With the good comes the bad, but help is in sight.

Last week I was in the market for new Golf Clubs. I was willing to buy, but I was not in a MUST HAVE mode. I also had just taken my kids to a driving range where they used my clubs and had a blast. I was pleasantly surprised when my 6 & 8 year-old could hit the ball GOOD with my clubs. So we set out on a mission to buy new clubs for the kids and if I found something or someone SOLD me, I’d buy new ones as well.

Our journey started at Play-It-Again Sports in Florence. We were in the store for 10-15 minutes sizing up clubs for the kids. Every few minutes I’d ask the guy working a question to which I would get a VERY generic answer like “Uh, yeah”….{Click Above To Read More}

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Why should you power down office equipment?

By Jake Westrich, EcoPhone Systems, LLC

Computers and other office equipment are vital to the everyday functions and productivity of most businesses. They power our employees and our companies, but they also drain power and raise our energy bills. Limiting the energy waste of our office equipment can conserve resources and prolong the lives of our machines.

 When Should You Turn Off Your Personal Computer?

There are obvious impracticalities to powering off your computer every time you step away from it. That would be a great inconvenience, since it usually takes a few minutes for a computer to turn on. There is also a small surge in energy whenever a computer is turned on, so turning it off and on too frequently could actually use more energy.

 The U.S. Department of Energy recommends turning off:

  • Your monitor if you aren’t using your computer for more than 20 minutes
  • Both your CPU and monitor if you are not using your computer for more than two hours1

 One argument against powering off a computer is that turning it on and off too frequently may have a negative impact on the life of the device. Generally speaking, the less time a computer is on, the longer it will last, so turning off your computer should be a net gain.

 Activate Your Sleep Mode

 Make sure to check your computer’s power down or sleep mode settings. An unused computer that is in sleep mode will consume considerably less energy than an unused computer that is humming along at full capacity.

 Power down and sleep modes should not be confused with screen savers, which are typically not energy savers. In some cases, power-down features do not work when a screen saver is activated.

 Beware of Standby Power

 Standby power is the electric power consumed by electronic appliances while they are switched off.  Many types of electronic equipment drain power even while they seem to be turned off, because they are in fact in standby mode. Standby power can be as high as 10-15 watts per device.2 An easy method of prevention is to plug all of your computer station electronics (monitor, tower, printer, fax, etc.) into a power strip or surge protector with an on/off switch. When none of the electronics are in use, turn off the switch to prevent standby power drain.

 Every unit of energy conserved reduces the environmental impact of energy use. Make energy conservation a habit at your business and enjoy:

  1. A greener planet for future generations
  2. Cheaper energy bills
  3. Longer-lasting office equipment

 Jake Westrich, EcoPhone Systems, LLC, http://phonesystemscincinnati.com/blog.asp

1http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/appliances/index.cfm/mytopic=10070
2http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/4929594.stm

What are you doing to HURT your brand?

Each week I write about how a company failed to properly market their company.  It’s usually something really basic and it drives me crazy since most of these companies are spending money on mass media instead of working on the basics. But, I was on a streak, I hadn‘t come across anything major in a few days. I had just spent 4 FABULOUS days at The Greenbrier for the PGA’s Greenbrier Fed-Ex Classic and everything was perfect.  I was excited and thinking maybe this was the week I would have nothing to write about…BUT THEN IT HAPPENED.

I’ll preface this by saying that most of you won’t think it’s a big deal, but I think that the smallest details can crush a company’s brand.  We had just finished eating dinner and the kids had to have ice cream.  We headed for The Cold Stone Creamery in Florence.  I had always enjoyed their mint chocolate chip ice cream and the kids LOVE mint chocolate chip as well.  We order our ice cream and as I’m watching the young lady mix everything up I noticed there were no chocolate chips, they were using chocolate shavings.  So I asked,  if she was going to be putting in chocolate chips and she informed me they had RUN OUT of chocolate chips.  WHAT, how do you run out of chocolate chips and do you realize there is a Kroger 50 feet behind your store?  If your customers are accustomed to a certain experience you have to either deliver it 100% or not at all.  The Mint Chocolate “Shavings” ice cream was terrible.  I took 3 bites and was done with it.  They not only hurt their brand, but they lost a customer.  They would have been better off to tell me they were out of the chips than to try something different.

So maybe you’re thinking I’ve lost it.  But, I think that as a small business owner you have to do whatever it takes to protect what you’ve built, so I think what this ice cream shop did was major.  So the next time you come across an opportunity to take a short-cut, or do something easier…Think “Is this REALLY whwa we want our customers to walk away with?”

Matt Plapp is a Marketing Consultant in the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky area specializing in small business marketing via grass-roots, events, guerilla, online and social media marketing. You can contact him at matt@mattplapp.wpengine.com

“Undo The Status Quo”

Doug Smith - Cincinnati Radio Marketing Consultant
Doug Smith - Cincinnati Radio Marketing Consultant

Do you market yourself or your business the way you do because “that’s the way it’s always been done”?

Truth be told, your answer is probably “Yes”. It’s a lot safer to follow the status quo, but can your business reach its full potential by doing business this way? If you’re happy with how things are going….great. But maybe, just maybe, there is a better way.

A classic example of someone who thought there was a better way was Henry Ford. Up until Ford’s assembly line concept, automobiles were constructed from the ground up in one location in the factory by one team of workers. Mr. Ford is often credited with the invention of the assembly line, which is incorrect, instead he took an idea from one industry and put it to use in his industry. The idea of building a car via an assembly line came to him during a visit to a sausage packing plant in 1908. The sausage company used an assembly line to package their product and when he saw it, Ford thought the idea could work for building cars. Over a period of 5 years he refined the concept and in October of 1913 Ford launched his moving assembly line and the rest, as they say, is history.

If Mr. Ford played it safe and stuck to the idea of “that’s the way it’s always been done”, the Ford motor company, and the automobile industry as a whole, would not be what it is today.

So take a look at how you market yourself or your business. When was the last time you tried a new idea? I would be willing to bet it’s been a long time. Maybe it’s investing in an electronic media you’ve never used (TV, Radio). Maybe it’s diving head first into the world of Social Media (if you are not using Social Media you are missing out). Maybe it’s changing the way you position your business in the mind of your potential customer. If you haven’t tried something new in a while, do it now.

Successful ideas are all around you and chances are there are some really good ones in places you would never imagine. (Who would have thought the sausage industry would forever change the automobile industry?)

Doug Smith is a Senior Account Executive for WREW Rewind 94.9 and www.cincysavers.com in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky.  You can contact Doug at  (513) 535-9123 or dosmith@hubbardinteractive.com

STOP COLD CALLING, Referral Marketing-Part 1

Duane Plapp - Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Referral Marketing Expert
Duane Plapp - Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Referral Marketing Expert

WHY are you still cold calling?  Cold calling is fruitless, requires you to check your reputation at the door and is the easiest business to lose to other cold calling sales people.  You need to start building your brand and start getting high level referrals.  It all starts with an emotional message that shows your passion for what you do.  Example I am a chiropractor, “I am a bone shaper”.  I’m an insurance agent, “I create the future.” The response is “How do you do that.” Some call this an EBM (emotional based message) others call it a memory hook, whatever you call it; it’s funneling the conversation so that you can develop a relationship. This is what referral marketing is all about. I like to call it “My Power Phrase with passion”.

My mission is to create constant, continuous and predictable referrals for life without cold calling.  We all want to do business by referral, but we don’t create the methodology to implement the platform, so it never comes to reality. Sure we get referrals but they are passive and not consistent. They are not constant, continuous, or predictable.  There’s a “HOPE” that referrals will happen.

If our goal is to do 100% business by referrals than that can only happen if we pass credible referrals and receive credible referrals. It’s called a level 10 referral.  Level 10 referrals are referrals where your only action is to show up a get the check.

There is a way to create a platform where you can create these constant continuous and predictable referrals, it is call referral marketing strategies by Referral Institute. We have created a system to help you change your whole way of doing business.  First it involves a change of one’s mindset.  You must change your way of thinking.

Referral marketing strategies involves three basic principles:

1-      You must create a phrase for people to instantaneous recognize this is a potential client for you.

2-       You must communicate with the people who you want to refer you business to and who you want to develop a strong relationship with.

3-      And last, you must create your own brand.

Before you even get this far there is one important action that has to happen. You must have a target market.  What is a target market? It is the section of the market that you are going to direct you marketing efforts towards to create credibility for your brand.  It does not mean that you do not have other products or services.  It is the people you want as specific target to create your niche. If you do not do this first then everything else with be fruitless.

Ok, now you have a target market. You should ask yourself “”who are my clients?”

Part II next week….