You are standing beneath a waterfall flowing heavy with information.
Your mind is swimming in a swarm of ideas.

The danger with so much information, so many ideas, is that you never implement anything. Or you start much, but finish nothing.

We have become like butterflies... happily flitting and drinking from a field of brightly coloured flowers (websites, books, magazines, seminars, podcasts, newsletters, Facebook, Twitter...) oh... there’s a pretty one... and another... and another.

Information and ideas, no matter how brilliant, are worthless without action and commitment.

So to action...

1. Select  ONE idea
2. Commit to this idea
3. Map a plan
4. Implement your plan
5. Stay focused... don’t be side-tracked by pretty new possibilities.

Let’s look at this another way... below is an extract from Making Ads Work.

“The idea of media mix assumes that your advertising budget is adequate to do a good job in each part of the mix. Proctor & Gamble, Coke, Pepsi, Ford, and the other big boys are able to accomplish a media mix without being forced to compromise any part of it. They can mix radio, television, newspaper, magazines, and skywriting without having to do anything halfway.

Is this true of your company?

Do you have this kind of budget?

If not, I recommend that you do one thing well rather than two things badly. You may be able to do two things well, but our firm has never worked with a company that could do three things well. But then our firm has never worked with anyone who had more than a couple of million dollars to spend on advertising.”

The above principle of concentration of resources as opposed to dilution applies equally to your business ideas.

Do you have the resources to commit to multiple ideas at once?

If not, we suggest you do one thing well rather than two things badly.

Select one idea. Commit to that one idea. Implement that one idea. Finish that one idea.

Then move on to the next.

Read About Craig Arthur

Unhappy customers don't come back, while happy customers spend more and become repeat customers.

Look after your people and watch your business grow. Need proof?

In an issue of Strategy + Business journalist Bridget Finn wrote the article "The Life Cycle of Great Business Ideas." Two quotes I found particularly relevant by Steve Wheeler I have included below. (Highlighting in bold by the me)

"Sometimes it’s only the long-term comparison in performance that shows you what works. Jim Collins, a high school classmate of mine, wrote the best-selling book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. If you had taken the 18 companies that were profiled in that book and invested in each of them over the next 10 years, you would have gotten about a 150 percent return.

That’s not too bad — until you compare it with an S&P 500 index fund, which would have given you a 250 percent return. And if you’d had the foresight to pick up a copy of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For each year over that same period and just invested in the public companies, you would have gotten a 600 percent return.

So one way to build a successful business is to create an environment where people enjoy their jobs and are eager to work — in other words, a “best company to work for."- Steven Wheeler

"I think the most interesting changes will come when people start being strategic about building the capabilities they need for long-term success and avoiding the boom–bust cycles that most companies go through." - Steven Wheeler 

*Steven Wheeler is a former partner with Booz & Company and currently performs research, with the University of Southern California’s Center for Effective Organizations.

A 600% return on investment had you invested in the top 100 best companies to work for.

Maybe there is something in this business strategy of looking after your people!

Wegmans Food Markets comes in number 3 on the top 100 best companies to work for. Check out this short video on why staff and customers love Wegmans.

So the question for you is, "how are you treating your people?"

A tip... unfortunately your view is one of inside the bottle. You are going to answer that question based on your own experience.  The current mood and moral of staff in your business is one you have created. Are you big enough and brave enough to see your business real?

Is it time you had an outsiders perspective?

Wizard of Ads Partners are always ready to help.

Read About Craig Arthur

"As business owners, we now need to create a business that is attractive to both customers and employees."

When I speak with business owners about their “Limiting Factors to Growth,” finding and retaining good people is always in the top three.

Last week I was invited to a presentation titled “Managing a Multi-Generational Workforce,” by Rhonda Thorburn, the regional Director for Kelly Services, Australia.

As a rough guide, below are the year brackets that determine the generations.

• Silent Generation: Born between 1922 - 1945
• Baby Boomers: Born between 1946 - 1960.
• Generation X: Born between 1961 - 1980.
• Generation Y: Born between 1981 - 2000.

How to attract and keep good people is a growing problem for all businesses, across all industries, especially so when we talk about Gen X and Y.

So how do we specifically attract and retain these younger employees?

The below *Five Strategies from Rhonda’s presentation will help set you on the right path.

(*Edited from the Kelly Services white paper titled Five Ways to Connect with Generation X and Y Workers.)

1. Think “High-Tech”
Make sure your company invests in the latest technology. Gen X & Y want the latest and greatest. Provide it and benefit from high productivity and dedicated employees.

2. Create Fun Environments
Add entertaining elements to work environments, eg… chair massages and spaces with lounges for social networking. Celebrate birthdays and recognize achievements.  Offer work contests with high-tech rewards such as MP3 players, Mobile Phones and Laptops.

Investing in your company socially will help create a fun work environment that not only attracts Gen X & Y, but also enhances productivity, quality, customer service and job satisfaction.

3. Leverage Relationships / Get Personal
Gen X & Y value friends and work mates of their own generations. They are the perfect resource for word-of-mouth recruitment for new employees. Educate them about the kinds of workers your business is seeking. Offer incentives for their part in the process.

Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Build relationships with these generations by talking with them, showing you care, and making yourself available to hear their concerns. And never forget to thank an employee for doing a good job.

4. Embrace Workplace Flexibility
Develop an accommodating environment. Provide employees with opportunities for job changes, internal mobility and flexible schedules. Don’t micro manage. Give them room to grow and make decisions.

Studies show that three out of four Generation X workers pick the place they want to live before they find a job. This means your company may need to follow talent.

5. Expand & Enhance Training Opportunities
Gen X & Y thrive on developing their work skills and knowledge. Most opportunities are seen as stepping-stones to something better in terms of their career. Provide learning opportunities by expanding e-based learning modules.

Create work “teams” or pair older workers with younger workers to prepare them to take over when necessary.

Does some of that sound too much?
It may have in the past, but things have changed.

As business owners, we now need to create a business that is attractive to both customers and employees. Creating a work environment that nails these five strategies will appeal to all generations and all genders, not just  X & Y's.

As my business partner Michele Miller says, "Everything is Marketing."

Marketing to employee's is a new arrow you must place in your marketing quiver.

Let us know if you need help.

Read About Craig Arthur

"You must have staff designated to implement the process. Everyday. Not just when business is slow."

Regular dental check-ups are something my wife and I want for our little girl, Bridget. (2-yrs)

Six months ago, we booked Bridget in for her first dental appointment. It was with 1300SMILES. Why? They have a dentist who specializes in children’s teeth. More importantly, this dentist makes visiting the dentist fun.

Bridget had a ball at her first visit. She came home with a dental mask, gloves, a toothbrush and toothpaste. For the next week, when brushing, we had to put on the mask and gloves while Bridget wore sunglasses… just like at the dentist.

Six months later, we receive a post card in the mail addressed to Bridget, reminding us to book her in for a check-up. This immediately went into the must-do-basket.

However, life got in the way and we failed to pick up the phone and make an appointment.

Not to worry, 1300SMILES called us as a follow-up to the postcard. This time we booked Bridget in.

The day before Bridget’s appointment, Angela received a text message to remind us.

Bridget’s second visit was enjoyable as her first. Again, she came home excited with a bag full of goodies, plus a colouring-in sheet of her favourite Disney character, Ariel the little mermaid.

The lesson: Relying on customers to pick up the phone and call you, is costing your business money. Don’t do it. Call your customers.

If you are a service provider and need customers to come back on a regular basis, here are the steps you should take.

Step 1
Book your customers in for their next appointment as they pay for their current appointment. (If they make a booking go to Step 4. If they don’t make a booking go to Step 2.)

Step 2
Send a postcard, email, SMS as a reminder. (If they respond in a given period, go to Step 4. If they don’t respond go to Step 3.)

Step 3
Call the customer as a follow up to the postcard, email, SMS. (If they make a booking go to Step 4. If they don’t want to make a booking, you can drop them from the list or give them a suitable period and then go back to Step 2.)

Step 4
Send a reminder email, SMS or call the day before or on the day.

Step 5
At the day of the booking, start the process again.

These are simple steps but you need to do them consistently.

You must have staff designated to implement the process. Everyday. Not just when business is slow.

My wife and I are both patients of 1300SMILES, however, we never received a follow up postcard reminding us of our 6-monthly visit. That’s gold left in the mine. So remember, just like advertising, customer follow up needs consistency.

PS. This dentist gives our little girl such a wonderful experience, we tell all our friends with children that this is the dentist to visit. But only because the experience is exceptional.

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By Wizard of Ads (Australia) Associate, Anna Gerard

Life is perfectly imperfect… And that… is the secret to its magnetism.  There isn’t any such place as Pleasantville where everyone smiles and no one steps in dog poo.

The problem with advertising is too much of it, particularly tv and radio, is missing the dog poo… It’s just too sterile.

The other day I listened back to a radio commercial of mine and decided it was “mediocre” at best.  For a while I couldn’t figure out why… the idea was ok, the voices were fine, but the problem was noise… or rather a lack of… The scenario was a hubby and wife mid argument, yet there was no noise except for the two voices… A studio producer’s bad habit… to make commercials sound flawless.

Silence might be golden but it doesn’t live in my neighbourhood… this morning I stopped… I stopped in my bathroom and just stood… listening… Within 5 minutes a plane flew over, I could hear the trucks of a roadwork crew nearby; the guy next door clanged last night’s bottles in the bin and the wind sneaking in the corner of my bedroom window causing a “thwack thwack” of blind on blind. 

Life’s symphony doesn’t stop, it’s always present… the hum of an air conditioner, a car radio, the sound of wind stirring the trees, a newspaper blowing off a table, someone coughing… take that away and you take people away from what’s real.  

So insist your ads be real… Real could be you voicing your commercials… the smooth radio announcer has had his day!  Real could be recording the ad outside… watch the production guys go nuts when they can’t find a wind sock to block that “dreadful” noise!  Real could be getting real reactions from customers, even strangers… Real could be doing something completely off the wall… And coming up with the most amazing result.

Sony Bravia decided for a tv campaign to toss 250,000 balls dancing down a San Francisco street.  You’ve probably seen it, but did you know it’s 100 percent real… Watch the making of the ad.

I’m sure this concept would have cost a lot less to computer generate, but would it have been as spectacular?  Take a look at the finished product. 

Life’s imperfections are what make this so magnetic… the surprise of a frog leaping out a drain pipe, the way an abandoned bicycle rests against a power pole, the way juice spills out as a trash can tips to the ground.  Would the computer wiz have thought of that?  Or would they have made it perfect?

Most of the time we look past the simple moments in life, looking for something more spectacular, but the truth is real life is more captivating than any make believe.

Perfectly imperfect moments… they cling to something inside, and pull you in, because you know… they’re just like you. 

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All ships rise on an incoming tide just as even a lazy business can increase sales in a buoyant market.  However the tide is turning.

To quote Roy H. Williams in his memo Buried Treasure, "2008 is shaping up to be an unhappy year for most product and service categories." 

Want some more indicators of the turning tide?

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It was not a swift painless death deserved of an icon, rather it was a creeping, slow, strangling one.

The Bulletin was first printed in 1880. It was Australia's longest running magazine.

The issue that went on sale yesterday, was the last.

Over the last few years it's readers deserted the magazine... Last September it had 57,039 sales... In the mid-1990's it had highs of more than 100,000 a month.

If you were an advertiser over that same time no doubt you would have paid extra for your advertising space even though each year you were reaching less and less people. Not a good investment. 

Scott Lorson chief executive of ACP Magazines said, "This trend is consistent with that experienced by many leading weekly news and current affairs magazines globally and is somewhat symptomatic of the impact of the internet on this particular genre." 

With the internet biting savagely into readership of newspapers and magazines worldwide, prepare for many more closures in the print industry.

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Read About Craig Arthur