these services and wanted to only connect through telephone is limiting the amount of contact, and hence the amount of business she can generate. I view communication as a wide range of options. A quick YouTube video which your perspective clients view connects at a basic level. A one-to-one luncheon with someone is a much deeper level of connection. However, you can’t have a 3-hour lunch with everyone, everyday otherwise you’d never get any work done!

And you can’t Tweet all day (that’s the term for those who send messages on Twitter) and expect to get work done. Yes, you can generate business but even self-appointed Twitter gurus I’ve heard speak have to stop sending their Tweets to speak about it!

By the way, I recently discovered a new tool called TweetCall (www.tweetcall.com) that allows you to leave a Tweet via your phone. Once you’ve registered (for free) you dial a toll-free number and leave a message up to 140 character (about 20 words). This can be great to leave quick messages even faster. I’ve used it for about a week and have been very impressed. Try it!  To see a video of this check out the video below:

So, what’s the key for a dedicated, serious-minded Relationship Marketer to do? Well, I am not a Twitter guru (I’ll leave that ominous title to others) but I do know a thing or two about Relationship Marketing. Use these tools in moderation to help others. Don’t just toot your own horn but find ways to provide value for them.

Examples would be a quick message with a link to a great video that is of interest to your recipients. Send out a notice with a helpful idea. Then be sure to Re-Tweet a message to others. This is the Twitter way of forwarding a message to others and patting someone on the back (digitally, of course!).

It always goes back to helping others and caring for them in a genuine way. I was just on the phone with a long-time friend and trusted colleague who told me about a particular person. She told me how this person simply tried to sell her his services and didn’t really care about helping her. I found similar reactions as this same guy tried to sell me his stuff. I don’t care if he is on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or comes over and knocks on my door — my opinion of him is diminished because of his actions towards me and my friend.

Bottom line? Commit to being a Relationship Marketer with genuine care to solve the other person’s problems. Next, learn the nuts, bolts and wiggle pins of new technologies that make sense for you. Don’t get frazzled. No, these Social Media tools are not the demise of real human connections.

Used properly, they can help us strengthen and grow genuine, real relationships for profit and mutual benefit in business.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

Business-Building Thoughts From Terry L. Brock

[Note: Here's the article I just wrote for my papers around the country. It is for the serious business person who wants to know why they would use Twitter for business. If you're just getting into Twitter --- or wondering about its applications in business --- this is for you! Enjoy!]

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have heard about Twitter. It is huge. It is not a fad. It is here to stay and will be a big part of business. It already is and is growing more.

In my speeches I give and the coaching I do I find two types of reactions to Twitter. One group embraces it and is growing their network and their business. Another has a standard, pat answer they give for why they don’t use it. If you’re in the later category — get with the program! The same types of arguments were used a decade ago when people told me why they were not on the Internet.

If you’re not on Twitter, get there. This is for you bottom-line-oriented, business-focused readers. This is not something you want to miss. Dispense with your standard pat answers about why you aren’t there. Instead, wade into it with a focus on how to generate results.

Here are just a few of the ways serious business-minded people are using Twitter now:
Linking with prospects
Linking with existing customers
Finding resources
Finding the right subcontractors for a specific job
Getting information on suppliers and their reputation with your trusted peers
Announcing upcoming events
Finding out about upcoming events
Staying current with trends
Linking to great websites for information
And thousands more uses!

Recently I was meeting with a friend and colleague who is not on Twitter (yet). She is already very successful in her business as an image consultant. She told me she’s not on Twitter because, No one cares that I’m at Starbucks right now with Terry Brock. Well, I had to agree with her but told her that someone might be interested in a great image consultant to help for an upcoming job interview tomorrow. If her profile contained valuable information about that, she could get business.

Yes, there are a lot of people using Twitter for non-business purposes and that’s fine. There are a lot of Blogs, Podcasts, Websites, Videos, Audios and more that aren’t relevant to you. However, that doesn’t mean all of them are irrelevant. Your job is to find the relevant, profit-producing sources for you and your business and embrace those. Don’t worry about those that aren’t helpful to you.

I also told my friend that she might have need of a good business resource. This can be a quick, Hey, does anyone know about a good plumber who can. This could be just what you need in a bind! Your network can help you. And this is the flip side of networking. As you want people to hire you, when you have a need and contact a range of trusted people, you can find the resources you need quickly.

As you enter Twitter, don’t go in blabbering about your business and trying to sell your stuff. Think of Twitter as a social networking party — which is what it is online. You wouldn’t think highly of a person you meet at a social networking cocktail party who only wanted to sell you his stuff, hand you his card and blabbered on and on about his ideas. Instead, think of how you can appeal to the other person and find out what is important to him or her. Get to know them. Build a business relationship. This is where Twitter sparkles!

You build relationships on Twitter much like you do in the offline world. Be pleasant. Focus on helping others and have a quality introduction to help people know what you do in business and what you offer.

Start with a strong profile that concisely states how people benefit from working with you. Don’t tell me you’re an accountant who has been in business for 25 years and you have 15 partners, etc. I don’t care. However, tell me how you can help me eliminate the hassle of tax filing so I can do it on time, in full compliance and with minimal aggravation. Oh, and then, mention how you have your accounting degree and have the credentials to back it up. Then show me your website link for more information.

In addition to that, offer tweets — that’s Twitter speak for the short 140 character max messages you send — which provide value. One of the best strategies is to offer a terse benefit statement followed by a link to a website. Use a tool like Tiny URL (www.tinyurl.com) or Snip (www.snipurl.com) to shorten a long URL to something more manageable or descriptive.

Bounce over to www.Twitter.com/TerryBrock and see what I’m doing. I would love to have you follow me. I follow a lot of people now and the list is growing. We create a better network and support system by helping each other.

In the age of digital marketing, important trends come fast. Those who embrace those trends and think of how to use them in business do well. Let me know how Twitter is helping you in business. I look forward to sharing your experiences with other serious, business professionals.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

Business-Building Ideas From Terry L. Brock

Relationship Marketing is much like keeping a water bucket filled. The bucket has holes in it and it is your job to keep the water at the full mark. That requires three kinds of activities: 1) Putting water in the bucket. 2) Keeping the holes patched, and 3) Preventing new holes from appearing. As a Relationship Farmer, it is your job to tend to these never-ending tasks.

You want to keep your business relationships fresh and current. Stay in touch with important people. This also means that you have to prioritize among those who are important and others who deter you from your goals. Those who are a drain on your time, money and effort (TME) should be avoided. Those who don’t embrace a value-for-value interchange should be avoided. Spend your TME on establishing, building and maintaining profitable, mutually beneficial relationships.

One way you can do this is with the right tools around you. One I recently tested is the new Fujitsu S1500 scanner. WOW! Installation was fast. At my office, we installed it on two older Windows machines and it works very well. Total time for installation was just a few minutes and the scanner was chomping away at massive amounts of paper in a few minutes.

In one test we ran, I grabbed an older copy of the Harvard Business Review which had 106 pages in that issue. I had my assistant, Natalya, cut out the pages with an exacto knife so that each page was separate. Then she took the pages about 50 at a time and in 60 seconds (yes, we timed it) the first 50 were scanned — both sides and in color. The second batch (we did the remaining pages, even though the Fujitsu manual says it only allows 50 each time) and it worked fairly well. We had a little jam on the second batch only because we didn’t put the pages in just right. However, once it was corrected, everything went well. Further tests showed that once we lined up the pages evenly the scans were rapid and accurate.

This is a WOW! customer experience. When you find a product that helps you accomplish critical tasks quickly, easily and at low cost, it is a winner. The Fujitsu S1500 scanner is such a winner.

Now don’t tell the people at Fujitsu I said this, but their new scanner really isn’t a scanner. Oh yes, it processes paper of all kinds from business cards to hand-written notes to magazine articles with aplomb. But it really isn’t a scanner. It is a Relationship Marketing builder. You can use this tool when you read a great article, see a picture or some other item that can help one of your clients or important contacts. You can quickly scan it and then attach it as a PDF to an email for someone else.

Also, you can use this to scan copies of hand-written notes taken during important telephone conversations. That way you can quickly see a collection of all past conversations with important people on important topics. Just keep those PDF documents related to, say, client Jane Jones, in one folder. Review that folder’s documents quickly before a call or meeting with Jane Jones and you’ll be far ahead of the competition.

This is another way to keep your relationship bucket filled. You’re plugging holes and you’re adding more water to the bucket. Think of the water as the feelings and disposition prospects and clients have towards you. Think of the bucket as the overall relationship you have with them. You facilitate Relationship Marketing by leveraging technology. Stay front of mind with that important client or prospect in a favorable way and you have a much better chance to do more and better business.

Here’s another suggestion which can help you keep your Relationship Marketing bucket filled. Plan to send about 5 post card messages a day to important contacts. I have some postcards that I had printed with my picture and a brief mention of what I do as a professional speaker and marketing coach. Usually the cards have messages just saying hello and meant to stay in touch with important people in my life. No, this doesn’t make the sale come through. However, it keeps the relationship active in the mind of the client or prospect. It helps to patch holes and fill the Relationship Marketing bucket with the life-giving water of business growth. Since few people do it today, it helps me stand out in a favorable way. See more examples of Relationship Marketing in video and audio, on my blog at www.TerryBrock.com. You’ll find a lot of information that can help you and your people to build solid, profitable business relationships

By the way, in an era of way too much email, Twitter messages, Facebook postings, LinkedIn and other digital messages, a nice, analog, hand-written note on a letter or postcard can stand out in a very favorable way. A personal phone call or better yet, personal visit packs a powerful punch to enhance relationships.

Keep your Relationship Marketing bucket filled. Use key principles and practical technologies to favorably impress important people. This will not only keep the water in your business but it will taste very sweet on a hot day when you’re thirsty.

(Fujitsu S1500 Scanner, US$495.00, http://tinyurl.com/chpgr9
for Windows and Mac)

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

Business-Building Thoughts From Terry L. Brock

Here’s a marketing idea that can help you. Presenting in public is often discussed as an excellent way to market your services. If you have a professional service, you can leverage the power of speaking a lot. I know how this can be done as I’ve been a professional speaker since 1983.

The sweetest sound in the English language is the sound of one’s own name. This truism has been known since the days of Shakespeare. When you can focus on another person you get their attention like nothing else. This is a core foundational principle of Relationship Marketing.

When you are speaking to a group, the more customized you can make your message to them, the better you’ll connect and the more successful you will be. Great speakers throughout history have known the importance of focusing on the needs of the audience. Today you have a tool available that can electrify your presentation and bring it to life for any audience.

I’m talking about the power of video. You know the power of television over newspapers. You know the power of YouTube and how it has transformed the way we use the Internet. Now you can use video in your presentations to do more with your message. You can show a (short, please) clip that illustrates a principle. It can demonstrate what your firm can do. You can use testimonials of satisfied clients who have already worked with you.

Video will not replace you as a speaker. Think of it like the seasoning of a meal. It adds to the message. But that seasoning can bring you raving response from your audience —- just what you want as a speaker and a marketer.

Here’s what I often do in my programs where I speak to business leaders around the world. I talk with key members of the audience before my program. I interview them on pertinent topics that will be relevant to the audience during my talk. I record portions of this interview and select a few key sound bytes which can inspire and educate the audience during my presentation.

It is one thing for me to say something from the platform. But when the audience watches a video of one of their own respected and trusted members say something, it is far more impressive. I make heroes of the people I interview and the audience benefits from it. When they hear the company’s top sales performer describe what she did to achieve a goal, it means a lot more than me blathering on about some platitude.

Don’t get me wrong. I still talk about the principles that work and how using what I call R-Commerce — Relationship Commerce beats out any E-Commerce (the Electronics). By adding the video of participants and people the audience knows and trusts, it raises the power of the presentation to a new level.

You will have an unfair advantage over other speakers at an event when you are the one that brings in key points backed up by real-world examples they can relate to on the spot.

Plus with video shot hours before your speak, your message has a sense of urgency and CNN-timing that shows relevancy. You bring the power of information to a relevant, right-now, real-world purpose for that audience, that day.

To do this is easier today than ever before. I use a small camcorder and an attached microphone (very important) for clear, professional sound and image. Then I do some edits in my hotel room to make it look professional. There are a number of good video editing programs which are easy to use and inexpensive. Windows Movie Maker comes with Windows machines and iMovie comes with Mac computers. Other programs are available which also do a very good job in editing. Many of these are easy to learn and use. You can then make a movie that is attached to your PowerPoint or Keynote presentation.

When you are delivering your speech, you can say something highly relevant to the audience like, you know, here in the widget industry at ABC Company, we know the importance of connecting with the customer. As a matter of fact, I spoke last night with Mary Smith, who we know is the top sales producer. Would you like to know how she does it? Well, listen to what she told me when she revealed the secret she uses to be #1 salesperson in the company.  Then you, as the presenter, press one button and up comes the video of Mary the audience how she did it.

Mary is the star and you look fabulous as you bring real-world, usable ideas to your audience. This is a practical example of Relationship Marketing leveraged by technology.

Successful speaking is all about connecting with other people. Just like marketing connects people, you are connecting people in your audience with ideas they can use which will make their lives and businesses better. Video is a great tool to use which gives you a competitive advantage. For more information on how video and other tools can help you, drop me an email at Terry@TerryBrock.com and I’ll send a free special report on using video and other technologies to get raving reviews from your audience.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

Business-Building Thoughts From Terry L. Brock

Relationship Marketing is a time-honored way to build your business. When people feel they know you, they like you and they can trust you, they are more likely to want to do business with you.

Recently I was talking to a President of a professional organization and he was confidentially sharing with me how he had trouble getting people involved in the organization. When times were good and business was roaring, his members said they couldn’t get involved because they were too busy taking care of business. Now, with the slow-down, these same members are lamenting that they don’t have time because they are scrambling for business.

You and I face the same time-crisis. I’ve been to 100 gazillion (seems like that many) networking functions in the US and other countries. Many have been very good. But I find the 80/20 rule applies. In fact, I find my experience has been more 90/10 or 95/5 rule. 95% of the business comes from 5% of the contacts. The other 95% of the contacts generate, maybe, 5% — if the wind is blowing right!

You have limited time as well as money today so you have to focus on those activities and people which are going to yield the harvest you need as a Relationship Farmer. A farmer can’t take care of every individual corn stalk on a 1,000-acre farm. The successful farmer focuses time, money and effort (TME) where it yields the best results. This is what you and I have to do.

This means we have to say no — sometimes. You can’t go to every networking event. If you’ve been to a particular venue and people who will probably never recommend you and never buy from you are about 95% of those attending — well, exercise your No! muscle a little more.

Careful! You don’t want to say No! to someone who could possibly recommend you to a paying customer later. And just because someone can’t say yes today doesn’t mean they won’t be able to tomorrow.

So, how do you separate the tire kickers from those who either will or seriously could buy in the future? How can you, as a successful Relationship Farmer focus your TME on those areas which will be most beneficial?

Test early and often. Find out how serious someone is about doing business with you. As an example, I recently met a person at a networking meeting. After the perfunctory exchange of cards and the What do you do? initial question he proceeded to tell me about his work as a life insurance salesman.

I politely told him I’m not in the market for life insurance but would like to find out more about him. Instead of taking the cue that I’m not a candidate he proceeded to go on and on about the new offerings his company had, how they can provide coverage, etc. etc. What a waste of time being there with him!

I learned some good lessons. Stay away from those who feel they can persuade you to buy from them if they, 1) increase the volume (he did), and 2) cite more of the features of his product with which he was enamored (and I was not). A polite, diplomatic, Oh, let me check out those cookies at the refreshment stand might have been better on my part.

Care for people – always be polite. However, you can’t care deeply and form what I call a Level 6 of 7 bond of friendship with someone who doesn’t have your values and just wants you for their own purposes. You can’t be best buddies with everyone. Instead, spend your time finding those who will profit from your services.

Online this means you focus your TME on those areas which will yield the maximum benefit for you. Shun those email chats, the Twitter chats, the Facebook exchanges which take you away from your business goals.

Times are serious now as never before. For today’s entrepreneurs (aren’t we all today?) you have to focus your precious TME on those areas which will yield the biggest benefit.

Another approach for testing is to have a free report where people can learn more about you. Direct them to your website and ask for a sign-up to your free newsletter or special report. If they are not interested in something of value from you that is free, they are probably not a highly likely candidate for now. Be polite and focus on buyers who can use your services now.

The insurance agent I mentioned before would have been better off to politely take my business card, think of what I do and keep me in mind for those who might need my services. I would be happy to keep him in mind for others who really need insurance. The interchange would have been much shorter, much more pleasant and have better long-term potential.

Learning to say no — politely and rapidly — can help you find those areas which generate a lot more benefits.

Sometimes you’ll say, Not yet.  They won’t be able to buy now but you want to stay in touch, keep them in your list (those not doing business now but who might or could recommend you). You can do this with value to them by offering a free newsletter that targets specific needs they have. Always give value to them. Do it at low cost to you by offering value through a newsletter with audio and video.

Learning to say No to some is the best way to say Yes to the right people — right for you and for them.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

Skype continues to provide a wealth of tools for the serious businessperson who wants to build relationships. The company just released an application (app) for the Apple iPhone which runs Skype. Now, you can use your iPhone to connect with others around the world and talk for free using Skype to Skype.

Today, I had an interview with Kurt Thywissen who is the Chief Engineer and Chief Architect for Skype’s iPhone application development. In this interview (18:32 total time) he tells me how it can be used in business, some of the challenges they had and how they overcame them and what we can expect in the future.

If you use Skype and/or you use an iPhone this is one you want to hear. Download to listen on your portable MP3 player or listen here — or listen on iTunes. Whatever method is your preference, you are in for a treat.

And here’s an extra bonus. Check out this video that Skype released describing the new app:

http://newsinfusion.com/video_details.php?videoId=285

Let me know what you think. I look forward to your comments. Just drop in your opinion below so I’ll see it and people around the world will know what you think of this.

Thanks!

Terry
www.TerryBrock.com

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Here’s the article that I wrote for my newspapers and magazines. You get it first here!

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Making Customer Connections:
More Important Now Than Ever

By Terry L. Brock

We’re in the midst of some challenging times for business. We see it everyday in the news. Yet, in the midst of all that news, we know it is more vital than ever to make positive connections with customers to solve their problems and their pain.

Technology can help us leverage that in a achieve the goals of connecting with customers. This is Relationship Marketing at its best. Find out the needs of customers, stay connected to them and meet their needs. That is the way we get ahead in life and in business.

One technology that has emerged as a great way to connect with customers is Skype. This service has over 400 million (not a misprint) customers worldwide. Think about the potential there.

Recently Skype made a major announcement about their new application (app) for the iPhone and iPod touch. This service enables you to make Skype to Skype calls around the world from your iPhone for free. You can also call numbers in 36 countries at greatly reduced rates (depending on the country). With this app running you could make unlimited calls to numbers in the the US and Canada for $2.95 each month. For $9.95 you can make unlimited calls to landline numbers in these 36 countries. This app works on both the iPhone and the iPod touch. That way you can receive calls on the iPod touch without incurring monthly cell phone charges.

At first brush, this sounds like a great way to save money. It is. However, the savvy entrepreneurs and salespeople (aren’t we all today?) see it for something even greater.

Yes, it is nice to save money on phone calls. Saving money is very important for all of us today. However, the even greater opportunity is to invest in relationships with clients and prospects around the world at lower costs. If it costs you less to make contact, you’ll probably will make contact more often.

If you have clients in, say, the UK, and know that for $9.95 a month you can call them an unlimited number of times on their landline, you will probably make more calls and have better customer connections. This strengthens your Relationship Marketing.

You need to use a Wi-Fi connection to get the speed necessary. However, this means you can carry your iPhone to a coffee cafe, a nearby hotel or other location where you get Wi-Fi access and talk to clients for free or really cheap around the world. This opens lots of doors for the creative salesperson.

I tried Skype’s new app for my iPhone and it was a good start. The quality of the call was not as good as when I’m using my computer with a much better microphone. But then, for any connection the overall quality of sound will only be as good as the lowest technology component. The earbuds I had were fair, but not great. However, the mobility and ease of use for me was outstanding. It would be more comparable to cell phone quality than a crystal-clear normal Skype connection.

I also noticed more dropped calls on the iPhone. I was talking with a client and we lost connection three times over the course of a 1.5 hour call. I spoke with this same client using the same connection on my end and her end a couple of days before with no call interruptions. The only difference was that I was using my iPhone with the Skype app.

Based on that experience, some might quickly say, see, that just means you can’t use Skype for business. Well, I just hope that those who say that are my competitors!

Have you ever used a cell phone and the call was dropped? Of course. We all have had that experience. Does that mean you don’t use a cell phone anymore? Come on! Deal with it. The key is that you are connecting. Yes, you want the connection to be as good as possible. However, if you can increase the quality of your contacts, your Relationship Marketing, you will have a better chance of connecting that someone who avoids it.

See, that is the principle. Relationship Marketing is not always easy. It requires persistence and hanging in there over a prolonged period of time. You have to be willing to endure the inevitable setbacks (like dropped calls) to establish, build and maintain those connections.

By the way, I just had an interview with Kurt Thywissen who is the Chief Architect and Chief Engineer on Skype’s iPhone project. You can listen to this interview (you’ll love it!) at http://tinyurl.com/d2egd7. Check that out.

Relationship Marketing or what I call R-Commerce is about connecting with customers using technology, personal means, and lots of ways to meet their needs. It won’t always be easy. It won’t always be neat and tidy. However, those who persist and keep on keeping on will be able to establish profitable, mutually-beneficial relationships. This is the way it has always been and always will be.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

This week I have a word of caution — and a big dose of optimism — but you’ve got to keep reading for the full-powered benefit.

Just because you had a particular experience doesn’t mean that everyone is going to have the same experience. This is very important to remember anytime, but particularly in more challenging economic times. Be very careful when someone stands up and claims they deployed a certain marketing technique and it succeeded (or failed) for them. That is interesting. However, the scientific approach is to be disciplined and examine a wider range of results. Real discipline requires seeing a bigger picture. Be leery of the 1 person who is either overly optimistic or overly pessimistic because of his or her own personal experience.

For instance, some have claimed voraciously that raising prices will sell more. They look to Mercedes and have said in the past that raising prices always generates more sales. Sometimes that does work as consumers have a greater perceived value from higher-priced items. However, today, things have changed. Even luxury goods have seen a decline in purchases. Wal-Mart makes more money than Neiman-Marcus.

The key is in knowing your market. You can’t say that lowering prices will always result in more profit (not just sales). Today, most people are more price-conscious. You have to find a price point that satisfies your costs (at least your marginal costs) and provides serious value for the consumer to remain profitable in the long-term.

Often add-on packaging and pricing — according to the value perceived by buyers — results in more sales. If someone sees a combination of air, lodging and rental car all together as a package deal then it becomes more compelling than breaking the components into individual pieces.

Dangers of inductive thinking mean that you see one or two examples of something and determine (often erroneously) that it will apply to everything. I had a friend recently tell me that she felt nothing made in China was good. Her reason? She and her husband had two nails that broke when they were doing some repair at home. Her husband checked the box and found they were made in China. Their conclusion? All products made in China are poor quality.

When I submitted that Lenovo, Chinese cars and other products are good quality, she balked. When I cited many of the high-quality, breakthrough technologies I’ve personally seen from Chinese manufacturers at the Consumer Electronics Show she dismissed it out of hand. She knew that Chinese products were inferior because she and her husband had experienced two nails that broke and were made in China.

Be Careful.

You can run into problems in business when you embrace inductive thinking. You see one or two examples and then project that onto all. A better way of thinking is deductive. Study the group and then decide from there how individuals will act. However, even that can be wrong. Most Americans speak English. To conclude that all Americans speak English would be wrong. There are some who do not.

This is important for our thinking when we hear bad news. I was listening to National Public Radio the other day and they gave a vivid example of ill-founded inductive thinking. You must know that I enjoy listening to many of the programs on NPR. All Things Considered, Wait, Wait! Don’t Tell Me, and Morning Edition remain some of my favorites. However, when All Things Considered focused on two people who had lost their jobs and followed them around citing how bad things were, they were guilty of inductive thinking. Not only would our philosophy and logic professors but also psychologists would rail at my dearly-loved NPR for citing only negative cases. Now, perhaps NPR has offered stories about people who are doing very well (there are many even in today’s marketplace). I haven’t heard those stories in my personal experience. But NPR erred on that judgment to talk only about the negative and not give the full picture.

Good marketers today shield their mind by learning about inductive and deductive thinking. When we see flawed logic, we realize that we have to be cautious before accepting everything at face value.

Yes, close to 10% of the workforce is out of work. Well, I grabbed a calculator the other day. If 10% are out of work that would mean that 90% ARE employed! Yes, times are tough. But we are not ready to throw in the towel.

And that’s the whole point for you and me. Succeeding today means that you embrace deductive thinking to be disciplined and see the full picture. You focus on more than your own personal experience. Put on an extra layer of Be Careful when someone only talks about their own experience. If you hear the words, I, Me, or My more than is healthy coming from their mouths, let a warning light go off inside your head.

I think we have to be realistically optimistic.  We see what is happening. Yes, we recognize the two people who are out of work cited by my dearly-loved friends at NPR. However, we also need to recognize others who are doing well. A doggedly-determined optimist is hard to beat. This approach works psychologically. It works in business Most importantly, it works in life.

For you and me, it not only works, but is essential for success in today’s economy.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

We can learn a lot from studying those who have successfully achieved greatness. One of the best is from the Founding Fathers of the United States. They were in a period of inflation, dire economic times, turmoil in the streets and a general fear of what is going to happen. Sound familiar?

Dr. Rebecca Staton-Reinstein has written a book where she, as a lover of history and devoted student of the American Revolutionary period, draws lessons for today’s leaders. Not only does she teach us some valuable lessons, that I haven’t heard cited by other authors previously, but she interviewed several current CEOs and leaders to find out what they are doing right.

I read her book and it was a real inspiration to me. I interviewed her (see video below) via Skype video and she had some powerfully educational lessons for us. Invest about 10 minutes of your time and learn some powerful lessons that are both motivational and educational. Not only that, Rebecca, is a fun person who delivers her content with wit and wisdom for an entertaining presentation.

This is one you’re going to love and want to watch a few times. In fact, share it with your staff so they can benefit from it as well.

Terry
www.TerryBrock.com
Terry@TerryBrock.com

To Reach Dr. Staton-Reinstein — www.conventionalwisdomcenter.com, www.advantageleadership.com

Exercise of your physical body is paramount for success. As you condition your body, your mind and spirit become ready and able to handle the other demands for achievement.

One of my heroes and coaches is Matt Furey. Matt is a person who excels in martial arts, body building (without weights!) and discipline. Matt and I also have a lot in common. He and I both have good haircuts (just watch the video). We’re both from the Midwest (he’s from a small town in Iowa, I’m from a small town in Michigan). We both enjoyed wrestling in high school. We both believe in exercise today. And we both believe strongly in freedom and liberty.

Matt also tells us a lot about the mental conditioning needed for success. Watch this powerful video (below) and discover how you can transform your life using the right exercises in the right way. This is a treat you owe yourself.

Blue Microphone is a company known for high-quality microphones. Now they have expanded to offer microphones that provide strong, professional quality for business. With the use of microphones like these you can expand your business and your bottom line.

I know because that is what I’m doing.

Lately I’ve been using their Snowball microphone. It is the size of a baseball and has exceptionally good clarity and sound. I heard about this one from Fergus McClelland over in London, England a while back when I was speaking there. He raved about it. Well, when I got the chance to try it myself, I understand why Fergus was so excited about it. The quality of sound is exceptional. Deep, rich bass sounds, good mid-level and the highs are nice. The microphone also has the ability to moderate volume. I don’t understand all the technical details of audio, but I know rich, clear sound when I hear it. With the Snowball microphone from Blue Microphones, you get that rich, clear sound that is unmistakably professional.

Now the company has a new webcam that jumps ahead of many in the market. Their new offering, called the EyeBall, provides HD video AND audio. The quality of sound is rooted in the rich tradition that Blue Microphones is known for. In addition to that, they have put together video on this tiny little webcam that comes across beautifully. I’ve tested it on my Dell XP Windows machine and on my MacBook Pro. It does a good job on both platforms with exceptionally good video and audio.

Yet, with all the great technical abilities that Blue Microphones demonstrates, I still contend that these are not audio and video products. Nope! They are tools to connect with people in a marvelously rich, human way to communicate your message. Yes, the nuts, bolts and wiggle-pins of their microphones and webcams are amazing, brilliant and top-notch. You’d be hard-pressed to find better quality audio and video elsewhere. However, where it shines is with the ability to connect with people in a meaningful, rich way.

In today’s market — or any market — that is a real competitive advantage for you.

Both products run $99.99 each. Check it out at www.bluemic.com and see what all the excitement is about. And be sure to watch this fun, informative video I got with the Founder Skipper Wise and COO Ty Schultz. You’ll be glad you did.

To watch this video as I interview Skipper Wise, the Founder and President of Blue Microphone and Ty Schultz, COO, click on the video below. These two discuss the history and the philosophy of Blue Microphone and explain how we can use these tools for audio, video conferencing and more.

Enjoy!

Terry Brock
www.TerryBrock.com

Today I have a treat for you! Well, I actually have three (3) treats that are going to help you in some practical ways. First, there is a new service that helps match employers with job seekers in a wonderfully efficient way. Second, some new tools let you stay productive when your cell phone needs a little boost. And third, you’ll hear about a fabulous audio product so you can chill out, listen to great quality audio and relax.

RealMatch.Com Connects

Finding a job is always a challenge. Today it is even more challenging. If you are in the market for a job, you can leverage the power of a new technology at a site called Real Match (www.realmatch.com) that helps job seekers meet employers.

One of the technologies deployed is a real-time match. As services are updated and new resumes are added, an employer will receive updated information. This is good for job seekers as you know employers will see your details quickly.

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Listen to the enhanced Podcast of this article and the videos. I’m all about helping you to get a competitive advantage and make money. I’m also about helping you to enjoy life. This podcast has some comments which can help you.

To maximize your learning and enjoyment you can listen to this audio 1) Streaming — by clicking on the “Play” button below, 2) Downloading the MP3 file and listening on your MP3 player of choice, or 3) Go to iTunes and subscribe to the podcast (Search for “Terry Brock” at the Apple iTunes Store and look for the podcast). I want to get you lots of value and life-enhancing information.

Let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you. Enjoy!

Terry, www.TerryBrock.com

Right-Click to Download MP3 for Later Listening

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For the employer this is a good service as you find skill sets that can match the job you have available. You can get very specific with what you need and the background of people who are available.

You can find out more at www.Realmatch.com. Also, you’ll want to check out the special video interview I did with Rafael Cosentino, the VP of Business Development at RealMatch.com. In that interview he shared even more about the service and what they can do for you. See the video at: http://tinyurl.com/bk4dby

Charge Phone And Laptop With Lenmar Technology

If you use an Apple iPhone, a Blackberry or other portable cell phone, you need battery power backup. Right when you have that important call to a potential client or colleague, you don’t want to run out of battery power.

Lenmar is a company that provides solutions for battery power regularly. With these new tools to power most Windows laptops, iPhones, Blackberries and other portable devices it is worth a look. This kind of power can help you get the extra life you need when those busy days happen and you have to keep going.

For a detailed video which shows you what is available and how the batteries work, go to: http://tinyurl.com/ark9bf

Brilliant, Engulfing Sound To Chill Out From OrbitSound

Sometimes after those long, hard days, you need the option of relaxing and chilling out. Brilliant, soothing audio sound that bathes you in luxurious sounds is sometimes a great prescription. When you can get a portable system that is reasonably priced, that is even better.

I’ve written before about OrbitSound and their T3 portable audio player. I still use that tiny audio speaker today to hear breath-taking sound from a hotel room or other places. Now the company has outdone themselves with the new T12 unit for home or office.

The T12 Spatial Stereo Soundbar Dock from OrbitSound consists of two units, a subwoofer and a main unit with three speakers and access to your iPod or iPhone. I’ve tried both my iPod and iPhone in it and the sound coming from the speakers was unbelievable. It is rich, clear and crisp. When you couple your iPod or iPhone music with the T12 you get an engulfing experience that surrounds you with relaxing, or energizing sound.

This unit would also be good for the conference room to play training videos, audios and to be used in regular sales meetings. This can give you the advantage over the competition to learn specific sales-generating concepts.

Of course, it can go well when it is time to relax. I’ve found the T12 goes very well with a nice glass of vodka, but I’m sure it works with the beverage of your choice! Hey, you can also use it with your home theater for dramatic real-world sounds in this incredibly small unit.

Check it out at http://www.orbitsound.com/products/t12/overview.aspx

The company is based in England but has US distribution. The latest check I did put the price at $478 but with the dollar fluctuating so much these days, check on the current price to be sure.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

Finding a job in today’s market just got easier for you. A new service is available which leverages technology to keep job seekers and employers connected. It is called Real Match and I was able to recently interview the VP of Business Development, Rafael Cosentino. Watch this video if you’re in the market for a job, or know of someone who is.

If you’re an employer looking for the ideal employee, this is also a good service to use. You are kept up to date with changes. Watch the video and enjoy!

Produced, Edited and Published by Terry Brock, Achievement Systems, Inc. Copyright (c) 2009. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted to republish on website with prior written notice.

Terry@TerryBrock.com
www.TerryBrock.com

Now We’re All Entrepreneurs

You have to think like an entrepreneur even if you (still) have a job with a large company. Think Lehman Brothers. Think GM, Think State of California. Ugh! No job is permanent. Those who plead and beg for this strange animal called job security need a good welcome to the 21st Century.

Today we are all entrepreneurs. Well, we all have been for quite a while, but many didn’t realize it till they got the pink slip from their (former) employer informing them of the wonderful new opportunities that await them as an entrepreneur.

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Listen to a supplemental audio of this article! Get even more as I talk with you about this important concept of thinking like an entrepreneur. You can listen to it streaming or download as MP3 and listen on your favorite MP3 player. Choice is good!

Leave a comment (at bottom of this page) and let me and others know what you think. I really look forward to hearing from you. Thanks! Terry

Right-Click to Download Audio Supplement for We Are All Entrepreneurs Now

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There is no security in any job. There is only security in your ability to embrace and deploy market-valuable skills so that you solve problems others have. The more you can solve problems others have and satisfy their wants and needs, the more security you’ll have.

This is the way nature works. The only way you get ahead is by providing value for others to meet their needs. Always think in terms of what you can do for the other person.

This means that we all need to think like entrepreneurs. If this type of thinking begins to take place with more and more people I believe our world will be a better place.

An entrepreneur will change practices quickly. Success is realized when you can adapt to the ever-changing needs of the marketplace. No job is secure because the marketplace keeps adjusting. If you try to continue making buggy whips when the horseless carriage comes along your job security will fade quickly.

Yet, in the midst of that change, you can do better by thinking of your skills and strengths. Let’s go back to my mythical buggy whip manufacturer. If you made buggy whips at the dawn of the horseless carriage era you knew leather. You knew how to mold that leather and make solid, long-lasting whips to motivate horses.

In an age of cars, that buggy whip won’t be as necessary. However, you’ve learned how to work with leather and they use even more leather in cars (seats, steering wheels, dashboards, etc.). By thinking of yourself as a professional in leather, and more than just a buggy whip maker you expand your market and would have an ample amount of work head. Provide different leather products. Don’t think of yourself in the buggy whip industry but in the providing leather in many ways for customers industry.

Think like an entrepreneur. Be on the lookout for new trends. We are in a decisive shift today. The world is not like it was — even last year. This is creating a lot of opportunities for those who can change their thinking, adapt and come up with market-valuable skills.

Yes, you will have to learn some new skills. You’ll have to go back to school to improve. It might not be a formal education (although I’m a huge fan of that) but it will require more reading, online courses, audio training, hiring coaches, etc. Do whatever it takes to learn new skills and then provide value in the marketplace.

Remember that an entrepreneur also has to develop rhinoceros skin. I guarantee you will be turned down by potential customers. I guarantee you will have set-backs. Learn from these disappointments. Write down your lessons in your personal journal. Then adapt, change and get back in the game.

This is how successful people through the centuries overcame problems and the changes they faced. You can do it also. In fact, many people say they became much better and got a much better job after a disappointment or temporary setback.

As you learn to think like an entrepreneur, you will grab those skills needed and adjust. Remember, there is no job security today. Actually, there never has been. You have to create value each day for the marketplace to keep your job. This means learning new skills continually, helping others and serving them and becoming more business-astute all the time. Relationship Marketing is all about connecting with others and providing value.

Now is the time to aggressively embrace new opportunities and offers. This is what being an entrepreneur is about.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

By Terry L. Brock

Here we go! It is a great time for learning and discovering things that we never thought possible. With these unconventional times we have to be willing to do things in unconventional ways. This means a big shift in what we were doing, the skills we bring to the marketplace and even how we think. These unconventional times call for unconventional tactics.

The good news is that we will be better in the long run for having cleaned up our style. However, it won’t be easy. Some will choose to give up rather than adapt. However, Darwin was right that we have to adapt and change in order to survive.

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Here’s an audio enhancement of this article (below). This is NOT just reading the text (you can do that) but enhancing and amplifying it as only audio can. You can listen to it streaming or download as an MP3 file and listen on your own MP3 player. Listen and Enjoy!

- Terry

Total Time: 7:58

Download File as MP3 Audio Here

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You know, times like these can be exhilarating as it brings out the best in us. It forces us to draw from resources deep within. We have to become better people and change. You know that person you really wanted to become and the things you wanted to accomplish? Now is a great time to begin anew and make it happen.

Here are some time-honored steps that can help you make real-world, practical change.

1. Become Different And Better. Become the person that you really want to be and who the market is asking for. Come on! You know there are things you should do and you just never made it happen. Be willing to pay the price now to make it work. These are cold water splashed in your face times. How you deal with it makes all the difference. Take matters into your own hands to become the better person you know you really want to be and can become. Make it happen.

2. Crave Education. Think about it. You are not going to get better unless you learn and acquire the skills to be the person you want to be. This requires work. It requires a craving, a longing for education and learning like never before. Devour books. Absorb educational audio and video. Take the classes and seminars necessary. Hire the coaches who can help you acquire new skills. Pay whatever price is required to become a better, more fully-educated person. I don’t necessarily mean formal education, although I’m a huge fan of that. Get to know what is required and get to know your local library. Getting the right education is no longer optional. You have to go where the food is!

3. Stop It Already! In order to bring the good into your life you have to eliminate those activities, habits and people which are holding you back. Turn off the TV! Unplug your video games. These mindless activities don’t contribute ultimately to you becoming a better person. Replace that time with education and being around quality, life-enhancing people. Think about what you can eliminate from your life that is holding you back. You only have 24 hours each day so you have to eliminate something to replace it with positive, income-enhancing possibilities. Think about those activities that aren’t helping you and put then into your own “Stop Doing That!” category.

4. Be Creative With Your Re-Creation. You shouldn’t eliminate recreation but you must carefully choose how you invest that time. Instead of mindless TV, bathe your mind with quality, life-enhancing and uplifting quality music. Spend quality time with wonderful people instead of watching silly actors on TV or emotionally wrenching news coverage. Read classics. There is a reason they are considered classics and that means it is worthy of the time to read them. The best part is that this healthy recreation can be dirt-cheap. A Sunday afternoon with the family by the lake, playing outside or other activity can cost next to nothing. Yet, the results and benefits can be priceless. Raise priceless to the power of WOW! when you do it with loved ones.

5. Develop Persistent Optimism. I hear the cynics wailing about this now. They think that optimism is merely a charade covering reality. True optimism has a dogged-determination to find the good in whatever situation happens. It is how things are accomplished. How many cynics do you see who are really successful anyway? Make it your purpose and commitment to face life as a realistic optimist. Know what is happening and find a way to improve and make it better.

These steps will help you personally, which is the core for growing financially. We are in unconventional times. They call for doing things unconventionally. Yet, we will prosper in business and personally when we embrace the time-honored principles of learning, growing, serving others and being persistently, pragmatically optimistic. Look for ways to serve others and help them solve their pain and you will do very well yourself. This is how our ancestors made it through their tough times. It is how we will make it through whatever happens to us.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

Internet Marketing is a hot topic today. Many are turning to it as a way to realize their dreams and to weather today’s economic storms. Watch this interview with Brian Edmondson and discover how you can use easy methods to build your own business on the Internet.

Terry Brock
www.Terry Brock.com

Brian Edmondson is Director of the Internet Money Club (www.internetmoneyclub.net) which is part of the offerings from earlytorise.com, the world’s leader in health, wealth and lifestyle learning.

If you, or someone you know, is in the job market, this video (and the book it discusses) is a must for you. I had the chance recently to interview Brenda Bence. She is an author and professional speaker who lives in Bangkok, Thailand. She has written a fabulous book called, How YOU (TM) are like Shampoo For Job Seekers.

Even if you aren’t in the job market right now, this video can help you learn what customers (or future employers) look for. Brenda knows her stuff and comes from a wealth of experience in speaking with corporations around the world.

Enjoy the video and then leave your comments below.  You can help others with ideas and suggestions as well as let them know about yourself. I found Brenda Bence’s book to be enormously helpful, packed with real-world ideas on how to position yourself for getting hired. In any economy this book would be good. In today’s economy it is a must-read!

I look forward to hearing from you.

Terry

Terry Brock

www.TerryBrock.com
Terry@TerryBrock.com

From the Notebook Computer of Terry Brock
Feature in earlytorise.com about my interview – “Overcoming Fear of Being Interviewed”
Saturday, 17 January 2009

I was both surprised and delighted to see the feature today on the world’s best newsletter for Health, Wealth and Personal Development, earlytorise.com. In that article, the Editor, Suzanne Richardson, discussed the interview I had with her.

Here’s the link so you can read exactly what she said in today’s feature:

Suzanne Richardson on Terry Brock and Video

—or—

http://tinyurl.com/8e5xzr (same link but shorter version)

And here’s a bonus for you as a reader of Achievement Update from me— something the readers of earlytorise.com don’t have in their article but just for you— the original video link. I think Suzanne did a very good job but we’ll let you see the full thing.

Original Interview with Suzanne

We had a wonderful time sharing about how they have built their list to over 430,000 subscribers with a 7-day-a-week publication (!). If you want to build your own list, this is a great video to watch. The few minutes you’ll invest will be well worth it and help you build you own list.

Let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.

Terry
Terry@TerryBrock.
www.TerryBrock.com

These are some earbuds that are magnificent. I’ve used the comfy foam ear buds for a while. Now the company has a new set of earbuds that are good with the iPhone like never before. Watch this short (just a little over 2 minutes) video to discover what they can do for you.

You’ll enjoy learning about what is possible today with cushion, foam earbuds customized to your own ear.

Watch this video about the Diamond-X Bluetooth Headset from iVoice. It has some very nice features, including the text-to-speech ability to tell you audibly who is calling if they are stored on your address book.

This short (less than 2:30) video will help you if you’re considering a Bluetooth device. This is a very good one to have. I recommend it.

By Terry L. Brock

The goal of any tool, like technology, is to make your life easier and enable you to get more done with it than you ever could without it. When technology can make your life better and safer, you are on to something that can give you a decisive advantage in business.

In this column I’ll tell you four specific technologies that can help you be more productive and keep you —- and your technology  much safer. Any business owner or businessperson can benefit from these. You’ll see videos of these to describe them in more detail at www.TerryBrock.com .

Sound Fit To Hear Better, Save Your Ears

We hear a lot about the dangers of listening to music that is too loud. Children particularly need to know about this and adjust the volume accordingly.

Able Planet is a company I’ve known for years that is dedicated to making your listening experience safer and more pleasant. They blend in technology using advanced circuitry called Linx, Audio to minimize the harsh, loud volume and enhance the rich sounds for music and spoken word.

The company has announced a new product called Sound Fit which delivers better sound while you adjust the volume lower. The removable, disposable ear buds provide a deep listening experience while keeping your ears safe.

Expected to retail in the $30 range, these ear buds give you the ability to lower your volume yet hear richer, fuller sounds. To see a video interview with Kevin Semcken, the CEO of Able Planet on this, go to:
http://www.terrybrock.com/2009/01/ableplanetearbuds/ or for more information on the company, contact www.ableplanet.com,

Diamond X Bluetooth From iVoice

Bluetooth is the technology that allows you to wirelessly connect devices. It has been around for several years and is now integrally linked with safety for taking on a mobile phone while driving. Now more than ever, safety is related to Bluetooth.

I’ve been using the Diamond X Bluetooth device with my iPhone recently and have been very pleased with the results. This device retails for $119.00. I found the clarity of a variety of calls to be consistently strong and understandable. I made it a point to ask people I was speaking with how my voice sounded and they consistently said it was very good — even paralleling a land line.

An added feature on this unit is the ability for the device to use text to speech announcing the caller. If your caller is in your address book, you’ll hear an announcement of who it is. This is like a audio caller id when you’re busy and mobile. It can save you from talking to that persistent brother-in-law who is trying to sell you his new multi-level marketing scheme. Now, that can be real safety!

Fujitsu S1500 Scanner

Scanners are a great way to control the paper jungle. With the new Fujitsu S1500 (expected release in Spring of this year), you have an easy way to process that mass of paper in your life.

The S1500 scanner will handle various sizes of paper at the same time. It scans both sides, in color and processes it at a rate of 20 pages per minute. With this technology you are safe from losing important information that can be vital (think tax returns, important receipts, contact information, etc). You can see a video of this in action at:

http://www.terrybrock.com/2009/01/fujitsu_s1500_scanner/

A very nice feature built into the software is the ability to recognize cards in various languages. I’m studying Russian and Japanese now and have cards with both languages. So, in my go ahead and show me if this works attitude I asked the Fujitsu reps to scan my cards with Russian and Japanese. I was flabbergasted at the proficiency and accuracy it demonstrated. The cards were sorted properly and put into the right categories on the software.

For building relationships in business, this is a must-have. It is much easier than previous devices and will help give you a competitive advantage. When Spring comes and this unit is available. It is worth considering for the $495.00 retail price.

S1500 Scanner, www.fujitsu.com/us, $495.00 (Spring Availability)

Lo/Jack For Laptops

Safety for your laptop is vital in a world where thieves are getting smarter. Absolute Software has developed a Lo/Jack for Laptops which embeds coding within the BIOS of a laptop computer. If your computer has this feature, called CompuTrace built into the BIOS, it can signal every 15 minutes the location of the computer.

The technology uses triangulation to find the most recent location of your laptop. Most thieves will not remove the BIOS (it can devalue the computer). So, Lo/Jack for laptops comes to your rescue alerting you and legal authorities the whereabouts of your stolen laptop.

Prices run $39.99/yr for basic or $59.99/yr. for a premium service. For the safety of your laptop, this could be just what you need — not to mention your own peace of mind.

www.absolute.com

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

By Terry Brock

2009 will probably be your toughest year in business.

This sounds like a negative way to start but it is very positive. Stay with me on this one and you’ll find ways you can take your business — and your personal life —- to some new levels you’ve wanted for a long time.

We are in a different world today than even a year ago. The economy is front and center on the minds of many in business. We see what is happening and government forces make their repeated feeble attempts to try this new thing that they tell us is going to work. Unfortunately, we seldom hear what has already worked in history and what hasn’t. A lack of historical knowledge leads to lots of problems. Think George Santana and repeating the problems of history.

Yet, what is new really is from what is old. The principles of success from long ago work today. Sure, we need to add today’s new twist of technology (think Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and more) but the principles are the same.

2009 can be your toughest year and it can be your best — at the same time. Think about it. Haven’t you been your personal best when you have to stretch, grow, discipline yourself and become more of the person you want to be? Sure, it is hard going through. Ouch! You have to do things that are unpleasant. You can fall down and skin your knees (or worse). Yet, it is that dogged determination to keep going no matter what that keeps us moving forward. Think Cool Hand Luke and Rocky Balboa here from the movies. Those lessons work in real life.

************* Listen to the Podcast on This Article! **************************

To hear this article (with enhancements and my personal embellishments!) you can listen to it streaming or via download.

Right-Click here to download and save onto your computer for later listening.

Here are some specific, real-world action steps that have already helped many businesses and can help you as we encounter challenges and opportunities today:

# 1 – Laser-Beam Focus Outside; Avoid Navel Gazing

All business is about getting and retaining profitable customers. It is really that simple. Sales is most important in business. Too often we focus on the delightfully intriguing minutiae of administrative in business to the neglect of customers and generating sales. Don’t just study your navel — look at what others are dealing with and help them.

Everyone in business is in sales. From the CEO to janitors, focus has to be riveted on generating more profitable sales and bottom line results. If you doubt that, just look at those laid off recently. Those who are generating huge profits for a business are retained. Those who are not carrying their weight, or who can be replaced by other systems, are discarded. Think of your business like a ship at sea in a violent storm. Anything not absolutely critical to the ship’s survival has to be thrown overboard.

Focus your efforts on generating more profitable customers as never before. Discipline yourself to avoid the delightfully intriguing small tasks and activities that really don’t bring in money. Avoid navel gazing. This is the core principle of Relationship Marketing.

#2 Watch The Numbers

Get a system and pay very careful attention to the important numbers in your business. How many sales calls have you made? How many marketing brochures have you produced and sent, and how many generated inquiries? How many visit your website and particularly which pages?

There are a host of numbers to watch in business and your business will be different. Make that list of what you have to watch — those numbers that relate to helping customers —- and focus on them with laser-beam intensity.

#3  Expect Some Setbacks

This is not negative. This is what I like to call realistically positive. You know that on this planet stuff happens. Plan for it. Think about what are some likely scenarios.

This is part of being realistic and being prepared for whatever might happen.

However, expecting setbacks is tightly coupled too.

#4 Plan How To Overcome Setbacks

Lay out scenarios of how you can overcome setbacks that are likely to occur. Football coach Bear Bryant of the University of Alabama was famous for his contingency plans. He knew the opposing team’s strengths and weaknesses. He had hundreds of plans written to handle hundreds of possibilities. Did he use them all? Of course not. But the mental discipline helped him to prepare how to overcome whatever might hit.

In your business you have to have those plans of what could happen and how you will deal with potential problems. More than anything this exercise helps you to think critically about how to move ahead.

#5 Celebrate Regularly

In tough times we have to have our full mental and physical abilities fine-tuned and ready for anything. By celebrating regularly (I recommend at least weekly) for even tiny achievements, we create a stronger desire to achieve.

Make those celebrations frequent and directly related to objective, customer-benefiting, profit-generating activities.

Doing these activities will help you get ahead no matter what. This is a great time. Yes, it will be a tough year. And like the old saying, When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Make it work for you with the right skills and fortitude to blast through any barrier. Embrace the old principles that have worked and couple them with new technologies. You’ll have a winning combination!

Write me and let me know so I can share this with others. Terry@TerryBrock.com. I look forward to hearing of your success.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

By Terry Brock

As we begin a New Year, it is more important than ever to spend time on establishing, nurturing and building relationships. Here are some key principles that can help as you endeavor to build those relationships.

Keep Building Relationships Whatever The Economy

Now more important than ever, this is critical for your success. Find out what the other person needs. Think not just outside the box, but think outside yourself! Focus on their needs. Too many people focus only on their own needs. Successful people focus on and help solve the problems of others.

As we begin the New Year and make resolutions, don’t just make resolutions — track what you’ve done. Lots of people will make resolutions this time of year. That is good. However, lots of people also fail to achieve their resolutions for a number of reasons. Track yours and measure your results. This will separate you from the crowd.

Apply this to relationship building by tracking who you’ve met, their interests and more. Get and use a database for names and contact information. Use it daily. It will be your greatest resource if you work for yourself or someone else.

By the way, if you or someone you know is in the market for a job, here’s a video you need to watch. This short (less than 7 minutes) video will help you with some successful job-hunting tips from one of the experts in the human resource field, Tom Dimmick of DK Search in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.

http://www.terrybrock.com/2008/12/job-search-tips/

When I was talking with Tom Dimmick about the job market he told me, as a professional Executive Search recruiter, that about 85% of all jobs are placed not through newspapers but because of relationships. It is imperative to build those relationships and nurture them. This means if you are comfortable in your job, take the time now to nourish those relationships. An old Arab proverb says, Dig your well before you’re thirsty. This is very good advice for all of us today whether employed or looking for that next position.

Categorize Contacts Into Priorities

You have limited resources. Many have much less resources now so it is even more important to focus. Focus your time. Focus your energy and effort on those areas which will yield the maximum results for you.

If you try to be all things to all people you’ll fail. Bill Cosby said it very well a while back when he said, (I’m paraphrasing here), I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everybody. Focus on those relationships which are most likely to generate serious results for you.

Deploy The Best Technologies

Technologies like Smartphones, laptop computers and more can help you help others more. Recently I acquired a new tool which has already saved me enormous amounts of time and helped me to be more productive. It is the sheet-fed scanner from Fujitsu called the ScanSnap S300M. This one is the Mac flavor (they have one for Windows called S300) and it is amazing. I’ve used scanners for years and found them very helpful. This one, however, is incredibly faster and much better organized than others I have used. The low price of $300 means that it has paid for itself many times over with increased savings in time and the ability to find paper. Instead of spending time looking for lost papers I now know they are safely stored in folders on my computer.

Check out this video I just finished to see the ScanSnap S300M in action:

http://www.terrybrock.com/2008/12/s300m/

Tools like this can help with Relationship Marketing. To be effective in Relationship Marketing, you need to show others that you really care. Fortunately, since not enough people really do care about others today, you have an advantage already. Take time to refine your systems so you can have quality time with important people who matter.

Watch this column for some of the best and latest technologies which will help you in building relationships and getting results in business. I’m heading to the Consumer Electronics Show and will be there for you gathering important information to help you build relationships and build profitability. Stay tuned!

As you head into the New Year and want to get your business moving stronger, focus on how to help others. Focus on their pain and how you can solve that for them. Use the right principles and tools and you’ll never fail.

Happy Holidays!

Terry

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

By Terry Brock

It’s that time of year when we hear about the importance of New Year’s Resolutions. We all know and have heard about a million times the importance of goal setting.

But, hey, can we get real here? Entrepreneur to entrepreneur. Salesperson to salesperson. You KNOW that you probably won’t reach all those ultra-lofty goals no matter how enthusiastic you are on New Year’s Eve (depending on how many adult beverages you’ve consumed!). So, then we often swing to the other extreme and don’t set any goals. And you know that won’t bring out the best in you either.

So what’s a salesperson (and aren’t we all today?) to do? How are you going to manage this business called You, Inc. that you are running?

I propose that this year you don’t set New Year’s Resolutions. Now, wait a minute. I can already feel the crush of email coming to me about how you should set goals, etc. etc. Hey! I am with you. I set rigid goals for myself on a weekly and daily basis. What I’m proposing this year is that you don’t just set New Year’s Resolutions but put a plan in place that can seriously change your life and your business for the better. Make 2009 the year you see some specific, bottom-line-boosting changes.

Here’s a trick that will help. Set your yearly goals first, and then back them up with quarterly and monthly goals to achieve them. Suppose you want to lose, say, 50 pounds. It would not be medically sound to try and do that in one week — even if you could! Instead, you get the assistance of a trained professional. You put together a realistic plan for diet, rest, exercise and the system that works best for you according to your health care provider. Then you have to stay with it (discipline, my friend!) and make incremental progress.

This is the key to success with any goal program. You put teeth into your goals when you measure what you’re doing and you set small, bite-sized goals that you can obtain. Going back to our example of weight loss, losing 1 lb. in 1 week is usually realistic. This is something most people can do. If you do that for each week of the year, you’ve lost 50 lbs. easily.

This coming year is going to be quite different from anything we’ve experienced before. Party now and do your resting during these Holidays because when January gets here, it is time for all of us to roll up our sleeves and get into some serious work! These times call for extra effort to achieve our goals. Financial times are going to bring out the best — and worst — in many people. Prepare now for hitting your goals.

Make it a point to put together Quarterly Goals that you can refer to. Then break down those Quarterly Goals into monthly goals. Leave the flexibility to deal with the unknown. We don’t know all that is going to happen but we do know that there are going to be challenges. Get ready now mentally, physically and financially to handle whatever is coming down the pike.

Put teeth into your resolutions in other ways. Yes, I strongly recommend making goals, but put teeth into them. Build in your own private rewards — and penalties to hold your feet to the fire. If you achieve January’s goals, give yourself a treat of an extra movie, an extra day off, a special chocolate treat —whatever is reasonable and motivating for you. But then, here’s the kicker, find a way to discipline yourself if you don’t make it. If you don’t hit that important goal, tell yourself you have to do something that is rather unpleasant. You have to go without a valued treat. Find a way that, within reason, makes you regret not getting your goal for that month and work that much harder for the next month’s goals.

I’m a big fan of monthly goals. Yearly goals are good too but they have to build from the smaller, more doable goals. I remember when I was fresh out of high school, working to earn money for college at various odd jobs that I had a job selling vacuum cleaners (really!). It wasn’t my cup of tea but I did learn one important lesson there. I remember our sales manager telling us that sometimes we might have a bad day. We might even have a bad week. But we’d never have a bad month. A month is a more manageable period of time. We all have good and bad days. This is normal. Sometimes you’ll even have a week that doesn’t go as well. But, within a month, you have it within your ability to correct the error, get the right resources to help you and make things better. If things are still bad after a month, it is not a matter of just trying harder but time to question if something more fundamental is awry.

And here’s a high-tech bonus that can really help: Schedule several email messages to go to yourself on the 1st of April, July and October. Those are the beginnings of the 2nd. 3rd and 4th Quarters. Remind yourself in the future of your plans at the beginning of the year. Then give yourself that much-needed, motivational pep talk — customized for your own needs. Take time — even a few moments — at the end of each quarter to evaluate how you’ve done thus far on your major yearly goals. Major businesses always evaluate how they’ve done on a quarterly basis. You should do this for You, Inc. as well. This is critical for success.

By putting teeth into your New Year’s Resolutions, you’ll get better results. And be sure to have fun as you do it. Remember life is meant to be lived and enjoyed. Make money. Have fun. These are two of my goals for the New Year (and yes, I make them more specific!) and I hope you are able to make 2009 the very best year of your life!

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

It is a very special time of year. This Thanksgiving Season is a time for us to be thankful for what we have. Yes, some would say that 2008 hasn’t provided much for which we can be thankful.

I would say we have a LOT to be thankful for…. and in this audio I said it. You want to hear what is said on this short (5:24) audio message. I share with you some of the reasons to be thankful. I also get a chance to share about some of the history of Thanksgiving and how it came about with the Pilgrims and William Bradford. You’ll love this!

So, sit back and enjoy. You’re gonna’ love this audio and I look forward to hearing from you.

In fact, please leave your comments and ideas that you’d like to share with others in the Comments section (below). This will be a great way to thank others and to let others know what you are thankful for this year. What a great way for a lot of people to help each other —- all at no cost!

I look forward to hearing from you. Listen to the audio. I put it together in two ways to give you a choice in listening. You can download it as a single file to your MP3 player of choice or listen to it streaming. Either way, I want you to enjoy.

Thank YOU for being part of this Blog. I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Terry

Terry Brock, CEO
Achievement Systems, Inc.
November 2008

You can also download the MP3 file here by right-clicking and selecting “Save Target As..” (or other similar command from your browser.)

Terry’s Special Thanksgiving 2008 Message

It is a different world today. If you keep doing things the way there were years ago, you’ll only fall further and further behind. Visionary, successful leaders today embrace the new world with new ideas.

Recently I had the chance to interview one of my friends and a great management and sales guru from Dublin, Ireland, Sean Weafer. Sean has decades of experience leading sales teams and showing international audiences how to be successful today.

In this insightful video, you get a chance to see Sean as he shares new ideas on what works for leaders today. This short video illustrates principles for success for business today.

Share this video with your team and enjoy Sean Weafer’s sage advice.

You can reach Sean at Sean.weafer@firstcoach.com via phone at +353 (1210) 1934 or via regular post at:
7 Woodlands Ave.
Stillorgan
Co. Dublin
Ireland

If you want to grow you business, you’ve got a real treat in these two videos. I was able to recently get two powerhouses in the field of marketing to each grant me an interview. These two have generated millions of dollars (literally!) for their clients and themselves.

First, watch this video with MaryEllen Tribby. She is the Group Publisher for Early To Rise. She took sales from $8 million when she came in to over $26 million in 15 months! WOW! When I went to Business School, we called that doing “rather well.” Well, in this video interview, MaryEllen shows her business expertise and her uncompromising graciousness by sharing some specific techniques that can help you achieve the goals you want.

Yes, I know you’re busy. Aren’t we all? However, the few moments (less than 6 minutes) you invest of your time to watch this video can pay rich dividends for you in your business and personal life. Enjoy. And thank you, MaryEllen! You’re terrific!

Next, you get a real treat from that marketing genius and copywriter extraordinaire, Charlie Byrne. Charlie is the Senior Editor for Early To Rise and continues to pump our powerful, compelling copy day after day. The two points he shares in this video interview can change your business direction. It can add lots of serious profits to your bottom line.

Check out www.EarlyToRise.com and see what all the excitement is about there. This is the kind of investment you need to make in these times to keep your business strong and moving. If you’re serious about growing and thriving in any market, these two marketing geniuses can help you.

One of my favorite websites is www.EarlyToRise.com because of the consistently high quality content in a variety of areas. Michael Masterson founded this resourceful website years ago and it continues to provide so much value that it attracts over 430,000 subscribers.

I was recently able to interview the Managing Editor of this gem of a resource, Suzanne Richardson. In this video interview, she shares some of the ways that ETR continues to attract more and more subscribers — and also stays very profitable. This is a good example of Relationship Marketing in action!

Enjoy this video interview with Suzanne as she shares some gems that will help you in your business. I look forward to your comments (below in the special comments section). Let the world know what you think of EarlyToRise.com and how it has helped you by leaving a comment. If you haven’t subscribed to their wonderful newsletter yet, go to www.EarlyToRise.com and do it. It is free and in a tough economy, you’re going to learn some valuable principles on building your business and your personal health.

Now, sit back and enjoy this interview with Suzanne Richardson, Managing Editor of Early To Rise.

Terry

Terry Brock, President & CEO
Achievement Systems, Inc.
www.TerryBrock.com
Terry@TerryBrock.com

By Terry L. Brock

Yikes! Is the sky falling? It sure sounds like it from the business news press. Everyday we get a new round of problems reported. And now we get more news of more industries lining up to get a piece of the federal bail-out money that is being passed around.

Since you and I run small businesses and don’t worry about those trillion dollar decisions in the real world (thank goodness!), let’s focus on making things better where we are. President Teddy Roosevelt had some good words of advice that apply today, Do what you can, with what you’ve got, right where you are.

I recently attended an info Marketing Boot Camp hosted by EarlyToRise.com and picked up several good marketing ideas. Here are three that can help us in today’s tumultuous environment:

Principle # 1 – Think WHO, Then WHAT

Focus on your customers before you focus on your product. Too many businesses focus on their own product. Salespeople go into a presentation thinking that if they can just talk more about their product, the customer will buy. The technical word for this is, Hogwash! Focus on the needs of your customer first. Do this before developing a product. At the beginning of each presentation focus on the pain the customer is experiencing and how you can help them. Then twist and mold your product or service to fit their needs.

Think of your prospect and what she will need before you think about your product. See the prospect’s pain and how she is dealing with today’s topsy-turvy world and what she would like to do to correct it. Then think (this is the hard part!) about how you can present your product or service in a way to help her deal with and overcome problems she is facing. Think about your customer before you think about your products. Your customer already does.

Principle # 2 – Focus On Direct Marketing, Not Image Building Advertising

Today dollars are tight. They are tight for you and your customers. You need to know what works. Just putting out a nice, smiling image advertisement won’t cut it anymore. You need to know what works and what doesn’t. One of the benefits of marketing over the Internet is that you can measure just about everything. Find what pages draw more attention. Find out what sites are visited and which are ignored. Today you’ve got to embrace different strategies to succeed in a different market. Forget bland, blather about image. Focus on getting a direct response via the Net or any media you use.

Principle # 3 Get In Front Of Trends

We are at a critical time of change in our world. We have a new administration coming into Washington. What worked before is not working today. We are facing one of the greatest financial challenges ever in history. This creates massive opportunities to solve problems. Yes, you’ll have to be creative. Yes, you’ll probably have to embrace some new tactics.

Study and capitalize on trends. Michael Masterson said, Make the trend your friend. Know what is happening and position yourself to take advantage of it. If you are in the food business, get in front of a hungry bunch of people who are ready, willing and able to buy from you.

The principles of success remain the same, even if the tactics have to change. Relationship Marketing principles work today as before. Customers want to deal with companies who care for them and try to help solve problems.

You know, when you think about it, this is a wonderful time for business. It gives the good businesses an opportunity to stand out from the crowd. This has always been the case. Today things are accentuated.

The best will get better. The bad will go away (unless they receive a large government bail-out, which only delays the inevitable pain). There has been a lot of chaff among the wheat in business. Far too many people have based their lives, their spending patterns and ways of treating others on philosophies that don’t work and are hurtful. Now is a great opportunity to shed practices that have been holding you and your business back. Embrace what works yes, in technology but more importantly in philosophy. Discard philosophies and practices that harm others and don’t contribute to your success or others success.

Finally here’s another bonus to improve your business today.Use social proof extensively and rely on the ease of video today to communicate that. Here’s an idea go out and visit (yes, this goes beyond email for desk-bound key-typers! and visit real, live customers! For those who have been pleased with your products or services in the past, ask for a quick video endorsement. This video testimonial can quickly be placed on your website’s homepage. Don’t worry about making it super professional. In fact, make it more man on the street real world type of interviews and it will communicate that they are real, not paid actors. You’ll bond more with customers and you’ll be able to build the base for new customers.

The opportunities are enormous for companies who embrace time-honored principles of success. Applying these principles can help you succeed today and no matter what comes tomorrow.

Somehow I think Teddy Roosevelt would be proud.

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

By Terry L. Brock

The election of Barack Obama is a change. Hey, my auto-dictionary on my copy of Word is still putting the red squiggly lines for unknown words under both his first and last name (that is going to change fast!). We have entered a new era in politics and the way business is done is also changing.

Or is it really change? Does the election indicate change or just a realization of what has existed already? I think it is a combination. As a marriage just formalizes the love that two people have for each other and a divorce formalizes the termination of a relationship that ended earlier, the event validates what has already occurred. Yet, we mark it as significant since we humans beings like a reference point — a date — to mark significance in our lives.

Many pundits are pontificating about the election. Some are useful, some mere blather. Quick side note: Try recording some of these predictions and then play them back for yourself in one year. See who was on the mark and who was way off. That will be good education.

But, what are the ramifications of this for your business? How will you conduct successful business under an Obama Administration in the States? If you’re out of the US, what are the ramifications of that for you? Now is the time to plan and adjust.

First, regardless of your political position, the vast majority of thinking Americans are saying it is about time that we have a black president. This is a turning point in our nation’s history. Some might have preferred another political perspective, but this is what has happened. We rejoice in that and this journalist adds his congratulations to the new President and new Administration wishing them the best for the next four years.

Having said that it is time to get down to business — our business. Another President of the US, Calvin Coolidge once said,  The business of America is business. Stop looking for political answers to solve your problems. Do you honestly think that by going into a voting booth and pulling a lever you will change your future? You have to make the change happen yourself. You have to shore up your business and make it work.

So, what can we do in a practical way now? Here are some steps that can help as you put your own business, your own career and your own life in order:

1. Deal With The Recession. Many are saying we are in one economically and psychologically. Now is the time to use this to your advantage. The best athletes strike hardest when conditions are brutal. When everyone else is taking a break, you can improve your skills, better your marketing and take the long-term approach. Changing circumstances require changing plans.

2. Get Back To Basics. Now is not the time for frivolity. Focus on what matters. Build strong, lasting business relationships. Improve your technology and skill in using it. As you leverage technology —- much of it already sitting on your desk! — you can send more valuable marketing pieces, contact hot prospects and be ready for the business that is taking place. Be sure to check out PC Fixer as I mention below!

3. Acquire Resources. Now is the time to buy. You can purchase homes and cars now with much better terms than when things were booming. You can also acquire new talent cheaper. Think about consultants you’d like to use for their expertise, but couldn’t afford them before. Now could be a good time to negotiate a deal and get the valuable knowledge you need at much lower price. While the competition is cutting back on everything, you will acquire the resources to help you now and in the future. Do some serious smart spending.

4. Listen To What Your Customers Are NOT Telling You. You have to read between the lines. Yes, ask them questions but listen on two levels: the one they say and the other they don’t say. Sometimes they want to do business with you but just can’t because of their own problems. Find ways to help those who are interested in working with you to do business with you. Make it easier for them. This will bring in some business now and engender good will for the future.

5. Re-Evaluate Relationships. Some people were friends when the money (yours) was flowing (to them!). Now is a good time to find out who is real and who was just blowing smoke about being with you. Cultivate those relationships that are real and will last. Jettison those relationships where others don’t embrace a value-for-value premise. This house-cleaning of relationships will help you to find better quality people for your business and personal life.

It is a time for change. This is true for the nation and for your business. Seize the moment and have fun! Make changes for the better.

And don’t forget to check out a great tool for detecting problems on your Windows PC. It is free and works very well. I did a video on this at www.TerryBrock.com under the title Fix PC Problem with PC Fixer (dated Nov 05). Watch the video interview I did with the CEO of the company, Digital Support Technologies. This is the type of technology you need during tough times. It is free. It is powerful. It can save you a lot of aggravation. You’ll be glad you saw it.

Happy Change to you!

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

If you use a Windows computer, you know about problems that can occur. In the past you had to bring in technicians and run a lot of elaborate software. Today there is a tool you can download and fix those repairs.

Recently I was able to talk with Haiying Wang, the CEO of Digital Support Technologies who has a solution for that. I tested it myself and it worked very well on an old, dilapidated computer I hadn’t adjusted in years. It was amazing.

Watch this video and you’ll hear Haiying talk about what it can do for you in real-world situations. PC Fixer is their down loadable software and it is worth investigating.

I look forward to your comments.

Terry
www.TerryBrock.com

P.S. You’ve got to try this out. Here are the links you’ll need to try it for yourself:

Digital Support Technology: www.digitalsupporttech.com
PC Fixer: www.digitalsupporttech.com/en-us/download.htm

Recently I read a book that you’ve got to check out. It is called “Changing the Channel” by Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby. These two marketing geniuses are with the famous website, www.EarlyToRise.com where millions go for information on marketing, building wealth, health and more.

Their book, “Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business” is just what today’s business owners need. You can’t rely on just one medium for success. You need to blend in online, offline and many other strategies to succeed. One approach does NOT work for all.

In the video I illustrate one excerpt in particular which helps to develop your marketing and advertising campaign. The book takes you through a step-by-step process to put it all together.

You can get this at Amazon.com or other online stores. Check out www.EarlyToRise.com for what I feel is the best website for marketing, health and wisdom on the Net. Let me know what you think and I’ll look forward to your feedback (below).

Terry Brock

Social Networking, Open Source
And Your Business Success

By Terry L. Brock

Social Networking is a logical extension of Relationship Marketing or what I call R-Commerce. It is the desire for people to connect with others who share similar interests, values, ideas and can help each other. It is also a symptom of how marketing has changed.

In the old days (not that long ago), marketers would craft their message and push it out to the masses. Vehicles used included TV advertising, radio advertising, newspapers and other tools. These were good for taking your message and sending it to the masses.

Today things are different.

The old model has been turned upside-down. A combination of factors has brought this about: 1) Technology has made it easier to send email thus we’re all getting WAY too much email. Our filtering systems (both technological and psychological) are more highly refined. That means your prospects are more likely to filter out your message. 2) Technology has enabled the average person to create audio, video and text products that rival the old radio, TV and print media. 3) We want more real human interaction because of the overwhelm from too much stuff.

So, how can a smart marketer make it in this market? Adapt to the new ways and blend in the best of the old.

Be a friend. Be a resource. This is how you get attention. Be the go-to person that people turn to for information and answers. Yes, this means you have to do your homework and be up on relevant information that is pertinent to your customers. Tom Stanley, of Millionaire Next Door fame (and the best marketing prof I had in my MBA program!) said it is important to be the hub. Be the person that others come to for connections. You don’t have to be a real estate agent, but you should know who is best for various types of real estate, geographies, etc. You don’t have to be a dentist but learn who are the good dentists in your area and provide recommendations. Be the person that everyone knows and be likable. This combination is the new way of marketing effectively. It is what R-Commerce is all about.

Another important trend is Open Source. This means that software is available, usually in web-based applications, to get the job done. Products like Google Docs, Gmail (with contact support), Zoho, Salesforce.com and others are rivaling the traditional desktop-based software products that were dominant earlier. Today we can use the power of the Net to produce documents on Google Docs, let others collaborate from anywhere they happen to be, see up-to-date information and be always updated with the latest version. Backup? It’s already done since it’s on the Net. This Thin Client approach to computing is changing the way to access data. Actually, it is a new way of doing what used to work years ago. What’s old is new again.

Think about how you can Open Source more of your content. Be the hub for others and let them interact with you. Be the resource that people must turn to for relevant information. Look at the new G1 Android from Google. It is designed so that developers around the world can create applications and apply it to the device.

The G1 Android (www.android.com) is imminently flexible to allow for a variety of applications that the open market will create. Some will be very useful. Others won’t. Hey, that’s the way the free market works. A command and control top-down approach to software is giving way to a more interactive, user-sponsored system. Much like the old Soviet Union fell trying to wield all power from the top, organizations that practice a more interactive, invisible hand approach (to borrow from Adam Smith) will succeed.

A good example of how this is working is with SalesConx (www.salesconx.com). This company serves as the introducer for buyers and sellers of various products and services. It is a system for business referrals connecting people who have skills with those who need them. Sellers pay a fee for referrals and buyers get someone who is screened by SalesConx to insure legitimacy.

I recently experienced SalesConx not only for this column but also in my own business speaking services. Soon after posting my listing I received a reply. It seemed intriguing but being the skeptical, jaded journalist who I am, I questioned the lead. The staff of SalesConx came through checking into the authenticity of the offer and recommended I pass on this one. That saved me the referral fee and potential disappointment. Having that third party intervening can help both buyers and sellers.

This is a trend that I see continuing. Although I still haven’t booked any solid business through them, I believe that SalesConx has a lot of potential. If you want to recommend people for legitimate business, it is a good way to connect people and make some money yourself. The way the system is designed is a real win-win — just like business should be. Check out their website and services to see how you could add some extra business. It is well worth the time.

Social Networking works because when it is done right, it connects people who really want to be together.

It is a new world for business. Embrace the opportunities. Open your mind to a new way of connecting. It is a great way to prosper in any economy. Besides — it’s also a lot of fun!

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and columnist who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

By Terry L. Brock

All right! Enough already! We’ve heard it over and over about the tough times and how the economy is on a roller coaster. Is this a new era? Are we facing another Great Depression? What is going to happen to the credit and financial markets?

Well, I’d be happy to tell you what is going to happen but my crystal ball is broken. However, I can see what works with human nature and how people overcome challenges and we can learn from that and grow.

When times get tough — as they have and will again and again — they provide a wonderful opportunity to begin anew. As human beings we achieve more and become our very best when we overcome serious obstacles and challenges.

Don’t fear the hard times — embrace them. Comfort does not produce greatness is a wonderful Buddhist saying a friend of mine shared with me recently. Be honest with yourself and you might find a few times when you focused more on comfort than producing the greatness for yourself and for others. This is human nature.

You could sit in a bathtub of warm water all day. But it won’t make you strong. It will only give you wrinkles! Get out of that warm water, dry off, get dressed and get ready to charge into the real world. Face what is out there. Yes, there will be tough times. Yes, there will be some setbacks. Welcome to my planet. It works that way here. However, as you embrace the challenges, overcome obstacles and gain more skills you become a better person.

Jim Rohn said it very well when he said that you should strive to earn a million dollars. You don’t have to do it for what you can buy with the million dollars. You could choose to give it all away. However, make it a goal to earn the million dollars because of who you’ll become in the process. Do it for the skills you’ll master along the journey.

Tough times bring out the best — and worst — in people. Tough times have a way of cutting out the dross, the nonsense (and a few other color metaphors). Think of it like a ship tossed at sea. Cargo which doesn’t contribute to sustaining the ship is thrown overboard during violent storms. That which does not contribute to the sustenance of the ship is discarded as it has to be. Be proactive in eliminating the dross from your own business and life.

Take this opportunity to become more of the better person you want to be. Learn new skills. Study revenue-generating ideas in books, magazines, Blogs, podcasts, seminars and elsewhere. Study diligently how to improve critical, revenue-generating areas of your business operation.

Build new relationships and nurture existing, profitable relationships. Now is also a good time to eliminate those areas of your life that aren’t serving you. Now is an excellent time to examine your Relationship Marketing efforts. What is working? What is not? Tough times have a way of helping show who is really with you and who was merely saying nice things during the good times.

This would be a great time to meet with your team of top coaches, employees, consultants and other trusted advisers. Have frank and candid meetings with them to explain where you are, what is going on now and the opportunities for the future. The old WOTS analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities) strategy is perfect for this.

This is a particularly pungent time for us as a nation. We’re facing a major election. Politicians, as they are inclined by nature, see the solution as political. I see it differently. Whoever is elected and whichever party controls the reins of government, your success is ultimately up to you. The solution is not political. It is in personal achievement. Your success is up to you, not the politicians who are elected. You have to take matters into your own hands to get better, achieve your own goals and help others.

Focus on doing Relationship Marketing right. That is one of the best skills you can master. Find out ways to serve others and help them in this time of challenges. As you serve others and help them meet their needs, you’ll be able to meet your own needs.

Now is not the time to focus on comfort. Get out of that warm bathtub water, for crying out loud! Take decisive, results-oriented steps to build your Relationship Marketing. Become the better person that you really know you can be and want to be. Today is a perfect opportunity to do it.

When you succeed and achieve your goals you’ll become someone you can be proud of and then comfort will be even sweeter. Hey, you might even treat yourself to a warm bath — for a short time!

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and columnist who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

By Terry L. Brock

The whole point of Relationship Marketing is to connect with people where they are and meet their needs for profitable business. Having instant access to important contact and reference information is vital. Today’s mobile professional needs access to email, phone, cell numbers and that important tad bit of information about contacts. This information needs to be available on a laptop, a mobile Smartphone, iPhone or other portable device.

Well, I’m excited about a new device that is custom-designed to build your Relationship Marketing. It is the new CardScan for Mac. This tool can make money for you. I use it on my MacBook Pro and you can use their similar products on your computer.

To test this for you, I entered several business cards into my Mac with CardScan. The cards scanned rapidly in less than 5 seconds on average. Since business cards don’t follow a standard format there is always going to be a challenge reading them optically. However, I was able to do a quick visual scan and correct even the most egregious misreads within a few seconds. This is not bad, when you consider that these cards represent real people who are real important and can lead to generating real business.

CardScan has the ability to quickly scroll through business cards using their image view feature. This is a great tool to jog your memory about key people. It is similar to Leopard’s Coverflow. Imagine being in some distant hotel room trying to drum up business. Rather than carrying thousands of cards, you have the images, as well as parsed details, available with a few taps on your keyboard. This is great to connect with important people and strengthen relationships.

I was able to sync with Address Book and Microsoft Entourage quickly. I found that when I entered the card into CardScan, verified it and then selected Export to Address book, I had an immediate copy of it in Address Book and Entourage. Nice! Further, when synchronized with my iPhone all the newly entered data transferred for immediate availability. Total time for a new card from scan to available on my iPhone? About 3 minutes and that included updates on all my iPhone podcasts!

An area where CardScan disappoints is with groups. Group creation would be easier to target and segment contacts. This is more effective marketing. Instead, all contacts come into one large heap of names. Segmenting by groups would be most helpful. Hopefully the next version will allow this.

My system slowed considerably when I exported my Address Book (with 3,685 contacts). This impedes doing business and needs to be corrected whether this is a problem with my system or a bug in the new version.

Overall, this is not just a way to quickly scan your business cards. Yes, it does that extremely well. This tool is a serious way to increase business, organize your life and build your business not only in a tough economy, but any economy. A mobile professional who is serious about business would be short-changed without CardScan as a business-building tool.

(CardScan for Mac, $259.99, 1.800.640.6944, www.CardScan.com)

Building Business In A Tough Economy

That leads to a very important principle. Whatever technology you use, it is vital to stay in touch with important people. During tough economic times the average person will get depressed, have fear about the future and feel like all is lost.

The successful salesperson and business owner today has those same feelings. This is normal. However, the successful person goes beyond that and has the determination to acquire new skills, build new contacts and embrace a do whatever it takes to grow out of this mentality.

Be the successful person you know you can be. Yes, we’ll embrace new technologies as they come. But remember the solution is NOT in the technology. The solution is in your mindset and the attitude you have to learn, grow and get up when (not if) you fall down.

Acquire the necessary skills. Be willing to pay the extra time, money and effort it requires to learn and grow. The first step to success is having an indomitable spirit in the face of any challenge. That principle is needed today and will be in the future.

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and columnist who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

To be successful in business you need more than just one thing. I see people stumble in business all the time who have many of the elements but not all.

In this issue, I interview noted international business strategist, Niki McCuisition. She is a person who helps businesses around the world develop the right strategy to reach customers and increase profits. She has done a lot of video work in the Middle East. In this interview, she shares some experiences she had in Israel and the lessons she learned about helping doing more than the sound bite, yet how important it is.

Niki is a very successful woman entrepreneur who can teach all of us. Be sure to leave a comment here (below) with your reaction to making a good sound bite.

To reach Niki you can send an email to:

Nikin@NikiMcCuistion.com

or visit her website at www.nikimccuistion.com

By Terry L. Brock

Yikes! The headlines are scary. The financial melt-down continues as I type this article. You have the advantage from this publication to see what is happening since my original thoughts were penned (okay, typed on my computer). You have access to the latest, cutting edge news and this breaking news, just  information that is spewing out from Blogs, Cable News, podcasts and more.

[Be sure to check out the video below. It is an interview I did with Bill Lampton, PhD about adapting to change in the midst of crises going on in the world.]

Many on Wall Street have suddenly discovered, and soon many on Main Street may soon discover, that the past doesn’t equal the future. Grand and glorious ideas of a new way of doing things which are not embedded in the rock-solid principles that work just seem to fizzle when facing the real world. Doing stupid stuff still doesn’t work, no matter how we dress it up. To borrow from a current theme in politics, lipstick, no matter what color or how pretty, still doesn’t keep the pig from being a pig. Making bad loans to unreliable borrowers is a bad idea no matter how it is dressed up with pretty language.

However, in the midst of this current crisis-of-the-moment, there are some sound principles that will not only help you in this current financial crisis (and it is a doosey!), but into the future as there will be more crises coming. No, I’m not a psychic, but I can predict — with high levels of accuracy — that there will be further crises in the future. Oh, I’m also predicting that Winter will be cold followed by a thawing in the Spring and warm weather next Summer!

But you see, that is just the point. Predictions are easy when you base them on time-honored principles. Sure we don’t know the specifics, but if we can spot the trends and take advantage of these trends, we’ll always do well.

Ken Lewis is CEO of a little country bank. He is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Okay, his little country bank is that of a real country — Ken Lewis is CEO of Bank of America. He followed important principles by stepping up to purchase Merrill Lynch when the crisis offered that opportunity. He adapted to the situation. He seized the day and made the most of what was, and is, a most difficult situation. Some would deride him as an opportunist. Throughout history, many have complained about those who purchased assets when blood is running in the streets as being ruthless and cold-hearted.

I would say this is just following key principles that work. Many millions were made in the Great Depression in the 1930′s as assets plummeted in value. Those who stepped in and wisely made purchases of value were able to realize great profits later. Successful people focus on the long-term and how to create value. This works in any market. Focus your attention on how to create value for others and you’ll do remarkably well in any market.

This past weekend I read Herbert Spencer’s classic, The Man Versus the State. He raised many good points about the encroaching power of government to squelch individual initiative and growth. The principles he cited in the 19th Century continue to resonate today. He was the person to coin the phrase, Survival of the Fittest. He was paraphrasing Charles Darwin’s work. I find it intriguing to think about that as well as what Darwin originally said,

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.

These words were never more true than today. The world is different today. We have to prepare ourselves mentally, physically and spiritually to adapt to the new environment.

Of course, this has always and will always be true. Prepare yourself mentally by studying and learning. Even more important, learn to unlearn. Learn to get rid of what doesn’t work. Feed your mind with good quality, timeless information. Yes, the crisis of the moment and This breaking news just gets our immediate attention. However, what matters long-term is the rock-solid principles of creating value, helping others meet their needs and doing what is right. At any given moment, it could appear that the laws have changed. But rest assured that as we lock into time-honored principles we succeed. Build your own future on a solid foundation.

In the midst of locking into solid value, we must remain flexible to adapt. Learn new technologies. Learn new procedures. Adapt your tactics to fit new realities. Thomas Jefferson said it well, In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.

In the field of technology, we see Microsoft fading and not as important as it once was. Google and Apple are the current rising stars. A new way of dealing with technology is upon us. However, this too, will change. Lock into serving customers and helping them with practical technology and you’ll go far.

Read the classics. Understand the time-honored principles, which help us to be more adaptable — whatever is coming. Great minds have gone before us and faced their own crises. Some succeeded. Some did not. Learn what worked and adapt to today’s environment. True, the past does not equal the future. At the same time, key principles remain and will always be true.

Napoleon Hill told us long ago that each failure or setback carries with it the seeds for even greater rewards and benefits in the future. Look for the opportunities amidst the calamities we hear on TV. Consider turning off the TV and reading some good books instead. You’ll gain more relevant knowledge — and your doctor will probably be pleased with your dropping blood pressure!

This would be an excellent way to adapt in the midst of the current crisis.

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and columnist who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

By Terry L. Brock Get Juiced Those of us who use Apple’s iPhone find it increasingly useful for many applications. I use mine for phone calls (of course) along with checking the Net for messages on a regular basis and more. I can get a lot done from just about anywhere I am using it. However, my objection to the iPhone initially was battery life. If I use it for listening to music, surfing the Net, reading books, etc. etc. that is going to drain the battery. Then making those late-in-the-day phone calls when I can’t get near a charger (think airplane rides and walking around a new city) won’t happen. Well, that problem is in the past.  Mophie has released a simple, easy to apply and fun to use battery charger for the iPhone. I’m using it now on my 1st generation iPhone and it works like a charm. From their spec sheet it gives a standby time of up to 250 hours, audio playback of up to 24 hours (nice when listening to educational podcasts on those long days), talk time up to 8 hours (that should take you through the midnight hour on those extra-long business days), video playback of up to 7 hours (for training videos) and Internet use of up to 6 hours (I like it!). What the spec sheet doesn’t say is the intangible, business benefit. If you think your battery is going to go out, you will naturally refrain from making calls. You tend to ration your remaining battery life. For an aggressive, successful salesperson, this could mean not making those important calls because you don’t want the call cut off in the middle of the conversation. With the Mophie Juice Pack (love that name!) you just slide your iPhone into the pack and voila! You’re back, ready to go with up to 8 hours of talking time remaining. If it produces one extra sale in a year, you’ve probably paid for the $99 unit. Be sure to watch the video of this I produced (available at www.TerryBrock.com) so you can see it in action. This illustrates an important technology for iPhone users. Even more important, what Mophie has done is vital for successful business today. Find a real need in the marketplace, make it easy (important!), fun (very important!) and cool (welcome to the 21st Century!) to use. Make your product affordable and something that your target market can embrace easily. If you use an iPhone (1st Gen or new 3G), you need to check out their site and see what all this Juice can do for you. I’m certainly juiced about it! (Juice Pack, www.mophie.com, $99.00) Portable, Personal Home Theater I love learning. I love to watch video educational material and produce a lot of it. When I first saw eye-wear available for watching a DVD or other video from your personal eye shades I knew it was going to be good. But I had not seen the Vuzix AV920 yet. To describe this device as incredible, awesome and outstanding would be an understatement. I recently got the Vuzix AV920 and got it hooked up to my iPod classic 80GB player. I was able to watch several video sales podcasts on a recent cross-country flight. Unfortunately, the flight only lasted about 2 minutes (at least it seemed that short!). When you get the AV920, you might want to do what I did and that is to remove the earbuds which are attached to the unit. They have poor sound quality and can even hurt as they poke you in the ears. Instead, use your regular ear buds. I use my Able Planet headphones (luxurious!) and drift into my own relaxed, cushioned world of enjoyment with the help of the AV920. To call it merely an enjoyable experience would be like a stark-raving thirsty man in the desert saying that the refreshing, clear bottle of water was adequate. You’ve got to try the AV920 yourself with one of your favorite videos to understand the dazzling experience. Recently I demonstrated this to an audience where I was speaking and asked one of the participants to try it out. Yes, he loved it and those around were amazed how he was also engulfed into his own world of relaxation and amazement somewhere in the heavens watching video. When he finally came back to Earth (we had to drag him back!), he was delighted. He talked about the business benefit this would have. You can have a video of your product or service and show it to a client. They will be totally immersed in your message on video and you will have their undivided attention. It would make good business sense for a company to have several of these with accompanying video players to allow all key customers the thrill of your new video of your product or service. Better than a stand-alone video, it engulfs the prospect into your predesigned message. The business benefits of this technology are outstanding. You capture attention in an age of ever-expanding attention grabbers. This way you have your prospect’s complete attention. That can generate more sales by using this creative, unique approach. And who said you can’t have fun while selling and making money? (AV920, $349.95 retail, Vuzix.com) Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and columnist who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

Cuil is the name of the newest search engine that has trained its guns on Google (www.cuil.com) Are they big enough to take on mighty Google? Do they have what it takes? How can you benefit from knowing what they can do?

Watch this video to see what is available and how you can use it as a competitive advantage in your business. Leave your comments below and I’ll look forward to hearing from you.

By Terry L. Brock

The dismal economy has given you and me, as small business owners and salespeople, a real gift. Yep! You might not initially think of it as a gift but this really is.

Before you pop the champagne, let’s look at what is going on and what we can do about it. Yes, times are tough now. Just look at the recent collapse of Indy-Mac, the massive problems with Fannie Mae and Freedie Mac, daily increases in the price of oil, problems in the housing sector, the auto sector and other areas of the economy. And if that weren’t enough—- Budweiser is going to be owned by a bunch of Belgians! Is nothing sacred???

Yet, in the middle of all this bad news, you and I have a special opportunity that we didn’t have in earlier, better times. You know the metaphor I use in building and maintaining relationships. I think of it much like farming. You have to study the soil, till the soil, plant the crops, nurture them and perform many other tasks to produce a good harvest.

There is another important part of farming. It is called pruning. You have to cut back on the things that aren’t producing.

This is the same for you and me in our businesses. We have to be relationship farmers. You have to prune activities, tasks and yes, people in your life where results are not in line with your goals. During thriving times it is easier to just say, Let’s grow the business more. We have plenty so it is easy to avoid the tough decisions.

Serious marketers and relationship farmers know there is a time to cut activities, tasks and yes, even relationships that don’t work. This is hard and requires serious thinking. You also don’t want to cut the muscle when cutting the fat. Use your best judgment here.

Jack Welch helped us when he talked about his annual 10% cut. He would annually cut the bottom 10% of people, activities and tasks that were not producing optimal results. This required serious thinking in terms of what is right for the business. It is a big part of Relationship Marketing and Relationship Farming.

In Relationship Farming, you have to decide which crops are not giving you the desired results you need to keep the business going. What activities are you engaged in which could be delegated or divested? What vendors do you have who could be eliminated or replaced?

It is also imperative to focus on those relationships that are not productive and based on value-for-value. In the real world we all know people who are takers, not givers. Successful relationship farmers practice lots of giving and value-providing before they expect to get anything. You have to prime the pump with water before you get any water from the pump. Life works like that.

Therefore this is a special time and it is a gift for you and me. You have the opportunity to step back, pause and think about what can — and should — be eliminated from your business and personal life. What activities are a drain to you and your productivity? What relationships are not producing, have never produced and probably never will produce any serious business benefits? Remember — cut the fat, not the muscle.

You’re probably familiar with the Pareto Principle — the 80/20 rule. 80% of what you do accounts for 20% of the benefits. Also 20% of the sales produce 80% of the profits. More recent studies have shown that it is probably closer to 90/10. The moral for you and me? Focus on value-producing, quality activities, tasks and people in life and let the others fall by the wayside. Yes, it is time for pruning. It is time to cut. It is time to step back, think and revise what you’re doing.

A question you should continually have on your mind — Is this is the best thing for me to do right now? Are you wasting your time on frivolous, tension-relieving activities rather than serious, bottom-line results? Now is the time to eliminate the unnecessary. Focus on value-generating activities. Think as a Relationship Farmer who invests in quality results with people and activities.

Shedding the frivolous and those people who don’t embrace value-for-value frees up time so you can cultivate quality relationships with those who do. You only have 24 hours each day. Invest your time, money and effort into those people and activities where you get quality returns on your investment of time, effort and money.

Tough times are a gift for us. That gift is the ability to prune as never before. Take some time as you read this and decide what you are NOT going to do. Get serious about the relationships in which you’ve been investing. Would they be better off being merely part of your newsletter vs. a luncheon and hours of your time? Don’t spend time on the phone with people just chatting away. Make sure there is value-for-value in the relationship.

Pruning time is part of Relationship Farming. After the pruning we can focus on what matters most and spend time on those activities, tasks and people who provide the best results. And that is worth a toast to celebrate. You can even use a good Belgian beer Budweiser!

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and columnist who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

Connecting with good people in a positive way is what Relationship Marketing, or what I call R-Commerce, is all about. All successful businesses are built on the concept of establishing, building and maintaining profitable relationships in business.

When economic times get tougher it is natural to cut back in any areas where you can save money. This is a good pruning strategy that every organization should go through— even in the best of times.

Business relationships have to undergo the same scrutiny. There are some relationships that your business will have that just don’t make economic sense. Some prospects never turn into customers. Yes, they are all people and we care for all people. Let’s get that one right out of the way! However, from a business point of view, you have to focus eventually on those business relationships which are going to be more profitable. In your personal life, you can focus on other non-business relationships for other purposes. But when it comes to business, this is serious.

So what criteria do you, as a successful businessperson use to cull through the masses? How do you treat people right no matter what, and still retain a profitable business? How can you differentiate from a host of possibilities and focus on those areas which are most beneficial for you in business?

Well, I don’t have all the answers. Sorry. However, here are some brain droppings that I have on this (to borrow from the late great George Carlin’s book title). Let me know what you think but here are my thoughts:

1. Determine What Your Goals Are. This is always the most important first step in business. Stephen Covey taught us how important is it to Begin with the end in mind. How are you going to derive profits in your business? Who is the ideal customer for you? If you can clearly identify the people that are most likely to purchase your product or service, you can filter all those you meet through to the right category. And that leads us to the second step to…

2. Develop Categories For Customers. I’ve read many good business books about database marketing. All those I have read state it is important to put customers into categories. Some of these are often called, Hot, Interested, Met and Discard or something like that. You can’t be everything to everyone. So, you have to focus your attention on those business relationships which involve the most likely prospects to purchase what you have. Think about it— in personal relationships you can’t have 1,000 really close friends. You couldn’t keep up with all of them and be good friends with everyone. Yes, you can have acquaintances and be friendly with everyone. But only a limited number of people can be very close. The same principle applies with business relationships. You can only have a given number of top-drawer customers. You have to determine the criteria and how many based on your business model. This is one of the most important considerations you’ll make in planning your business.

3. Allocate Your Resources. You have to be choosy with how you deploy those assets you and your business have. How much time are you going to allow yourself at select activities? Given tough times you have to make hard decisions about where you spend your time, money and effort. You can’t go to every seminar or convention. During tough economic times, you have to prune some relationships. Focus your time on those that provide the most value for value. This is true in business and in life.

A word of caution: Don’t throw away customers who aren’t profitable today just because you don’t think they ever will be in the future. They could be at some point and you don’t want to lose out on that option. Also, they have friends and can influence others. You want to have a category for everyone interested where you send them a Blog update, audio, video, etc. Give them value to stay in touch but focus your face time with those who will bring the greatest benefit.

Tough economic times require a fresh review of your financial and economic priorities. This is good for business overall. Like a farmer has to let a field lie fallow every so many years, you have to leave some markets. After you leave them for a while you could come back in the future or redeploy those assets. Just know this is the way of nature and it works in relationships as well.

Most important, remember to hang onto those relationships that are best for the long-term. Cherish them and nurture them. They are the relationships that keep a business strong and healthy.

So, what do you think? I look forward to hearing from you. Drop me a note at Terry@TerryBrock.com.

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and columnist who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

Stop it already!! I don’t have time for yet another Blog, news story, article, podcast, video on the Net, social networking meeting, blah, blah, blah. Yikes! I am inundated with so many choices that it drives me nuts.

Maybe you can relate.

We’re all swamped with so many things going on. Your customers are in the same place. They are swamped and can’t keep up with all the new information. Then you, as an aspiring new vendor of theirs, come bouncing in the door with your new Wonder Widget and they can’t handle anymore. You call it rejection. They call it, Dealing with yet another pesky salesperson.

So how do you become relevant and build quality, profitable business relationships today? How do you get someone’s attention in an age of overload? How can you stand out in a favorable way?

There are lots of techniques that work and we only have a short time here so let me share some of what is going on and some solutions to help you.

Today it is imperative to be relevant. That means you have to appeal to my interests. Don’t tell me about you. Ugh! I want to know about how you can help me. This is the old story of what everyone’s favorite radio station is: WII-FM (What’s In It For Me?). It is your job as a successful entrepreneur, salesperson (aren’t we all today?) and business leader to actively find out how to help the other person. This is the best way to insure your own success.

The rage with video on the Net is a good example. Today we are swamped with so many choices that we often feel overwhelmed. We can’t keep up with it all. As I talk with entrepreneurs, I find most interested in how they can produce video and send out their video to the masses. However, with everyone producing video and sending it out there — who is watching this stuff? Are we a world of producers only? Does anyone consume this stuff?

Think about it. The world is not just sitting around waiting for you to produce your video. They are interested in their stuff and what is going on in their lives. Chuck Reaves, a professional sales trainer from Georgia, shared an important insight many years ago. He said, it is revealing when in a conversation with another to monitor how much they ask about you. Be the one asking the questions and listening. When the conversation ends, pause and ask how much you know about that other person and how much they learned from you. Successful salespeople ask and listen more than they talk. It’s the old Two ears, two eyes and one mouth—that’s the proportion you use them adage.

So, what do you do to be relevant? How does this increase your Relationship Marketing? Here are some points that can help.

Be relentless in being relevant. Never stop thinking about how you can profoundly and positively impact others for their betterment. The more you can do to help them achieve the goals they want, the more will flow to you. It is the way of nature. It is the way of successful Relationship Marketing.

How to Remain Relevant:

1. Think Them, Not You. Find what is bothering them. Where is their pain? Hey, we all have pain. Find out what is the most painful, challenging thing they are enduring now. If you can fix it, make it so. If you can only listen and empathize, do that. They’ll at least know you care and that is a big step forward.

2. Stay Current. If you don’t know what is happening in our world, you can’t be relevant. However, we don’t need to watch cable news 24/7 (please!). I find reading news.google.com gives me a quick overview of popular news stories I need to know. Then I go in-depth with Business Journals online for relevant business news (yes, shameless plug here). I also enjoy the Wall Street Journal and the Drudge Report to get a good overview. I avoid TV as it is so enmeshed with needless emotionalism and frankly, I don’t have time for all the senseless drama. Also podcasts are powerful for getting relevant information for business today.

3. Be Hungry For Solutions. Aggressively use your mind to soak up all the relevant information from a wide variety of sources you can. Then trust your marvelous subconscious brain to piece things together and come up with new ideas that are relevant problem-solvers. This builds relationships in business like nothing else. And while you’re hungry for solutions, provide tasty, delicious tidbits for others that will bring them back. Been only offering text? Try video. Try audio. Try teleseminars. Do something beneficial to others to break out of the mold. Do something radically delightful, which will make customers giddy with glee.

Being relevant is one of the most powerful ingredients in building successful business relationships. If you become —-here’s that horrible word — boring, you are toast in today’s world. Stay alive. Be relevant for others and find ways to make their lives better.

Doing this will insure your own future success. On top of that you’ll have a boatload of fun!

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and columnist who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using time-honored rules and practical technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.