Sunday, December 26, 2010

Survey says #1 Pain of WNY Business Owners is....

You guessed it – my recent survey of WNY Business Owners says the #1 pain is -

“ Not enough time to get it all done”!

53% of those surveyed said this is one of their top 3 pains.

The best solution?

If you experience this Pain , then I have one part of the solution – the “HOW TO” and it is FREE – but the second part is the key :

Do you have the WANT TO? The commitment to start some new habits. It isn’t hard, it just takes a few key actions, but it requires commitment.

If you are ready to deal with this big issue then keep reading:

I have developed a series of 5 Proven Tips from the best people in the business - which include coach’s letters, videos and audios that will walk you through how to wrestle this pain to the ground and become a much more effective leader and person.

It’s Free all you have to do is CLICK HERE and sign up and you will receive one every other day for 10 days. Block your calendar for 15 minutes each of those days and focus on this HOW TO. This is not the usual list making, a,b,c ranking stuff – this is simple and logical steps to be more productive.

These same tools can be used to teach your whole team how to be more effective and more productive while taking a lot of the stress out of their life.

Simply CLICK HERE and we will deliver a tip every other day to your inbox.


All the best,

Rick W. Wallace
President/Business Coach
Next Level Coaching LLC
More Money, More Time, Better Team
716-479-7719

Thursday, December 16, 2010

3 tips to improve your email marketing

3 Tips to
Improve Your Email Marketing
Look at your inbox. Chances are that it is packed with emails - all screaming for your attention. As a marketer, your job is to cut through the clutter and deliver an engaging email that gets opened and produces results. Here are a few tips that will help you do exactly that.

Give subscribers what they want.
The most impactful thing you can do to improve your email marketing is to send relevant and interesting emails. Why? Because when your subscribers know that there is something valuable on the other side of the subject line, your open rates will skyrocket.
So offer something of value in every email you send, such as industry research, tips and tricks, discounts, and more. Not only will this establish your credibility as an expert, it will reduce spam complaints.


Get to know your readers.
In order to deliver relevant content, you need to Define and profile your Ideal Customer there wants, needs, pains and fears. If you don't already know the answer, you can find out by conducting an NPS survey and then calling and interviewing 5-7 customers that represent your Ideal Customer you like them and they value and love doing business with you. Ask them the questions above. .
Once you know what their wants, needs , pains and fears are you can begin to offer them relevant information that will address those issues. Guess what? There are people just like them out there who share these same issues and will be attracted to your “free information” . This knowledge will help you send relevant messages to each person.


Have a Marketing Machine setup to automatically follow up.
By signing up and asking for your “offer” they now have give you permission to follow up and have ongoing conversations with them. Don’t sell keep sending them more relevant information in the form of Tips, White papers, E-newsletters that don’t sell but instead educate and inform. These should be set up and sent out automatically on a regular basis. Over time something will trigger them and they will be ready to buy and when that time comes they will trust you and contact you.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Leadership - Expectations vs. Agreements

According to Jim Collins the author of Good to Great, one of the best business books ever written, to have a great company you have to answer these 3 questions with a yes.

Do we have the right people, doing the right things, right?

Well my coach Steve Chandler has always stressed that you can't get people to do things right through setting Expectations. He believes only in Agreements.

Having trouble managing and leading people - read on - it works!

Human beings were not put on this planet to live up to the expectations of others. They weren't put here for that. They know that deep down. They have a rebellious, free spirit in them that knows it was not put here to live up to another mortal human being's expectations.

Therefore, whenever you use the "expectation" word, you create rebellion, and you create less likelihood that what you expect will happen. Less likelihood by expecting it!!!! So by expecting something, you make it go away--you don't draw it to you. You chase it away because it's toxic, it's cowardly, it's radio-active, it is cancerous. Expectation is.

I can't stress it enough. I've never seen expectations work as sound self-programming. Any kind of positive benefit in any relationship (personal or otherwise) -- I've never seen it work. I've never seen it bring people closer together. I've never seen it make one partner more faithful. I've never seen it do anything, but damage. Terrible damage. Every time it is used inside the human system.

Now what I have seen work beautifully on the other hand, in the other way, is agreements. So the person's late for a meeting. I meet with him and say, "Let's you and I create an agreement and I'll tell you why I'm requesting we create an agreement. I would like to have you at the meeting…the whole meeting from beginning to end every time. You are that valuable to me. You're that important to me. You're that important to the rest of the team. Your strolling in late does not work for me. It's not wrong, it's not unjustified, it simply does not work in what I'm creating. Now let's you and I talk so we can get an agreement; and an agreement is something that works for you, otherwise, I don't want you to agree to it."

So we work on an agreement together, I understand the other person's concerns, they were in another person's meeting that morning that got out late. We find a way to have that not be the case anymore. We agree. We shake hands. We now have an agreement.

If you want people to do something, create an agreement. Don't just "expect" them to do it. They won't. Or, haven't you noticed?

Sunday, November 14, 2010

What's wrong with Comfort and Security?

My coach Steve Chandler sent me a great post the other day with a 15 minute audio on the distinction between Challenge vs. Comfort. He, and every personal development guru in the world, focuses on "thinking" - the way we think as being the root of all of our problems and fears.

We have a choice how we think. Yes it is a simple choice between negitive vs. positive.

But Steve takes this a few steps further. Here is an outtake from his post and the link to the audio is below. It's in MP3 format so you can download it or simply listen. Pass it on to anyone you know that needs to be inspired to take on challenges.

"It's my thinking that weighs me down. That's, in fact, the only thing that can ever weigh me down. My own thinking. So to get back in the ZONE I want to challenge and eliminate any thinking that is weighing me down. So now what will lift me up? New thinking? NO!

I need to stop all the thinking. Stop trying to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Thinking is overrated. Doing is underrated. DOING is the most underrated thing there ever was."

https://www.box.net/shared/8156c7kr5m

Steve

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

It is not what you do .......

When it comes to comparing superachievers and everyone else, it has less to do with what they do and more to do with what they don’t do.
Saying “yes” is easy; saying “no” is much harder, but it is the master skill of success.
In a world where we are constantly being tugged on from a thousand different directions, your ability to be productive and ultimately achieve your big hairy audacious goals has more to do with all the things you DON’T do versus the things you do.
Put it this way: For everything you say “yes” to you are saying “no” to something else… and you only have so much time. For most people, the ability to do MORE is impossible; you are already overwhelmed and working yourself to exhaustion 24/7.
Doing MORE is not the answer. Doing less is. Focus on the Right Things and let the little things fall in place. 20% of what you do provides 80% of the results

Monday, October 11, 2010

Facing the Enemies Within - Jim Rohn

We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear. Maybe some fears are brought on by your own experiences, by what someone has told you, by what you've read in the papers. Some fears are valid, like walking alone in a bad part of town at two o'clock in the morning. But once you learn to avoid that situation, you won't need to live in fear of it.
Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy our ambitions. Fear can destroy fortunes. Fear can destroy relationships. Fear, if left unchecked, can destroy our lives. Fear is one of the many enemies lurking inside us.
Let me tell you about five of the other enemies we face from within. The first enemy that you've got to destroy before it destroys you is indifference. What a tragic disease this is. "Ho-hum, let it slide. I'll just drift along." Here's one problem with drifting: you can't drift your way to the top of the mountain.
The second enemy we face is indecision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity and enterprise. It will steal your chances for a better future. Take a sword to this enemy.
The third enemy inside is doubt. Sure, there's room for healthy skepticism. You can't believe everything. But you also can't let doubt take over. Many people doubt the past, doubt the future, doubt each other, doubt the government, doubt the possibilities and doubt the opportunities. Worst of all, they doubt themselves. I'm telling you, doubt will destroy your life and your chances of success. It will empty both your bank account and your heart. Doubt is an enemy. Go after it. Get rid of it.
The fourth enemy within is worry. We've all got to worry some. Just don't let it conquer you. Instead, let it alarm you. Worry can be useful. If you step off the curb in New York City and a taxi is coming, you've got to worry. But you can't let worry loose like a mad dog that drives you into a small corner. Here's what you've got to do with your worries: drive them into a small corner. Whatever is out to get you, you've got to get it. Whatever is pushing on you, you've got to push back.
The fifth interior enemy is over-caution. It is the timid approach to life. Timidity is not a virtue; it's an illness. If you let it go, it'll conquer you. Timid people don't get promoted. They don't advance and grow and become powerful in the marketplace. You've got to avoid over-caution.
Do battle with the enemy. Do battle with your fears. Build your courage to fight what's holding you back, what's keeping you from your goals and dreams. Be courageous in your life and in your pursuit of the things you want and the person you want to become.

Friday, September 17, 2010

What's your brown paper bag?

Thanks go to Verne Harnish for this little story:

Craig Hodges, Managing Director of Australia-based King Content (http://www.kingcontent.com.au), suggested the best business question I've heard in 2010 -- "What's The Brown Paper Bag in Your Business?"

As the story goes, Craig was in NYC and managed to garner a dinner reservation at the famous Gramercy Tavern. One thing led to another and he ended up closing the place down, enjoying beers with the staff (what Aussie's do best!). As he was leaving, the staff handed him a brown paper bag and said it was a little something for breakfast the next morning. He started to look inside, but was instructed to keep it closed until the sun came up. Delight Inside -- when Hodges was ready for breakfast the next morning, he found inside the properly sealed bag a freshly baked muffin, muesli, and an orange juice -- a welcomed delight.

It was then that he wondered "what was the brown paper bag-equivalent in his business?" He wondered how his business could generate the same word-of-mouth promotion he's given Gramercy Tavern as a result of something so simple, yet memorable?
What could be your brown paper bag?

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Why? What's your Purpose?

My last post was on this subject and I decided I needed to take some time alone and determine what My Why is.

The purpose, the driving force behind what I do and why I have such a passion doing it. What is it that really gets my juices flowing and why am I in the coaching profession and love what I do so much?

After really focusing on this for 30 minutes or so it occurred to me.

I love to learn and I love to teach

Whatever position I had held over the years I seemed to always seek out books and seminars to learn how to do it better. I always loved to teach and share with others what I had learned.


It all makes sense, now I'm doing just that as a business coach.

My father, grandfather and his two brothers were all entrepenuers. They started and ran their own businesses. Yet while it was "in the blood" I took the safe road and worked for corporations all my life.

So now I have come back to my roots and have found a way to continue to doing the things I love by helping small business owners find their purpose, their Why and build successful businesses around that Why.

I keep learning and at the sametime can share that learning with my clients who don't always have the time to seek out these concepts and processes nor the methods to follow through and make them work.

To teach you have to have a book. So I put together a Free Ebook that contains some of my best learnings on transforming a small business. These things work, that's a fact.

Click here to hear the 10 minute audio introduction ( to get a flavor)

http://www.box.net/files#/files/0/f/31291448/1/f_501256882

and/or download the Free Ebook

" Why Successful Small Businesses Struggle and how to make them soar again" at


http://www.next-level-coaching.com/

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Rekindle that Spirit

Does it seem like everyone is depending on you? Do you get up and love going to work everyday like you did when you started the business?

It's not uncommon for the "Entrepreneurial Glow" to burn out. However, if you're not excited about your products or services, no one else is going to be. And, who wants to buy a product/service they're not enthusiastic about?

Quick tips for regaining your passion:

- Bring in a sandwich, shut the door, turn off the phone and email and write down all the reasons
you love your products or services
- Write down and then tell others the story of Why you became an entrepreneur
(POWERFUL 18 minute video from the author of "Start with Why")

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

- Get some Clarity write down what you want your business to look like in 5 years (even if it's
unrealistic... perhaps especially if it's unrealistic!) If you don’t know how the heck do you
expect your employees to know where you are going?
- Read inspirational books, blogs, and articles about small business ownership
- Take time to rejuvenate – yes take a few days off and really get away from the business

Think about it you became an entrepreneur for a reason. And, how you feel about your company is going to be reflected in the risks you'll take, the way you interact with your customers and employees and the amount of money you bring in!

Ray Kroc (founder of McDonald's) said, "If you work just for the money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing, and always put the customer first, success will be yours."

Be passionate! Be excited! Learn to love your business, your customers, and the simple joys of small business ownership. Pass that passion on to your employees and customers, and you'll see a phenomenal difference in the growth and success of your business!

Start with some "kindling" from my Free Recorded Webinar on "Lack of Execution – The Bain of Business" and other free information and articles at
http://www.next-level-coaching.com/

All the best,

Rick Wallace

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Slow Down - Get MORE Done

From my mentor Steve Chandler

It doesn't seem like it would be true. It doesn't seem like slowing down would get that much more done. But it does. Every day you do it, you will get more done. Every day you experiment with slowing down you will understand the truth behind the legend of the tortoise and the hare. (Legends and stories and myths last because of their truth.) If I am on the wrong road it doesn't matter how good I get at speeding down that road. It's the wrong road. I need to remind myself of this: Slow down and win. I need to take my sweet, gentle time. I want this conversation ahead of me be relaxed and strong so that the relationship I have becomes relaxed and strong. So all day it helps to tell myself: Slow down.

Steve

Thursday, July 22, 2010

What we can learn from Louis Oosthuizen?

Louis Oosthuizen is the Champion Golfer of the Year as they say at the British Open. A virtual unknown, but he beat the field by 7 strokes.


The press noticed he had a big red dot on his golf glove. When asked about it he said he needed, “a trigger to get back in the moment, compose…focus on the shot and forget about everything around…”
When asked about sharing this day with his 6 month old daughter one day, he glowingly replied, “I’ll probably try and get…a DVD…and show her the whole thing.”

I think we can all learn a lot from him about improving our business and family life.


Essentially he’s:
- Aware of the potential of distractions that exist and can keep him from his goal
- Has a built in “trigger” to help him focus and play within himself
- Playing for something more than himself.



Clarity, Focus and Execution = a better company. What is your "trigger" to get you focused, motivated and allows you to execute? Go to my wesbite www.next-level-coaching.com and download the free presentation on Lack Of Execution - The Bane of Business it will take this leasson and show you how to come up with your own RED DOT for your business.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

No Goal!

All of us in Buffalo know that quote.
As much as that frustrated me, nothing is as frustrating as hearing people say:

“I don’t need to set goals to succeed.”

Here are my two favorite quotes on the subject:

“If you don’t know where you are going you may not get there”
Yogi Berra

“What is wrong?
I’m lost and I don’t know which of these two roads to take.
Where are you going?
I don’t know
Well either of those roads will take you there.”
The Cat, to Alice, while she was running around Wonderland

My take is that goals are crucial to the owner of a small business. Without them your whole team has no direction, no way to prioritize their time, no way to know which way to go every time they reach a fork in the road. The bane of most businesses is Lack of Execution – they have great ideas but have trouble implementing them.

You see the most important thing about goals is that they immediately produce Actions. Actions can then be prioritized and then someone can then be made accountable and with an easy follow up process you Execute.

Goals – Actions – Prioritization – Accountability = Execution

(for more click below to listen to my 12 minute Audio “Clarity, Vision and Goals”

http://www.box.net/files#/files/0/f/31291448/1/f_371147368


Rick Wallace
“Closing the gap between the your Dream and the Reality of owning a business”

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Serving vs. Pleasing

Since we were kids we have been taught to please people. Do things so they will like us. As we grow older we keep it up. We work hard at getting people to like us and our business. As salespeople we work hard to be friendly and likable. “People buy from people they like.” Right?

You know there is a better and more profitable way. Serve people. Customers and prospects will become loyal and big fans of companies and people that serve them. The people you attract to your business will come back because they were served and those are the people that are willing to pay more and stay around because they value those that serve.

People that come on board because they are pleased by you will not be as loyal. Offer a coupon, introductory price, slick sales pitch, take them out to lunch, golf, etc. please them and make them like you.

No loyalty in that, no value in that, once it is over.

Serve them, help them, demonstrate how your products and services can satisfy their needs and wants and overcome their fears and you have a customer for life.

Click here for free download of an audio from Steve Chandler – “Serving vs. Pleasing”
Listen or burn a CD.

Https://www.box.net/clubfearless

Seth Godin short video on social marketing and the need to serve, not please.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OujgPgNCLvk

This is one way I serve. More to come.


Rick Wallace
“Closing the gap between the your Dream and the Reality of owning a business”

Sunday, June 20, 2010

“I can’t find good people”

The first and most common false belief I hear when talking to business owners is “I can’t find any good salespeople” or ”my salespeople aren’t good enough but I don’t want to hire someone else because they won’t be any better”. You get the point.As Jim Collins says “ the most important questions in a business are not the “what” questions, but the “who” questions.In the same vein Seth says “Everyone says try harder. We are all trying as hard as we can. Why not try different”I know a proven, successful process to hire A Players not just for sales but for every position. Take 9 minutes and download this MP3 Audio or simply listen.

http://www.box.net/shared/vs8qjad9g4

You can find more information on my website under resourses - Hiring and Recruitingwww.next-level-coaching.com

This is relevant to everyone trying to grow their company.

Rick Wallace

“Closing the gap between the your Dream and the Reality of owning a business

Monday, June 14, 2010

On Being Relevant

I’m starting a new blog and I want to make sure the information I share in this blog is relevant to the readers.

You see, it will be a bother if it is not.

Yet if it is, it will be looked upon as a quick read that will serve the readership and thus be read because;

It will be relevant.

It will be relevant to those of you that want to learn how to close the gap between the Dream you had when you started your business and the Reality you are now living.

Actually Excuting and Folowing up on the ideas and processes you know will improve your business or your career.

It will be relevant if you have ever been frustrated with these thoughts and questions:

“We never follow through"
"I can’t find good people”
“ There is not enough time to do it all”
“This business depends too much on me”
“There is not enough profit”
“ I can’t seem to grow”
“Is my marketing effective?”
“Will I ever be able to retire”
“Have I lost the passion”

As part of this blog I will be making available to those that find it relevant a treasure trove of information and best practices that I know work and will address those frustrations above.

Articles, Ebooks, Audios, Powerpoints free for those who think it relevant.

If it is relevant please follow me. Please opt out below if it is not relevant.
Or
Hang around a while and see. You can always opt out when it isn’t relevant anymore.

Success - Do the right things, in small amounts, over a long period of time.

And be relevant to your customers and prospects so they will follow you.

Seth Godin short video on social marketing - relevance vs. mass marketing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OujgPgNCLvk


Rick Wallace
“Closing the gap between your Dream and the Reality of owning a business”

Monday, June 7, 2010

Fear - How it Effects Your Leadership and Sales Skills

Fear - that's right fear is something as leaders and salespeople that we need to understand how it effects our interactions with our employees and our prospects.

The link below will take you to a audio program from Steve Chandler that brings a fresh new prospective to how Fear effects our ability to come to agreement with employees and prospects.

It takes 20 minutes to listen to it but I guarantee is will provide some real insights on how to improve your sales and leadership skills.

https://www.box.net/shared/y5p83klqyd

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

How can you ensure an 80% success rate in hiring "A Players" in your business?

If you could ensure that kind of success rate you probably would be more inclined to upgrade your team or bring on that Superstar salesperson everyone is looking for. The answer to the second part of the question is just as important. How do you know if you have A, B or C players working for you. I found this simple yet brilliant process for making this determination.

It is "the question" and it came from NetFlix a company focused on great employees in very job. They believe that great people want to work around great people and that great people leave companies when they see "C Players" slacking off or unqualified for their jobs and getting away with it day after day. Think about it. Most good people leave on their own, the C Players never leave.

The question?

Ask the following question about each of your employees on a quarterly basis.

"If he/she were to walk in right now and tell me they were leaving to go to work for a competitor in two weeks how hard would I fight to keep them?"

It says it all.

If you answer not very hard for any of your employees then go to my website and under resources you will find the answer to the title of this blog post.
www.next-level-coaching.com

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Doing the right things, in small amounts over a long period of time

Many of the clients I coach are shocked to find that slowing themselves down speeds up their success. When they slow down and focus on that next small step ahead of them and TAKE THAT STEP they are surprised at how their whole world changes by doing that. Because every little achievement along the way raises our confidence. With increased confidence in ourselves, we achieve more and more. The big picture is fine, but the real success in reaching your goals is achieved when you break your plan down into small steps to take along the way, and then start taking them. With each of these steps your self-esteem rises. In the end, the goal itself isn't even as important as the huge strides you have made in self-confidence and self-respect along the way. Because of that increase in self-confidence and self-respect, the next challenge that life throws at you will be that much easier to handle. And it was those small steps that built that self-confidence.Here's to the next step,

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Think you hold the power in a small business purchase decision? Think again.

Small business owners are doing their homework before making purchase decisions and they’re increasingly relying upon online and third party resources. Unlike consumer purchase decisions that are often driven by emotion, small business owners are more pragmatic and consider the practical business implications of purchasing something for their businesses. Now, they’re taking to the web for insights. Small business owners have always relied heavily upon their fellow business owners for advice but with the huge increase in online resources, small business owners now have the opportunity to tap into opinions and advice from millions of “strangers” in addition their own colleagues.

91% of all small business owners consult user
generated content/peers when making
purchase decisions

Your corporate web page remains the single most important resource for reliable and credible facts on your products and services, so the more questions you can answer there, the fewer additional resources they will need to consult in order to make a decision. As a marketer, a lot of the power you have over your brand is becoming outside of your control; however, there are learnings you can leverage. Spend some time mining the recommendations and opinions that your customers have about your products. They are likely honing in on key features or benefits that they think stand out for your product or service – this should align with the elements you are highlighting in your messages.

(i.e. Do an NPS Survey, profile your Ideal Customer and their needs, wants and most importantly their pains and fears, develop your Value Proposition (message) and provide relevant information to your Ideal Customers and Prospects based on this knowledge. Rick )