5 Post-COVID Ways to Attract New Customers for Your Business Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses 101 7 Ways to Prepare Your Business for Inflation 6 Fatal Mistakes 9 out of 10 Startups Make in the First Year 10 Tips to Write Compelling Marketing Emails 2 Questions Every Woman in Business Needs to Ask MotivationandSuccess.com June 2022 FREE
Cracking the Code: Brad Lea’s Secrets to Building Confidence and Success
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INSIDE THIS MONTH’S ISSUE Marketing Calendar- pg. 3
Instead of worrying about the summer slow down, use this time to learn about social media engagement and marketing your business.
Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses 101 - pg. 4
Everyone loves a day at the beach, but with inflation rising and customers spending less money, it’s time to hunker down and focus on your business’s growth–have some pencils and paper ready to write down new strategies to blast through the summer!
Cracking the Code: Brad Lea’s Secrets to Building Confidence and Success - pg. 9
Social media is integral to our personal lives and should be for your company too. Hop online, make some accounts and read our tips on how you can directly interact with your customers and grow your brand. No company can survive without marketing. Learn the secrets to writing effective marketing emails and stay ahead of the competition with our article on digital marketing trends in 2022. Building relationships with your target market is only part of the equation, though. Twenty percent of startup businesses fail in their first year but don’t worry; we have you covered with six detrimental mistakes companies make—so you can avoid them.
7 Ways to Prepare Your Business for Inflation - pg. 21 6 Fatal Mistakes 9 out of 10 Startups Make in the First Year - pg. 25 10 Tips to Write Compelling Marketing Emails - pg. 28
Sometimes we’re faced with economic challenges outside of our control. We’ll give you the tools you need to ensure that inflation doesn’t sink your business.
2 Questions Every Woman in Business Needs to Ask - pg. 32
Finally, Finall we’ll draw inspiration from Brad Lea, the founder of an online training program that began in 1999. Brad tells us about how a desire to help people every day is a vital source of motivation in running a business. Brad records every moment of his daily life and shares how having the camera on generates social media content that builds his brand and pulls clients in.
Infographic: Digital Marketing Trends to Get Ahead of in 2022 - pg. 35
To your business, Dennis M. Postema Founding Editor & CEO P.S. Want to get a back issue or help a friend sign up for a FREE Shotcaller subscription? Visit our website today! https://motivationandsuccess.com/shotcallers/
The content in Shotcallers Magazine is made available on the terms and conditions that the publisher, editors, contributors and relatied parties; shall have no responsibility for any action or omission by any other contributor, consultant, editor or related party; disclaim any and all liability and responsibility to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause; are not responsible in any way for the actions or results taken by any person, organization or any party on basis of reading information, or contributions in this publication, website or related product.
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5 Post-COVID Ways to Attract New Customers for Your Business - pg. 17
motivationandsuccess.com (855)-694-4426
Fun Facts- pg. 34
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Marketing Calendar Plan your marketing messages around these upcoming holidays and proclamations.
June Great Outdoors Month Men’s Health Month Pride Month Oral Health Month Safety Month June 14 - Flag Day (US) June 19 - Father’s Day June 21 - First Day of Summer (US) 1st - Go Barefoot Day 1st - Global Running Day 1st - Say Something Nice Day 2nd - Leave The Office Early Day 3rd - Donut Day 4th - Cheese Day 4th - Trails Day 5th - World Environment Day 5th - Cancer Survivor’s Day 7th - Animal Rights Day
8th - World Oceans Day 8th - Best Friends Day 9th - Donald Duck Day 11th - Corn on the Cob Day 12th - Loving Day 14th - World Blood Donor Day 14th - Bourbon Day 15th - Nature Photography Day 15th - Worldwide Day of Giving 16th - Fudge Day 16th - Career Nursing Assistants’ Day 19th - Martini Day 19th - Juneteenth 21st - World Day of Music 24th - Take Your Dog to Work Day 26th - Food Truck Day 27th - PTSD Awareness Day 27th - Sunglasses Day 28th - Insurance Awareness Day 30th - Meteor Watch Day 30th - Social Media Day
July National Grilling Month National Ice Cream Month National Picnic Month Independent Retailer Month National Watermelon Month July 4 - Independence Day (U.S.)
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1st - American Zoo Day 1st - Postal Worker Day 1st - International Joke Day 5th - Apple Turnover Day 6th - International Kissing Day 6th - Fried Chicken Day 7th - World Chocolate Day 7th - Father Daughter Take a Walk Day 9th - Collector Car Appreciation Day 10th - Pina Colada Day 11th - 7-Eleven Day 13th - French Fry Day 14th - Mac and Cheese Day 15th - Pet Fire Safety Day
15th - Give Something Away Day 15th - I Love Horses Day 17th - Lottery Day 17th - Emoji Day 17th - Ice Cream Day 18th - Amazon Prime Day 18th - World Listening Day 19th - Daiquiri Day 20th - Lollipop Day 21st - Junk Food Day 24th - Drive-Thru Day 24th - Parents Day 24th - Tequila Day 25th - Hot Fudge Sundae Day 26th - Bagelfest Day 28th - Milk Chocolate Day 29th - Chicken Wing Day 30th - International Day of Friendship 30th - Cheesecake Day 31st - Mutt Day 31st - Avocado Day
Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses 101 Social media is a great marketing tool, and with the right approach, your business can gain a lot of great exposure. But it will be hard to get all of the advantages when you first start off because you probably won’t have the following that those bigger businesses already do. That’s why social media marketing (SMM) is so important for small businesses because there are still ways to get more market share.
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This article will teach you social media marketing 101 and explain how small business owners can succeed with social media marketing in 2022 and beyond.
What Is Social Media Marketing? SMM is the process of using social media platforms to promote and sell your products, services, and brand as a whole. It’s a form of digital marketing that uses social media channels for advertising your business in order to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, generate leads for your sales team, and build customer loyalty. In the simplest terms, it’s all about connecting with people by sharing valuable content that helps them feel like they know you better. With so many dynamic ways to reach out and engage with customers on social media today, it’s essential for businesses, both new and old, to have an active presence on these platforms if they want to stay competitive and grow their following with each passing year.
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refer to it at all times to ensure that everything is going smoothly.
content and make sure it’s reaching the right audience.
To start with your social media marketing plan, think about why you are doing it and what your goals are. You should think about the real reason why you are using social media and how these platforms can help you achieve your business goals.
To get started analyzing your social media insights, first take a look at where most of your followers are located and find out which age group they fall under. Next, look at what kind of content they respond best to, if they like videos or photos more, and if they prefer long-form content over short posts.
The next step would be defining your target audience, researching your competitors, defining your USP (unique selling point), setting objectives, thinking about which platforms will be best for your business, creating a content calendar, and creating a budget. Take Advantage of Social Media Insights
So, you’ve started a social media account for your business, and now it’s time to get the word out. But what if you don’t know who to target? Not Start with a Plan to worry! Social media insights are there to help. A clear SMM plan will This is data generated by help you achieve your social media sites that business goals and act as a provides information on guide on how to execute how users interact with your strategy. Having a content posted on their documented strategy is sites. You can use this essential because you can data to optimize your
Once you have an idea of the kind of audience you’re targeting, figure out when the best time for you to post new content is (is it during work hours? On weekends?) so that you have maximum engagement with your audience when you do post something new. Build a Community Around Your Brand Your social media accounts are powerful tools for building a community around your brand. As you start out, it’s important to be strategic in how you approach this community. Remember that the goal is not just to secure followers. Those followers will quickly “unfollow” your brand if they feel like they are
being treated as a means of generating profit instead of being valued as individuals with unique needs and desires. It’s important to build up trust, so think about how you can create a connection between your brand and the people who follow you. Ideally, your audience should feel like they’re engaging with a person rather than an impersonal entity that only cares about making money.
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solutions if necessary. You can also use polls or surveys to directly ask what followers would be interested in seeing from your company moving forward: New products? Special offers? Perhaps some sort of subscription service?
out directly and develop relationships with relevant influencers so they will want to work with you in the future. Create Unique Content for Each Platform
As the saying goes, content is king. To create Build Relationships with content that engages your Brand Influencers audience, you’ll need to make sure it’s relevant, As a small-business owner, shareable, and consistent. you should be building You’ll also want to relationships with brand ensure that your content influencers. Influencers is optimized for each have immense power platform. Communicate with your to make or break a small audience business’s reputation on This means that each post social media. For example, should be tailored to the Be sure to make yourself if you are running a cafe audience and voice of available through direct and an influencer who each platform individually. messages or other means is known for their coffee For instance, a tweet with of contacting you privately posts about your cafe a link to one of your blog (like an email address online, your potential posts will not perform as or phone number). customers will see it as well as a Facebook post Encourage customers to an endorsement of your with a link because Twitter interact with each other product. users are more likely to by holding discussions skim through posts than on Facebook or Twitter, The first step is to find Facebook users. where different members influencers that are of the community can relevant to your brand Publish Regularly and easily contribute their and follow them on social Consistently thoughts and opinions media. Then engage with or ask questions about them, comment on their When it comes to social the products or services posts, and share their media marketing, there’s provided by your business. content. Next, create one thing that everyone branded content that will should know: post If a member has a appeal to the influencer regularly and consistently. problem, respond and include them in your The best social media promptly, and let them social media strategies by marketers are the ones know that their voice tagging or mentioning who follow this mantra. matters; offer them them in posts. Lastly, reach Posting regularly simply
means that you post a certain number of times per week or per day. In addition to posting regularly, you also want to make sure that you’re publishing your posts at a consistent time every day or every week. For example, if you have a company blog that you
information needs!
either!
Regularity is important in part because it helps establish yourself as an authority within your industry; people will come to trust that they can rely on you as a source of information because they can count on seeing new content from you
Your goal should always be quality over quantity when creating content for your business blog or social media pages since quality pieces are much more likely than fluff pieces to attract customers who will bring value for years down the road rather than just bringing traffic once. Create Shareable Content One of the best ways to get people to share your content is to make it shareable. This might seem obvious, but many brands forget that people have very little interest in sharing content that is uninteresting or irrelevant.
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By creating content your audience will want to post on every Monday, when they expect to see it. share, you increase the Wednesday, and Friday at However, regularity is not likelihood that they’ll noon, then readers will be the only thing that matters spread your message able to count on seeing when it comes to posting for you. Your audience new content from you frequency, quality matters might not always be in on those days and at that just as much (if not more). the mood for a blatant time. On the other hand, advertisement, but if if some weeks your blog Sure, posting 10 fluff you create something posts go live at 11 a.m., pieces in one week might interesting or entertaining, other weeks it’s 1 p.m., and seem like a good idea they may still be inclined other weeks it’s 3 p.m., in the short term, but to share it with their then your readers won’t chances are those articles friends and followers. know what to expect from won’t be very helpful or you and they might start informative; they probably Remember: your company looking elsewhere for their won’t help increase traffic page isn’t the only place
where people can find and interact with your marketing messages. You can also capture fans and customers by publishing content on Facebook and Twitter that users want to share with their networks. Leverage UserGenerated Content User-generated content (UGC) is a great way to boost your SMM. UGC is content created by your fans and followers. It can showcase the features of your product or service in a relatable, authentic way that elicits trust from potential customers. Make Your Posts Interactive Social media is a great way to interact with your audience and get new followers, but it’s important to make sure you engage people. Some ways you can increase engagement on social media are: • Share polls, ask questions, and create call-to-action buttons. • Host contests and giveaways. • Instagram Stories and the Live feature on Facebook and 8
media marketing for small businesses is an ongoing process. You’re never finished; the most successful companies continue to set goals for Analyze and Review Your themselves and keep Results growing. So don’t think of this as some project where The final step of your you finally reach a finish social media marketing line; think of it as part of strategy is to analyze and your overall business plan review your results. Now that will take time and that you’ve launched your effort but will also have campaign on social media, countless benefits. it’s important to measure its results and understand So, now that you how the campaign understand it takes time performed. to gain traction on social media, how do you know This will help you know what’s worth your time? if you need to adjust How do you know if anything or whether your something isn’t working SMM strategy is working or if something needs successfully. If so, you can improvement? And when use the data from this do you know when to campaign to inform future stop working on a failing strategies as well. It’s also a channel? great way for you to show others in your organization Fortunately, all these just how effective social platforms come with media can be for your analytics. Embrace them! business! Instagram. • Use hashtags, titles, emojis, gifs, videos, images, quotes, etc.
Stay current with your social media presence, embrace analytics, and continue to improve The work is never really done. Just remember, once you get into it, social
Social media marketing is a must for businesses that want to grow online. By creating an SMM plan, working with influencers, and taking advantage of the analytics tools available, businesses can build an engaged community and reach new heights.
Cracking the Code: Brad Lea’s Secrets to Building Confidence and Success
This month, we spoke with Brad Lea about his simple structure for building self-confidence and the success that follows. Brad Lea is the founder of Lightspeed VT, the author of “The Hard Way,” CEO of multiple businesses and a public speaker.
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Dennis Postema: How did you progress from car sales and firefighting to CEO? Brad Lea: By making a lot of mistakes and paying attention. Forming relationships. The ability to close on sales, influence and persuade, and ultimately, three core pillars that I have developed: mindset, skill set and habit.
If anyone ever says, “How did he do it? He dropped out of high school.” Anyone can do it if they believe they can. It doesn’t matter who thinks you can’t do something, as long as you’re not one of them. Master the mindset, master the skills necessary to take you where you want to go, and then improve your
habits. What actions are you taking every single day? Are you moving toward your goals, or away from them? It boils down to that simple formula. Dennis: What changed for you when you realized you were helping others?
Before thirty, I didn’t bust $500,000 in a year. But after thirty, I started busting $500,000 per week. I think if you focus on helping other people, money will come. We get up every day asking, “How do I make money?”
You make money by solving problems, fool! You’ve got to solve problems for Brad: I didn’t realize it somebody. Solve your until later in life, but own problems while the shift was when I you’re helping people helped somebody go solve their problems. The from earning minimum world would be a better wage to earning $15,000 place if everyone woke a month. I saw the up every day looking to impact that had on his help people, for money family and his life, and or not. I thought, “Man, that feels cool, I want to do I’ve dedicated the rest that again,” so I quit my of my life to focusing on job to go help people helping other people, make money by training and in turn, I’m helping them in sales, influence, myself. I’m not a pure persuasion, closing and angel, but at the end of other skills. the day, I recognize the formula. Until I was thirty, I only looked out for myself. It’s fun making an impact I wanted to figure out on other people’s lives. how to get rich for A lot of people message myself. It was always for me and tell me that I’ve me. I didn’t really care changed their life and too much about other I’ve kept them inspired people. when they were ready to give up. It feels good When that shift knowing you’ve made an happened, that’s when impact. the real success started coming. 10
Dennis: When did you start your training platform, Lightspeed VT? Brad: In 1999. Lightspeed is a technology I developed to help people deliver, track and measure information so they can develop their human assets. I thought a website would suffice, but our team built technology instead. I started the online learning space. It’s easy to share knowledge. The mission of Lightspeed is to deliver knowledge from the people who have it to the people who need it. Dennis: How did you come up with the idea for Lightspeed VT? Brad: When I went to train other people, I knew how to take the average person and turn them into a pretty badass salesperson. If you’re able to sell, persuade and close, you’re able to make money. I was very successful in showing people how to do it all these years, so I thought, “I’ll just run out and do it for myself and charge
people to train their team.”
will probably make me $200 million in two years.
Anyone can build a personal brand, but not many people do, which is foolish, because it brings opportunities you would not believe. Deal I had quit my job, my training program wasn’t flow. Invites. Access to rooms that you wouldn’t working, and I needed a way to emulate what I normally have access did before, which usually to. People reaching out to you. All because of a requires working at a personal brand. company, so I invented the technology that now has put me on the map. Make an account on social media. Boom. Now you’ve got a brand. Most people think Question is: Is it good or they’re training their bad? employees, when in reality, they’re What I recommend just exposing their people do, instead of employees. They’re exposing them to good trying to figure out how to sound smart information, and I don’t know about you, but out or what cool-looking here in Nevada, exposure photo of you can go next to a quote that you can get you arrested. After starting my stole from somebody business, I delivered else—instead of doing Dennis: As an good content, but all that, how about entrepreneur, how there was no practice, there was no repetition, important is building a you grab a camera and personal brand online, film yourself? You go and there was no accountability. I couldn’t and how did you build to lunch, you talk to employees, to customers, see if they were learning. your brand? to spouses, to friends. You take phone calls. Brad: It took me about I thought, “There has to You’re doing business all be a better way of doing 10 years to reach $1 day, right? And if you’re million in income with this where I can deliver not, well then, what are a company when I had repetition, practice you doing all day? no brand. Then I built a and accountability. personal brand that you Maybe if I went online see all over the internet, Go to work, come and I popped up on and that personal brand home. Film that shit, the screen and trained When I started, I realized that training wasn’t just about good content. For several months, I couldn’t figure out why there wasn’t a lasting impact on my trainees. I analyzed how my methods had changed, and there was a difference. When I worked at a company and trained people, I gave them good content and repetition. I let them practice and held them accountable. Whether it’s a customer or an employee, it doesn’t matter—if you want to deliver training to an individual, those four ingredients have to be there.
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people, it’d be the same content, but then I could track them, measure them, monitor them, test them, role-play with them, practice with them and so on.”
then edit it and put it on the internet. Most people won’t do that because they’re afraid of what other people might think. They’ll say, “Nobody wants to see this,” but that’s limiting self-talk. Or they’ll say, “I don’t want to look stupid,” and that’s valuing someone else’s opinion over yours. You’re doing everything we’re raised to do, and in reality, you shouldn’t be doing those things. Dennis: How often do you have a camera on you? Brad: I always say bathrooms and bedrooms are where the cameras don’t go. Other than that, I really don’t care. I forget that there’s a camera on me all day long, so the clips you see on social media are those moments that I’m walking around my office, smoking a cigar, talking to a customer, doing a podcast. Whatever it is I’m doing, there’s a camera on me.
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That footage goes to a creative team, and they chop it up and drop it out there with the right headlines and
everything. Dennis: How do you deal with haters online? Brad: I don’t usually acknowledge them. Occasionally, I’ll make a smart-ass comment, but most of the time, I keep scrolling. I don’t even delete the comments. Dennis: Many successful people on social media say that repetition and frequency are vital. What is your take? Brad: I closed Grant Cardone on using Lightspeed because he trains car salesmen. Nobody outside of the car business knew who he was. I built him a VT system, and we started selling car dealerships. Social media started coming out around this time. He jumped online and posted constantly, telling people to buy every five seconds. I was following his accounts, and I called him and said, “Grant, you have to stop posting so much. It’s going to hurt your brand,” and if it hurts his brand, it hurts me, because I
make money when he makes money. I take a piece of the revenue that he generates, so all those millions that he’s generating, I get a little tad for Brad, a little sliver to deliver, a little fraction of the action, for using my software and showing him how to do it. He told me not to worry about it. I said, “Trust me, I need to worry about it. You’re going to cost us both a lot of money.” A week or two went by, and he didn’t stop at all. In fact, I think he posted more frequently after our conversation. I called him again and said, “I don’t know why you’re doing this. I’m going to have to unfollow you. Every time I look down, there you are, talking shit or telling me to buy something.” He said, “Go ahead, you ain’t buying nothing.” That was true. So right there on the spot, I was wrong, and he was right. Why? Because look at him now. And all that came from building his brand on social media. The more people see
want to raise your net worth, you have to raise your self-worth, because let me tell you something—you’re not going to outperform your own self-image. You have to have a bigger self-image to grow bigger as an individual.
When those cameras aren’t on, their lives are normal, their problems are normal, their stuff is normal, just like everybody else. People always act like I’m somebody, and I say, “I put my pants on just like everybody else.”
OK, how do you value yourself more? You make what you think you deserve. So people walk around—and I’m not talking about arrogance and conceit, I’m talking about true confidence— true confidence, to me, is something every human being should Dennis: How important acquire. It’s sad when is it to have confidence you see someone with low confidence, because as an entrepreneur? quite frankly, they’re worried about everybody Brad: It’s important to else’s opinions and have confidence as a everybody else has the human being. We’re same problems they do, raised to believe that they’re just not aware we’re supposed to of them. But you are remain humble and fly aware of yours, so you sit under the radar. That’s there and focus on your bad information. If you look up the definition of problems all day and “humble,” it says, “To have your shortcomings and you think, “I’m not rich.” a low opinion of one’s own importance.” Why would you want to You’re looking on the internet and everybody’s have a low opinion of your own importance? I driving Rolls Royce and flying private and believe in the opposite. everybody’s badass, I think you should raise right? your self-worth. Raise your self-value. If you
Everyone should have confidence, not just entrepreneurs, but it’s very important for an entrepreneur, because you have to go out and sell yourself. You have to go out and sell your vision, get other people to do business with you. If you don’t have confidence in yourself, who else is supposed to? How do I have more confidence in you than you? How stupid does that sound? That’s a problem. If that resonates with you and you’re thinking, “Yeah, I’m not very confident,” folks, you need to get some confidence.
your face, whether they like or dislike you, the better off you are. If you’re a well-known individual, you’ll have a deal flow coming, there will always be people that love you to death, and there will always be people that don’t like you. The ones that don’t like you will keep walking, but the ones that do like you will bring you massive opportunities. People will offer to pay you to do the easiest things. People pay me $50,000 to come speak on their stage for an hour.
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To learn more about Brad Lea, visit bradlea.com or bradlea.tv.
YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, at minimum. All six of those platforms should have an account with your face on it, and you should be posting content on those accounts every single day.
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How frequently should you post? It depends on the platform. On LinkedIn, I Brad shares what he calls his “structure” for recommend posting once, posting brand-building maybe twice, per day. On YouTube, post as often as content on social possible, at a minimum of media: three to five times a week. Step one: You are the source Instagram, three to four posts per day. For TikTok, of the content. Too many three to five videos per day. people are trying to create content when they need to On Twitter, tweet a couple of times per day. be the content. Then you don’t need time to make it, That’s why it’s valuable to because you’re being you all day long, so you might as film yourself all day, because now you have hours of well film it. content to use. You can make one video and create Step two: The content needs to be edited down to different formats with different start and finish either just the funny parts dates and post it on every or down to whatever point platform. you’re trying to make. You need to create a hook and a headline. You need to Should you want type the subtitles and any necessary text. Write a little certain people to caption on what the video is unfollow you on about. Make something that social media? Yes, you should! Brad tells us catches people’s attention. Add on a couple of trending why: hashtags, and it’s ready. Don’t worry about who thinks you look stupid and Step three: Now you need who thinks you’re going to figure out where you to ruin your business. Put want to post it. Put it on
yourself out there. If I’m following your account and you’re saying things I don’t like, I’m going to unfollow you. Most people are worried about others unfollowing them. I’m not worried about people unfollowing me. In fact, I wish they would unfollow me if I say something they don’t resonate with. I’m talking about the shit-talkers. You should want the haters to go away. You want people around you that like you, that encourage you, that support you. You don’t want a bunch of haters around you. You don’t want a bunch of negativity in your ears all day long. What goes in your head grows. It’s just like soil: You plant corn seeds, you get corn. Well, if you plant shit, you’re gonna get shit, too, so you have to get rid of all the negative nonsense and block it out. One way to do that is to remember that you don’t want people like that following you, so let them go. Let the universe filter out all those people and move on. Keep posting you and be authentically you. Over time, you’re going to look down, and the people that
are following you are the ones that should be. Those are the people that you can eventually monetize or do business with. If you hate my guts, you’re never doing business with me. And nine times out of 10, even if you hate my guts, you’re still following me. Why? Because it’s undeniably good content.
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you brush your teeth? Can you make your bed? Can you exercise? Can you drink enough water? Can you send out five thank-you emails?
Step five: Map out and visualize exactly what you think success looks like. Too many people go after success, and they never find it because they didn’t figure out what it looks like.
You want to consciously set small goals that you can do Visualize your idea of throughout the day, so that success every single day. all day long you’re winning. I wake up and I have ten wins Step six: Start reading and before 7:00 a.m. absorbing new information on a regular basis. You’ll get Step four: Get rid of smarter, your opinions will Brad tells us his sixthe idiots. Block out the change, your thoughts will step procedure for nonsense, the headlines, the change, you will change. hate, the idiots. If you let it in building lasting selfyour head, it will grow. If you confidence. If you want to change what plant negativity, then you will get more negativity. You you’re getting, you have to Step one: Forgive yourself change what you’re doing. can’t harvest wheat from for all the mistakes In order to change what corn seeds. you’ve ever made, all the you’re doing, you have to procrastinating you’ve done, change your belief system, This step is where most all the time you’ve literally because your beliefs are screwed yourself and others. people slide back into low confidence, because they’ll why you do what you do. In Step two: Commit to doing start to feel more confident order to change what you believe, you have to learn exactly what you say you’re doing the first three steps. They’re winning all the time new information. going to do and follow and they’re starting to feel through with doing it. better about themselves If you don’t receive any new Step three: Start racking up and they’re starting to walk information, your beliefs around saying, “Man, I’m will remain the same, which the wins by lowering your means your actions and targets. People are out there going to buy a nicer car.” choices will remain the trying to make $1 million, and they’re coming in lower Then someone says, “Dude, same, which means your you didn’t even graduate.” results will remain the same. than a million dollars and rationalizing, “Eh, I did pretty Those are the people that good.” A little information makes pull you back down. Get rid a little change. A lot of of all the negativity and all No. Lower your goal. Can information could make a the negative people around you make $1,000? Can you big change. you. You want only good make $100? Can you make shit going in your head. one more phone call? Can
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5 Post-COVID Ways to Attract New Customers for Your Business There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the rules of business. With the average consumer tightening their budget, it is essential to refine your company’s marketing strategies as soon as possible. Here are five ways to help you attract customers and adapt to the new commercial environment.
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Establish Your Business as an Essential Service Most households around the world have become financially cautious since the start of COVID-19 regulations. Even after easing restrictions, many consumers are careful about their spending. This is why it is important to position your business as essential.
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more traffic just by being the first to post winning lottery numbers or the week’s weather forecast. If you can pair your goods with an app that helps with activities like cooking or exercising, you can generate daily traffic to your site.
The bottom line: Revisit your product or service and find a new, valuable, and relevant use for it. An essential product or Adapting to change is service can be described crucial for any business’s as one that people cannot survival and if you haven’t do without. “Essential” yet found ways to make does not necessarily mean your goods relevant to that people are physically post-COVID reality, now is dependent on your goods. the time to do so. Your product or service could provide emotional Create a Cheaper Option or mental support, provide important information, During an economic or simply make everyday crisis, it’s common to tasks easier. see businesses creating smaller, more affordable If, for instance, your versions of their products. company sells furniture, Some companies offer you can tailor offerings limited versions of their full to employees who now service. Creating a cheaper work from home and need option for customers more organization. You should attract new clients could offer a product that as well as retain existing supports mental health or ones. even market a toy to help keep kids distracted. Do you sell food items? Sell them in sachets. If You can also market your your products are usually product or service as an sold in sets, consider essential part of your selling them individually. customer’s daily routine. If you are a professional Some websites receive service, break down your
packages, price each service, and let the client choose and pay for the one they need most. Bottom line: Focus on doing everything you can to help your customer afford your goods. Improve Your Relevance on Social Media Regardless of how glossy and well-spaced graphics are on your social media ad, if it’s not relevant, people are likely to ignore it. Posting a dispassionate ad for your products and services on a trending topic page is not going to cut it either. This new environment requires social media accounts to be actively handled. In other words, you need a dedicated employee who will scour digital spaces, find out what people are saying about your business and interact with potential customers in a way that matters. Responding to Customers The job of your social media manager is to not only respond to customers but to also interact with unhappy clients,
“trolls,” and your business’ competition. This means interacting with people on all popular platforms -from Twitter to Reddit. Your social media manager, therefore, has to have a deep understanding of online tracking tools. He/she/they also have to be discerning, responding to people and posts with large audiences and interacting in a way that is not offensive to people or damaging to the company. Forming Content Around Trending Topics This strategy requires you to be both patient and quick. Patient because you might have to wait for the right topic to trend. And as soon as it does, you should have a way to create relevant content quickly. There are several ways to use a topic as a marketing opportunity. It could be a chance to provide people with clarity on a complex subject. You could create a thread, reply with factual information to correct a misinformed opinion, or create lighter content like a Tik Tok video or short infographic. 19
If you do, avoid providing
external links. Users generally prefer to stay within the social media platform they are logged into unless the information is extremely important. You can get noticed and cash in if a competing business is in trouble. Weigh in on the controversy with a joke or feisty ad. Your business can also take a stance on a controversial matter but this needs to be done carefully and tastefully as it has a high potential to backfire. Support Ordinary Heroes Yes, using influencers to push your products can be effective but backing ordinary people who do extraordinary things can be lucrative, too. When appropriate, you can piggyback on stories about local heroes and events to contribute financially or in some other meaningful way.
even more effective if you have the pictures to prove it. Bottom line: When it comes to navigating digital spaces like social media platforms, it’s best to see your company as a person. Engaging users with relevant content can get your business noticed. However, be careful of the content you create because, as they say, “The internet never forgets.” Restructure Referral Programs If you don’t yet have a referral program, you might want to consider it. Referral programs are not new, but their value is often overlooked. No matter the product or service your business provides, big or small, launch a referral program.
A referral program gives you an army of salespeople who are willing to push your business for a reward. For example, Airbnb often But how much should donates accommodations you give for referrals? for people in distress, such And are people willing to as Ukrainian refugees. promote your company Likewise, you can follow for something else other a popular hashtag than cold, hard cash? (preferably an ongoing one) and make a public Giving generous rewards donation. And it can be or payment for referrals is a
bit of a paradox. If you pay people more for bringing in business, you will make less money... unless you increase the price of your offering... which might be less attractive to budgetconscious customers. A possible solution is to limit your referral programs to your employees or create one specifically for your staff. Sourcing referrals from employees can give you more range of control over the rewards they receive. Some might be willing to forfeit cash payments for days off, a short vacation, or a free supply of your business’s products. Bottom line: Consider creating special referral programs specifically for your staff members. That way, you will have more control over the rewards, and your employees will be motivated to bring in new customers. Ask around to find out what they would be willing to receive as payment other than cash. Keep (Some) Old Habits
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While it’s true that the world has evolved, some classic rules of marketing should still be adhered
to. Make sure all points of communication with your business -- such as websites, business social media pages, and blogs -- are up to standard. Keep creating keyword-rich content and uphold other SEO strategies that are tried and true. Brand your merchandise, keep advertising offline, and provide top-notch customer service for good reviews. If you still have a brick-and-mortar business, make sure it is professional and easy to locate. Bottom line: The world might have changed significantly but maintaining standard business practices is still necessary for credibility. For your business to survive, you have to rediscover why it’s essential and offer cheaper options better suited to your customers’ budgets. Take advantage of digital spaces, as well as referral programs, because making small changes in the way you do business can help you keep up with significant changes caused by the pandemic.
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7 Ways to Prepare Your Business for Inflation
Inflation is a big deal. It’s a stealth tax that eats away at your profits and savings and can even cause you to lose customers. Inflation is a general rise in the price of goods and services over time. In other words, the same basket of groceries that cost $50 last year will cost you more this year than last year.
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The CPI, or Consumer Price Index, measures inflation. You calculate it by subtracting the price of a basket of goods from one year to the next and measuring the change in cost percentage-wise. For example, if your $50
basket of groceries costs $55 this year, there’s been a 10% increase in inflation (5/50=0.10; 0.10+1=1.10).
intervention through fiscal policy (lower taxes) or monetary policy (lowering interest rates).
Because markets are not homogeneous entities, consisting of identical buyers and sellers with equal information about price changes, inflation rates can vary across different regions and industries -- sometimes significantly so.
Inflation is when prices rise, which means you have to pay more for the same products and services. You can’t just sit back and wait for inflation to happen. Act now to prepare your business for whatever happens next year. Let’s look at some ways to prepare your business for inflation.
Inflation is usually caused by an increase in the money supply without corresponding economic activity growth to justify it, as well as government
Know how much your business will be affected Think about your business’s needs. Inflation
can be scary, but that doesn’t mean you should lose sleep over it. For some businesses, inflation will have only minor effects. Production costs are likely to increase if you manufacture goods domestically as you purchase raw materials and pay wages at higher rates. However, if you import most of your products from overseas or sell a service (rather than an actual good), inflation won’t impact your business model and growth as much. Don’t make any major purchases right now
don’t have as much money as they did before. However, it also makes it harder for companies to buy inventory because they don’t have as much money either. One way to avoid having to raise prices is to have plenty of inventory on hand, so you don’t get caught short by sudden spikes in demand or supply disruptions. The more inventory you have, the less likely that price increases will negatively affect sales, especially if they’re minimal.
another source. Another way to protect them is by lowering prices or offering discounts. This may take a toll on profits for a short period but will help build relationships with customers who will return the favor when inflation slows or stops completely.
Obviously, you and your business need protection, but it’s important not to forget about the people who support your business. If you offer products or services necessary for life and livelihood, people will continue to buy from you even if they have to spend more money. If they don’t have the money, they might turn to lenders.
Cut your expenses
In addition, these practices also work toward building loyalty among patrons who might otherwise find cheaper alternatives elsewhere, because those alternatives do not provide benefits like financing Make sure your options and discounts (or customers are protected at least not as many).
Luxuries like purchasing a new vehicle, pieces of commercial property or office equipment, inventory, software, or starting a new project aren’t the best idea when the economy is heating up. Likewise, hiring more staff or changing your pricing strategy probably won’t pay off right now. Hold off on making major purchases while inflation is rising. One way to help protect them is by offering Make sure you have financing options through enough inventory your company so that you can keep track of their Inflation makes it harder spending and ensure for companies to sell they aren’t racking up products because people too much debt through 22
Inflation is difficult to predict with accuracy, but it’s still important to prepare your small business for the possibility of increasing costs in the future. The best way to do this on a budget is to cut your ongoing expenses as much as possible. This can include negotiating lower prices from vendors or suppliers, making sure all employees are working at maximum efficiency (or, in some cases reducing staff ), or renting office space with less overhead. Preparing for inflation doesn’t have to be
expensive, but you should have a plan.
unpredictable; it might not just happen tomorrow, but several years from Negotiate with suppliers now, too. Having an emergency fund will The first step to preparing allow you to weather your business for inflation unexpected increases in is negotiating with costs without going into suppliers and vendors. debt or compromising on If your vendor has a the quality of service or contract with a fixed price, product offerings. it may not be possible to negotiate changes to An emergency fund is the terms of the contract an account set aside for without giving up other unexpected expenses that benefits or services. can’t be paid with other However, you should still funds. It’s best to keep try to negotiate a better this money in cash or in a deal than what’s in their high-yield savings account current contract. If you’re so that you can access it buying from multiple quickly without incurring suppliers, try negotiating large fees or interest with them all at once. charges. This will allow them to compete for your business How large should your and lower costs for emergency fund be? Well, everyone involved. that depends on your business, but experts Set up an emergency recommend having at fund least six months’ worth of operating expenses Set up an emergency set aside as part of your fund: Inflation can be overall financial plan. 23
This way, if something unforeseen happens, like a natural disaster or equipment failure, you’ll have enough money to cover costs until you receive payment from clients or customers. You’ll safeguard yourself against losses and unexpected expenses by preparing your business for inflation. Keep these concerns in mind as you grow your business -make sure you’re using the right budgeting methods, developing contingencies for unexpected costs, and don’t be afraid to consult a financial expert if you’re unhappy with your current setup. There’s no guarantee that every business can successfully prepare itself for inflation, but by being smart, proactive, and learning from past mistakes, you’ll be more than ready to tackle inflation.
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6 Fatal Mistakes 9 out of 10 Startups Make in the First Year
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Every year thousands of startup businesses launch, with hopeful entrepreneurs taking a risk to try and cement their new company within the industry of their choice.
to a fatal lack of leads and sales.
Startup owners often make the mistake of assuming that because an idea or a product is new, it will automatically sell Just 10% of those forgetting that sometimes businesses will succeed. In products do not yet fact, two out of ten startups exist because there is no will fail in the very first year. demand for them. Before investing time and money Why do so many startups into your idea, check that fail? there is a real demand for it. Global funding for startups grew by $8 billion in the first month of 2021 alone. In 2022, the United States was home to over 71,000 startups, with over 430,000 applications for new businesses being filed in January 2022 alone. Despite the sheer number of new businesses that launch each year, common mistakes continue to doom nine out of 10 to failure. 1: No Demand
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According to Failory, the most common reason startups fail is targeting the wrong market. In fact, 34% of new businesses cite “lack of product-market fit” as the straw that broke the camel’s back. Business founders and owners overestimate the value of their product or service by an incredible 255%, leading
2: A Lack of Experience For many startup owners, the launch of their new business marks the first time they have ever run a company. When it comes to startup success, experience pays off: founders of a previously successful business have a 30% chance of their next business also being successful. Meanwhile, firsttime founders have an 18% chance of success - almost half that of their more experienced counterparts.
3: Running Out of Money Money makes the world go round, and the world of startups is no exception. In fact, 29% of startups fail after running out of money. Investing in a startup is a risky venture: according to Harvard Business School, in just under half of cases investors in startups lose their entire initial investment. With investors reluctant to take risks, some startups fail to raise vital new capital, while others are unable to make the sales they need to break even. Whatever the reason, the end result is the same: no money equals no business. 4: The Wrong Team
A business is only as good as its people. For 18% of startups, team problems While an owner with past lead to the failure of the experience running a business is a valuable asset business. Sometimes a startup’s employees lack to any startup, gaps in the necessary experience experience can be made or knowledge to carry up for by choosing the out tasks, sometimes right team members to round out your knowledge the pressure of being responsible for the success and skill set.
beans. Sometimes the road your business is statistically to success only becomes more likely to succeed. clear after your business It’s not all doom and has already launched. gloom for startups though. 6: Unexpected Curveballs In 2021, ByteDance the Chinese startup Startups typically have responsible for developing Sometimes the market a small team, with only TikTok - grew to the value simply deals you a bad 2.2% exceeding a team hand. For example, startups of $250 billion. Meanwhile, of 10, so picking the right the number of unicorns that launched just before employees is crucial. the coronavirus pandemic startups valued at over $1 billion - rose to a collective found themselves in a 5: Not Pivoting worth of $1.394 trillion. dramatically changed market. Unexpected A business pivot occurs According to business guru shutdowns, capacity when a company shifts restrictions and disruptions Mary Juetten, the line that or changes its strategy ultimately separates startup to supply chains caused to account for changes, success from failure is whether that’s in industry, many businesses - startups enjoyment: “All of the work and established companies customer demographics, you put into your business alike - to go under. or any other factor. Many is ultimately pointless if startups see pivoting as a you’re miserable every day failure, but in fact, startups For startups, sudden on the job. It’s alright to that pivot have three times changes to the market can be deadly. Without an have fun on the job so long better user growth, and established customer base as the work is getting done; raise over twice as much and a pool of resources to it’s certainly preferable to money. fall back on, a new business the notion of toiling away in a windowless room.” can suddenly find itself There is no shame in floundering. pivoting: Twitter began So don’t break out the its life as Odeo, an online champagne just yet - but New business failure rates never underestimate the library for podcasts, while are similar across industries value of doing what you Starbucks originally sold espresso makers and coffee - there is no industry where love. of a new business leads to employee burnout, and sometimes they simply are not the right people for the job.
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10 Tips to Write Compelling Marketing Emails
Are you unhappy with the results of your last email marketing campaign? Was the product perfect, the price spot on, and your audience the ideal target for such an offer? In that case, the most likely reason your emails didn’t achieve the desired results is that the wording of your message didn’t inspire subscribers to part with their money. Here are 10 tips to help you make your next batch of marketing emails more compelling.
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topic for another article. One crucial point to mention here is that the body of the email must deliver on the promise made in the subject line. Suppose your subject promised a significant discount on a product, for example. In that case, how to claim that discount must be immediately apparent in the body of the email. And, of course, the deal must be genuine. If the body does not match the subject line, you will lose the trust of your subscribers.
of the individual. Addressing the individual by their name will help, too. And finally, using pronouns such as “you,” “yours,” and “your” will sound like you are talking only to the individual recipient. 4. Have One Objective Per Email
Your marketing emails will be confusing and less effective if you try to push too many calls to action (CTAs). It is advisable to have only one desired 1. Keep It Simple action per email. For example, if you were to Marketing emails are best ask recipients to “buy kept simple. Avoid using now,” “subscribe to our long words, sentences, newsletter,” and “register and paragraphs. And for our podcast” in one try not to use too much email, which CTA should jargon that people might people be following? At 3. Personalize Marketing best, each recipient will not understand. Instead, write the email as though Emails probably only follow one you were talking to a of the CTAs. At worst, friend. You will want to use Subscribers know they are people won’t understand not the only ones on your what is required of them powerful and persuasive mailing list. Nevertheless, and consequently follow language. However, your if your emails address the none at all. marketing emails will need to appeal to a broad individual rather than a crowd, people will be audience with varying 5. Make Marketing more receptive to your vocabularies. Emails Scannable marketing messages. The first step to personalizing Marketing emails need to 2. Match the Content emails is to segment your cater to those who skimwith the Subject Line mailing list. Then you read the text. This group can tailor your marketing How to write marketing of recipients will take message to the interests email subject lines is a seconds to decide if the
email contains anything of interest. Consequently, it’s best to highlight the crucial points of marketing email to ensure the content can be skimread. For example, bulletpointing vital features of a product and using bold paragraph headers will help. You can also use a bold, italic font within the body of the text to highlight crucial points.
act now rather than later. Otherwise, the recipient may decide to go back to the email later. Then, the email eventually drops way down the list in their inbox and is forgotten. 8. Don’t Be Too Pushy
People don’t like being shouted at or told what to do. It’s best to persuade rather than command. For example, “we know you won’t want to miss out on 6. Focus on Benefits this month’s special offer” persuasive, time-limited, The fundamental question is but polite. However, of every recipient of a “buy now or miss out” is marketing email will be a command and would what’s in it for me? You be aggressive if written need to answer that in capital letters. It’s also question in the subject to avoid the overuse line and body of the email. best exclamation marks and Consequently, it is best to of emoticons. focus on benefits rather than features. 9. Use Relevant Images 7. Create a Sense of Urgency
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Images attract attention and sometimes convey messages better than Creating a sense of words. However, any urgency will increase open photos in a marketing rates and conversions. If email must serve a you are offering a special purpose, or there is no price on a product, make it point in them being clear that the deal is time there. If an image adds limited. You can create a something to the sense of urgency even if message, use high-quality there is no time limitation but moderately sized by using phrases such as pictures. Large pictures “subscribe now,” “don’t or too many photos may miss out,” and “start saving distract from the written today.” The crucial thing words and make the email is to provide a reason to slow to load.
10. Proofread Emails It should go without saying that emails should be proofread before sending. Nevertheless, everyone will have probably seen marketing emails with typos and spelling mistakes, sometimes from big brands. The best way to proofread is to put the content aside for a while once it is finished and proofread it later. When proofreading, consider how the email sounds when read aloud and correct any mistakes. If proofreading isn’t your thing, consider using a grammar checker app, such as Grammarly. Alternatively, the Microsoft Editor will help you find errors. It can be tricky getting the tone of a marketing email correct. And, of course, the sales message must be written to resonate with the target audience. The above tips will help you create emails that convert. Still, you can’t beat A/B testing. So split your mailing list into test groups and try various approaches to ensure that you get the optimum results from your marketing emails.
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2 Questions Every Woman in Business Needs to Ask As working women, we have a lot going on. Everyday new demands come to us and it is hard to discover and determine what we really should do. One think that has helped me and my clients better determine where we need to invest our time and focus is to create a checks and balance system. We need to take a moment before agreeing to do something and ask ourselves two important questions… Question 1 – Does this make good business sense?
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Not all items are created equal. And we should not do everything. We need to make sure that if we take on a new task, it is one that is worth doing. How do we know if it makes good business sense? Well this is where
you need to look over the items form all angles. Ask yourself: • Is this task for my ideal client? • Can this task move my business forward? • Will this task pay me what I am worth? • How much time will this require of me? Asking this question as saved me hours in distraction and also in doing the wrong things. One example was a speaking opportunity that came up. At first, I was ready to say YES, but upon further thought, it didn’t make good business sense for me. Why? The audience was not my target audience. The location was in a challenging spot to get to so travel would cover 3 days for a 90 min talk.
The budget was lower than my standard fee. After really looking at this opportunity, it just did not make good business sense so I could feel confident in saying NO and allowing my time and focus to stay where it needed to for that week. Question 2 – Is this in alignment with my Vision and Goal? People will ask you to do things because that is what they need, but it may not be what you need. This question helps to insure that you stay in alignment with yourself. We only have so many hours in a week and day, if we give too many of those hours away, it is going to be difficult for you to accomplish your goals. By pausing and assessing this question, you can make sure you are making
smart decisions about where you invest your time. You may ponder: • Is this a client I want to work with? • Will this provide me a skillset that will benefit me? • Will this help keep me “ in my lane” ( my area of expertise)? An example here was when I was asked to attend a networking opportunity There are so many, you can spend everyday at a new conference or group. So you have to really be focused and strategic. In this case, the group was centered around
Working Women Business owners. Breakout talks were covering topics like leadership, marketing yourself and leveraging relationships. In addition, there were opportunities for me to highlight my skills as a panelist. In this case, this opportunity definitely fit the criteria of being in alignment so I could attend knowing exactly what I wanted to take away from my time there. Bonus Question – If I Choose to do this new item, what will I have to say NO to? Give Up? If you are still struggling,
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let me offer you this Bonus question. The reality is you can only do one thing at a time, so if you say yes to one thing, you must also say NO to another. Think about what you will have to say NO to are give up, and then circle back to the other above questions. You do not have to do everything; not should you want to. When you have free time, yes help others, but during your peak productivity hours, protect your time.
June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological summer is June 1st. In the Southern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological winter is June 1st. • On June 1st, 1996 - Major League Baseball debuted for the first time on FOX. • On June 1st, 1967 - “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by the Beatles was released. • On June 6th, 1964 - The Rolling Stone made their American TV debut on The Hollywood Palace. • On June 10th, 1977 - The Apple II, one of the first personal computers, went on sale. • On June 11th, 1986 - ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ was released in theater. The rare Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California was not really destroyed in the film. • On June 16th, 1963 - Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space on Vostok 6. • On June 29th, 2007 - Apple released its first mobile phone, the iPhone.
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