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Want to go into business for yourself?
7 to watch out for... |
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I have made a lot of money in some businesses, and lost a lot in a few. Here is a great article on what to watch out for.
In a recession like we are in, and millions out of work, many will go into some sort of business without enough thinking and planning ahead. Here are 7 to watch out for.
http://smallbusinessanswers.yahoo.com/overrated
For a list on buisness you could do very well in contact any Wizard of Ads Partner:
http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/?ShowMe=PartnersVideos
 Read About Clay Campbell
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Topology and Telemarketers
Would you spend $400 to make $4000? |
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 Topology is a “Wizard Word” I use to mean the taking of something that works great in one industry and arrange it to fit into the needs of your own particular business. Would you invest $400 per month if it would return $4000 a month?
Of course you would or else you should get a job being a greeter at Wal-Mart or something about equal.
Here’s my example:
Some big companies like Dish Network use “telemarketers” right? I guess that is really successful, because I signed up for the “no call list”, and I keep getting calls. They are like fire ants and terrorists: they just keep right on coming at you no matter what you do to them.
So I figured I could make this idea work for me. Maybe it could work for you too. Here’s the deal. I am spending $400 a month and calling it “advertising and here is what we are doing.
We are in the tourism business and own a Country Music Theatre by Kentucky Lake about 120 miles northwest of Nashville Tennessee.
I found a very nice lady with a very amiable, friendly, kind personality. I am giving her the list of tour bus companies that have been to our business and she is calling them first. She will just tell them we have a new computer ticketing system and we are updating our data base, which, by the way is true. Never lie to people to try to sell them something. (My mother always said a person would go to hell for lying.) One thing people detest in advertising is something that smacks of a “bait and switch”.
Our new telemarketing person is asking the group leaders if the info we have is correct, and if they would like to have a copy of our schedule of upcoming events. And would they like to be notified when we announce a new big Star like: Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and Loretta Lynn etc. They almost always want that new current information ASAP, so they can sell the trip to their customers. So we are doing them a favor in a way because they would make money on the trip.
We will also be contacting Churches with senior groups, Senior Citizens Centers, Banks that take their customers on trips, and even the Red Hat Ladies clubs. We will be offering to send them a schedule and asking if they want to be on our mailing list.
This is an EXPERIMENT! We will have her work 10 hours a week, we will pay her $10 an hour and that’s $400 a month. Now if in six to 8 months she has not found some groups to come to shows, then we can discontinue the experiment. I believe that she will bring in 10 times more dollars than we pay her. But we will keep a close eye on measuring the results.
Always remember my # 2 Rule of Business: Never expect what you don’t inspect!
Bob Parsons says in rule # 9 -Measure everything of significance. I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.
So there you have the idea of Topology. I am using the idea of hiring telemarketers to advertise for my business. How could you change it up a bit to adapt it to your business? I believe about any business could do this if they had a good strategy, mapped out a plan, hired the right person and monitored it carfully.
Read About Clay Campbell
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Marketing to Rednecks and Goobers
(How folks in "fly over" country respond to advertising.) |
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In “fly over” country there is a very large segment of people, people like me, who live in small towns across America. In my view, many in the media, and ad agencies on the east and west coasts, believe that what we think here in “fly over country” is not very important. They believe we are too stupid to “get it”. It seems like much advertising is written for the people in big cities and highly educated. The rednecks and goobers call them the artsy fartsy crowd.
.jpg) You remember Goober right? He was on The Andy Griffith Show, played by actor and comedian named George Lindsey played the part. Gomer Pyle on the show ( played by Jim Nabors) also was a goober. You know what rednecks are too right? They are red around the back of their neck from fishing, or farming or hunting, riding bulls in a rodeo, or some other really Redneck or Goober activity. They mostly live in places like Possum Trot, or Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky or Bland Missouri. They have cell phones, and they buy stuff like guns, pickup trucks and SUV’s. They buy cigarettes, cigars, Budweiser, Jack Daniels and lots of Cadillac’s. (Remember Elvis?) They are country music fans and buy billions of dollars of CD’s of people like Ray Stevens, Charlie Daniels, Larry the Cable guy, Jeff Foxworthy and lots of other redneck and goober stuff. These people I’m talking about are the ones watching reruns of Hee Haw on RFD TV.
Can the rednecks and goobers understand clearly what you are saying in your ads?
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Taking Chances
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Taking Chances 
I am signing on to do something I have never before attempted. I own a country music theatre tourist attraction on Kentucky Lake. We are celebrating our 21st anniversary. You have heard of the Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee? Well, I own, run and try to make profitable the Kentucky Opry in Kentucky. It’s like the Grand Ole Opry except the people that run the Grand Ole Opry are all millionaires, and I am more like a few hundred thousandaire.
I have promoted and marketed my country music concerts over the past couple of decades. I have worked with and fronted the shows for Merle Haggard, Lee Greenwood, The Oak Ridge Boys, Ray Stevens, Loretta Lynn and about a hundred others. I feel like I know what I am doing there; and some would say I have been extremely successful. I have stayed away from venturing too far from what I know best.
But today - today I am venturing into new water, and maybe I’ll be treading water. A man asked me a few years ago what I was good at and I said, “Starting over”. He said, “No, I mean what is your specialty?” I said, “Skating on thin ice”. I believe that is what a business owner has to do; be willing to skate on the thin ice and continuously be on the lookout for creative ways to add revenue.
I am partnering 50/50 on some rock and roll concerts; starting with Kansas & 38 Special. We could make a lot of money but we could lose some too. Life is a gamble. I’m gambling that I will succeed. We plan to live, but we could die tomorrow. We plan to win but we could lose. Success is overcoming obstacles. If you have not had very many failures, I don’t believe you can have very many successes. I used to sing the song Don Schlitz wrote for Kenny Rogers ; “The Gambler” It goes like this:
You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table. There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.
The Gambler-Artist Kenny Rogers -Writer Don Schlitz
My wife was a bit worried by this new venture into the unknown, and said she was concerned that I was going into an area where I had no experience. She didn’t say I should not do it, but she did say, “Just be careful that you don’t lose a lot of money.” I said, “Yes dear,” like a good hubby should. God gave me a great helpmate, for occasions such as this; to keep me from going off and doing something really stupid. I am truly thankful for her input. She has saved my butt on several occasions.
But for my part - I just won’t live my life being too cautious and not taking any chances. I just won’t do it. I’m not that kind of man.
I believe like old Teddy said:
“It is not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause. Who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
-Teddy Roosevelt
Are you willing to take a chance on something new or untested?
Do you have a story of you taking a chance and succeeding? If so, please email me the story and I will choose a couple and reprint them in the Wizard Times.
My challenge to you today is from Jim Rohn:
Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you.
Jim Rohn
Read About Clay Campbell
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Are you Willing to Try New Things?
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 ”It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
I have always been a person that would just "jump in and do something" even if I couldn't do it very well at first, rather than be like the guy who waits till he can do it perfectly before he will begin. So I have had many, many failures; some of which seemed devastating at the time, but now seem to be worth a lot. Those failures add to my skills and wisdom when offering help, assistance, or advice to someone.
So I tried something new in regard to promoting an event with one my Wizard Partners, Michael Keesee. It worked out great!
When I asked Mike to come to Kentucky and speak, he was somewhere on a beach in Mexico. He was licking his wounds and healing from a recent downsizing in the company he worked for and at the same time a recent divorce.
Finally he answered my emails, texts and phone calls and said “OK, I'd be happy to come to Kentucky”. Then I called him back and asked if he'd stay an extra day and speak twice. Again he said, "Sure". Then I set it up for him to speak also for our local Chamber of Commerce breakfast, and again to the sales staff for Bristol Broadcasting in Paducah while he was here.
Instead of setting up one big meeting, we did four smaller ones. Michael gave the Pendulum Presentation 4 times in 4 different locations in two days and we had 80 attendees. (In the Wizards on the Road in Denver Co we had about that many, and about 100 in Nashville, Tn ) We handed out the sheet of questions about any of the problems they might be having in their business, and had about 12 of those filled out, and got about 20 more sign-ups for my Wizard Times Newsletter.
We planted many good seeds, and talked a few potential future clients. Michael is such a gentleman, and was so professional and so great to work with and he made me proud to be a Wizard of Ads Partner. Many people remarked, "Your friend is such a good speaker and he is brilliant." It is really cool to hang around brilliant people. But most important of all Michael and I have become good friends, and a man always needs a few good friends.
Many thanks again to Michael Keesee.
Read About Clay Campbell
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13 Golden Rules to help you grow in a poor economy
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"The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it."
-- Jean Paul
    
I have been thinking this morning, about a speech I am giving today to a packed house of business owners. They are gathered to hear me speak about how they can get big results from their small ad budget by doing certain things and avoiding others.
I am speaking to Chamber of Commerce in Murray Kentucky. I am going to show them many ways to grow a business even in a poor economy such as we are in now. And I will offer several case studies. But nothing I can say is more relevant than Ole Norman Lambert's 13 Golden Rules of doing business. The sign out front of the restaurant reads: “The Only Home of Throwed Rolls.”
This is a portion of a chapter in an upcoming book with the working title: Marketing 101 Rich Ideas to Help Your Business in a Poor Economy.
 Here are the 13 Golden Rules from Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston Missouri.
1. As the Bible says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
2. "Always offer our guest at least one service they can't receive anywhere else."
3. "You, our guest, are very important, you are the reason we are here! THANK YOU!"
4. "We need you, our guest, much more than we need ourselves."
5. "You, our guest, are always right."
6. "It's our job to take care of you, if we don't someone else will."
7. "If we make a mistake, we will correct it immediately!"
8. "Our simple but powerful rule: Always give you, our guest, more than you expect to get."
9. "You are our guest; guests in our home, not clients or customers, but guests."
10. "Good enough for some is not good enough for us."
11. "The difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary, is: give that little extra."
12. "Quality rather than quantity matters, we offer BOTH."
13. "We do simple things, but in exceptional ways!"
I challenge you to implement these in your business. We have adopted these 13 as our own, as well as a few more ideas besides. As a result, ( business owners are always wanting to see the results) in an industry that is down 25% our tourism attraction in Kentucky is up about 20% over last year.
Read About Clay Campbell
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"Let's Lead the Recovery!"
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I have said, and have heard other business owners say "We're Not Participating in the Recession" and I understand what we all mean by that. But this past week at Toastmasters, our “Table Topics” discussion was “being positive” when you are surrounded with negative. This morning I received an email from a client with an attached newsletter from a guy named Doug Fleenor. He said that using that phrase "We're Not Participating in the Recession" could do harm instead of good. I agree.
He said:
“Late last fall I used the same line in a presentation. Afterwards, a woman came up to me and reminded me that a lot of people don't want to participate in the recession but that hasn't kept them from losing their jobs. While she didn't say so directly I could sense that maybe the recession was hitting home for her whether she wanted it to or not.”
A better way to state that would be: "Let's Lead the Recovery!" That is so much better! That’s much more Positive!
10 Ways to Lead the Recovery.
- Read an inspiring motivational book. Take a look at my list
- Listen to some positive, CD’s ( Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, and my favorite Jim Rohn)
- Hang around with positive people; avoid the negative ones.
- Pray (statistics show people who pray are happier and more positive than those who don’t)
- Do something for someone who can’t do anything back for you in return.
- Write out your goals on a piece of paper and stick it on the fridge. Have some goals that are short term, (this month) mid range, (6 months) and long term (2-3 years)
- Tithe. Give some money away to Scouts, the Red Cross, missionaries, etc. It always makes feel you better to give than to receive. Clean out the stuff from your closets you don’t use, and take it to the Salvation Army.
- No matter how hard it is to do it, you must save some money; even if it’s only $5 a week. Having a little stash of cash makes you more optimistic that you could make it through a difficult time. Strive for a goal of saving $1000 in cash.
- Plan to go to either a motivational, or fun/educational, or inspirational seminar in the next six months. It would be great to go to find one that would have all three in one meeting; but that may be difficult to find. But go find a seminar that inspires and motivates you.
- Start a “thank you file”. I have a sizable thank you file now, that I started a few years ago. You should start one that has thank you notes from people who appreciate you, like you, and love you. (If you don’t get notes like that refer to item #5)
So I say let’s lead the recovery; let’s stay positive; let’s stay at it and persist. This famous quote of President Calvin Coolidge, “press on” is the attitude for us to adopt.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Calvin Coolidge
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The Missing Bowl Episode
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My wife Barbie, came to me this week and said, “Honey, have you seen my crystal bowl; the one that was my Mother’s ?” I said that I had not seen that bowl. Well my sweet wife went a bit frantic looking for it. She called our children. She looked all over for it at our place of business. She asked her Dad about it. No Bowl. She was frustrated.
The next day she took everything out of every cupboard where she thought it could be. No luck. She called the housekeeper; and she had not seen the elusive crystal bowl. She said that it was her favorite bowl and was so distraught that it was gone.
After several days of searching, we got up and were getting ready for the day and we “discovered” the lost bowl sitting right there in the middle of the kitchen table with plastic fruit in it. It was right there in front of us all week long and we didn’t even see it. She said, “Don’t tell anyone about this, they will think I’ve really lost it” But we both have been telling our friends and laughing about it. The same kind of thing has probably happened to everyone at some time or another.
Business Owners are you searching and looking everywhere for some way you can promote your business that will bring people through your doors in this troubled economy? It’s could be right there in front of you! An idea that you have over looked. A virtue or core value that you could “find” that could mean the difference between success and failure this year.
If you can’t find it by yourself I have some brilliant Partners that specialize in finding that thing, or idea that will help you. Each one has a different specialty. I offer a free complimentary meeting or phone call to help you get pointed in the right direction. We'll ask questions and listen before we make recommendations. We will never try to sell you.
Read About Clay Campbell
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Are you becoming Internet savvy?
Are you willing to do something you have never done before? |
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Are you becoming Internet savvy? (Savvy: Well informed and perceptive, practical understanding or shrewdness.)
We may have to do some things we’ve never done before. We are becoming a more and more Internet accessing people. Read Jane Frazier’s Is Your Website Up to Snuff? I am a good example of what Jane is talking about.
I just went to the AT&T store and bought an iPhone. It is an amazing piece of equipment. At the slight touch of my finger in the palm of my hand, is access to my emails, my contact list of friends and clients, pictures of my kids, calculator, Yahoo, Google, any newspaper in the world, any movie I want to watch, a camera that takes great pictures, any songs I want to hear, a GPS System, I have access to my home computer and my laptop, my calendar and appointment book are in sync right there, and I can even make phone calls on the darn thing.
I am going online today to purchase Microsoft Office Professional so I can sync up my emails and calendar with my laptop and iPhone. I’m a guy who just 8 years ago couldn’t type a letter, or use Microsoft Word and had just got my GED in 1990. (I had quit school in the 9th grade to go to Nashville and become a big country music star.) I didn’t even know what email or the Internet was. Today my company builds websites and do we email newsletters. It’s amazing what a person can do if they are willing to change.
Now in 2008, who knew, besides Jesus, that the stock market would crash and gas would be over $5 a gallon? Even when gas was so high this summer, the Internet was booming.
The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced on Nov 19th 2008 that the estimate of U.S. retail e-commerce sales for July, August, and Sept of 2008, was $34.4 billion
The third quarter 2008 e-commerce estimate increased 5.7 percent (±1.5%) from the third quarter of 2007
The third quarter 2007 e commerce estimate increased 19.3 percent (±2.6%) from the third quarter of 2006
This may be a down time in the economy, the stock market maybe on a Six Flags roller coaster ride, and the auto makers, car sales people and dealers may be in trouble, but the use of the Internet is anything but down. I ran into a woman last week and she told me she lost her job a year ago, because her company got bought out. I asked her what she was doing now. She said, “Ebay”. I said, “How is it going?” She said she was making just as much and sometimes more, as she was before. As the media stokes the fires of fear, in the mind of the folks in our country, the self-sufficient, pioneering, hard-working, can do attitudes of some people will move them ahead and they will do very well; even if they have to do something they have never done before.
Are you willing to do some things you have never done before? Many business owners today need to go back and re-read the little book from a few years ago that sold 21 million copies, Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson. Read about it.
Perhaps now would be a good time to have a complimentary meeting with a Wizard of Ads Partner. Links to their websites and blogs are listed down the right side of The Wizard Times. Hundreds of their articles with free insightful advice can been seen right here on www.americansmallbusiness.com 2009 would be a great year to attend a class at the Wizard Academy 21st Century Business School in Austin Texas. What is the Wizard Academy?
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Next Page
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I talked with a good friend that owns an Outback Steakhouse. He told me that 2008 was his best year ever and that he was expecting to see an increase in business in 2009. I talked to a car dealer client of mine and he said he was very optimistic about 2009 and that his January was very good, except for the last week when the ice storm hit. In my own business; we just had a big concert and had a full house with a major called The Elvis Connection. We sold 1600 seats in an 1800 seat venue and made an outstanding profit over our expenses.
