Typical Business

In this weeks Typical Business Podcast I was joined by Jake Hower who co-hosts the episode with me. We continue a recent conversation Jake and I had in Melbourne on the tail end of my US working holiday. It all revolved around the principles of Time in Motion and in the podcast we share the 4 easy steps you can take to increase efficiency in your business. Both Jake and I are also enthusiastic adoptors of Infusionsoft, so we also share a stack of great ideas you can use in your business. Infusionsoft has been great for inspiring new ideas and achieving better results, so we discuss those very things in this episode. But first, here’s this weeks snippets; Digital Marketing Tip Have you ever been to a website to check out a certain product or service, then noticed that same business advertising on other websites you’ve visited over the next few weeks and months? It’s called Re-Marketing and it’s a popular way to stay ‘front of mind’ of your customers. Here’s how it works; You set up an advertising campaign – similar to Google Adwords and then insert a small piece of code on your website. When someone visits your website, a cookie is installed on their computer which tells Google they have visited your site. Now, when they surf the web, Google will show your business ads to those people from their network of advertisers. Very clever right? You can even show different ads depending on the page they visited. As an example, if someone makes a purchase on your website which ends on a receipt page – you could target those customers with a special ‘return off coupon’ giving 5% off their next purchase. Only those people that saw the receipt page will see that coupon offer. This digital marketing tip was brought to you by Digital Domination This weeks feature on the podcast is on the subject of Time in Motion and making better use of your time with Infusionsoft. Before I get into the nuts and bolts of this weeks podcast, I wanted to share a few reasons why the Typical Business website hasn’t seen much of an update recently and why there’s a gap in the podcast episodes. To all of you who regularly return to check out the site, I’m sorry. The reason behind the lapse? Infusioncon. Plain and simple. While I was at Infusioncon I realised there was an opportunity I was missing from my bricks and mortar business Your Building Broker. So, I decided to get that right before I did any extra activites – that, and working through a flu which hung around for too many weeks left a bit of a hole in my Typical Business blogging and podcasting. I guess a lot of that was inspired by one presentation by David Allen about getting things done. The good news? We’re back. I’ve got a lot of inspiration and ideas to share with you all and I can’t wait to do it. This episode has a lot of information and ideas that you can use in your business and rather than try to copy everything here in the notes, I’d encourage you to download the podcast episode and take in the information that way. The one thing you might want to reference from the show is the 4 Step Time in Motion Process. 4 Step Time in Motion Process 1. Identify the areas you want to test. Do this in two ways; a) Your most common repetitive tasks b) Your less frequent, but regular task that takes the most amount of time 2. Measure those tasks. This will help you understand the amount of hours you spend on each task. The formula is; The # of times the task is completed each week TIMES the # of people completing the task TIMES 52 weeks = Total hours each year. 3. Apply a Cost Analysis Calculate what the average hourly rate is for the staff who complete those tasks, then multiply the hourly rate by the Total hours each year (that you worked out in step 3). 4. Consider Your Solution Now that you know what the real cost for your business is, you can look at alternative solutions. One of the solutions both Myself and Jake have implemented for a number of different things is Infusionsoft. If you’d like to look at Infusionsoft, I’d recommend you click the banner below and take a demonstration of the software. As I mentioned in the podcast, the wonderful thing about Infusionsoft is it will inspire you with new ideas and ways you can become even more successful in your business. The post Making Your Business More Efficient Using A Time In Motion Analysis appeared first on Typical Business.

Have you hit a plateau? Perhaps you need to shift and grow. Making a mindset-shift in the way you're thinking will often allow you to bound ahead and grow beyond your current situation and expectations. Moving from A to B is often a physical event. So much so we get caught in the assumption that what happens internally doesn't affect what is going on externally. I'm not sure that could be further from the truth. I've known someone for a long time who refused to accept any responsibility. Whenever something happened, they would immediately blame everyone else. It was never their fault. They complained; "at work I'm always passed over when it comes time for a promotion". They complained; "everyone else seems to have it easy and everyone else has opportunity and success falling into their lap except for me". They complained; "no one understands me or what I have to go through". Michael Hyatt said recently "The shortest distance from where you are to where you want to be is the truth". The Truth is, they never accepted responsibility. Shift and Grow Up until last year. Last year, they turned over a new leaf and life has opened up and new opportunities abound. This person now has a new job. They have just received their second promotion in less than six months. They've almost doubled their salary. They've grown their social standing with others and gained a lot of new friends. Why? Shift and Grow. Shift and grow is a principle where growth only comes after a mindset shift. So if you've hit a plateau - perhaps in your personal life or in your professional life. It might be time to consider this. If you seem to be on a Ferris wheel, going around and around and suffering the same fate year after year. You need to make a change and that change is probably your mindset. Ignore what else is going on around you. Instead, look inside you and then change your mindset and your actions and outcomes will follow.

Mark Twain said "Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day". Making tough decisions is easy, when you decide to Eat The Frog First. Think about this for a minute; You have to eat a frog. You have to eat a frog every single day for the rest of your life. No one else can eat the frog for you - it's something that you have to do. So what will you do? Here are your choices; You could leave the frog till the end of the day, but then the whole day it will play on your mind. You could eat the frog for lunch, but then it's going to spoil your morning knowing it's coming, and your afternoon knowing what you've just been through. Or, you could eat the frog first thing in the morning and get it over and done with. There - it's now out of your way. Eat the frog first. When you have to do something difficult - get it done first thing in the morning and move on. Don't procrastinate with it. Don't put it off. Don't let yourself be consumed by the thought of it. You have to do it. Get it done first thing and then get on with the rest of your day. Eat the frog first. So if you need to; Give someone the sack Discuss a pay rise request Ask the bank for an extension on your loan Confront someone for stealing Phone that nasty, vindictive client Do it. Get it over with first thing this morning. Then you can say 'I ate the frog first' and enjoy the rest of your day.

Saying No can be a powerful tool to keep you focused on what is important and what is within your capability to manage. You know what I'm talking about right? To get to where you are today, you were probably a Yes person. When asked 'Who can pick up additional work' you'd often be the one putting up your hand. You'd be working longer hours in the office and often got noticed and recognised over the years as you've climbed the corporate ladder. I know that's what I did. I wanted more responsibility and was happy to take on additional tasks. Rarely would something come up where I wouldn't volunteer my time to do it. But all of that has to change. There comes a time when you need to learn to say No - more often and faster than ever before. It's an essential skill to develop, and for some of us it means unlearning that 'can-do' attitude. Instead, it's time to embrace a 'no-can-do' attitude. Say No - I don't take on that kind of work. Say No - I won't do those things for our clients. Say No - I won't come to your office for another meeting. Say No - We don't give discounts on our products. Say No - I'm not willing to compromise on our standards. Say No - I'm not willing to waste my time on those things. Saying No keeps you focused, steadfast and on track and happy with where you're going.

At what cost are you taking one action over another? Your time is precious, and whatever measure of time you invest into one activity is lost forever over another activity. Often, people work on level 1. Level 1 is where an action has an immediate reaction - and that is as far as they can see. But our decisions have ripple effects that can last for decades. Have you heard the saying 'whatever seed you plant is what will grow'? Our decisions today will shape our future, so here's what you need to ask yourself - 'At What Cost'? What is the cost of taking this one action, over another action? There are countless milestones in our lives and as you get older you begin to realise that some milestones are important than others. Many, will never be repeated. Your daughters graduation for example. What a wonderful time to celebrate the hard work for 3-4 years that she invested in getting her degree. How happy would she be knowing how proud you are that she was able to accomplish something like this. Imagine telling her you can't make it? My father in law didn't come to his daughters wedding because he had a tennis tournament on that day. At what cost? At what cost are you taking actions today? You're taking on a new client who demands exclusivity. At what cost? This could potentially cut your market opportunity significantly. You're employing someone new to fill a senior role instead of promoting internally. At what cost? Perhaps your disgruntled senior staff member will resign next week. You're rolling out a new software solution. At what cost? New software comes with training, adoption and often implementation costs. You're signing a new lease. At what cost? Your cash flow will be significantly impacted and the promised staff bonuses may not be issued. Don't be a level 1 thinker. Instead, for all of your important decisions today, as yourself 'At What Cost'. Consider the ripple effects and only then make your final decision.

This weeks Typical Business podcast theme is - Farming is for suckers. More importantly, are you a farmer, an artisan or are you effectively running your business? Now before you think - hang on, farmers are hard working honest people doing it tough! I know, I know... The reference is specifically in relation to a group of people that played the online game 'World of Warcraft'. In this podcast episode we break down what farmers did, and just why they were referred to as suckers. More importantly, we're going to take a closer look at those farmers and see if you can identify with any of them. This weeks snippets; My Favorite Tools In My Toolkit - Project Bubble Project Bubble is a cloud based software solution for project management that helps me track projects and gets things done. It has a terrific user interface that allows for drag and drop management, user assignment to each task and a quick visual guide with stoplights - Green, Amber and Red.   Each task can have sub-tasks which are used as a check-list. You can add comments, tags and notes to each task which is great for later reference. Plus, this is in the cloud, meaning anywhere you have Internet access, you can use Project Bubble. Perfect for when you may travel, as your projects can simply run without delays. This week’s Book Review;  Platform – by Michael Hyatt This is a fantastic down to earth guide that will help you understand the steps you need to consider if you’re going to launch your own platform. Your platform could be; business coaching, how to knit kids clothes, children’s story books, make up professionals, moonshiners – whatever. If you're looking for a general business book, this isn't it. But if you're wanting to build your own platform to promote your passion, then I don't think you could have a better start than with this book. My rating: 5/5 stars for anyone wanting to launch their own platform Main Podcast - Farming Is For Suckers! World of Warcraft is a virtual world but has a lot of similarities to the real world we live in. It has an economy. People buy and sell. People craft. People do quests together and raid and form guilds. There are different ranks or social classes within guilds. A FARMER; What is a farmer? A farmer is someone who would spend time in the virtual world, running around collecting raw materials that could be used to fashion items using crafting. They would gather say ’20 thistle leaves’ and then sell a stack of 20 thistle leaves on the auction house for a price. In my analogy today, these farmers represent employees. They do the mundane tasks for minimum wages. ARTISANS / CRAFTERS; The people that would buy those items were artisans/crafters. The idea being that the crafters would craft a new item, and then use it themselves or on-sell it at the auction house. Most crafters would actually do the whole process – they’d farm the materials, then craft a new item (say a weapon) and then sell that weapon on the auction house. The problem being, a lot of crafters would sell the new weapon at the same combined price of all the materials or worse – LESS than the cost to put all the items together. These represent a lot of solo-prenuers today or sole traders. They tend to do everything and often cut their prices making minimum profit. BUSINESS OWNERS; Finally, there were the really profitable artisans/crafters. Those that NEVER spent time farming. Instead, they would buy the materials from the farmers, then craft rare items and sell them for double or triple the cost to produce the items – making a clear profit.

We discuss creating an online video marketing strategy with Ryan after his epic Tasmanian bike ride in this podcast episode of Typical Business. Ryan shares how he managed to travel and keep up to date with his business through his iPad Mini. This gave him the capability to speak to clients daily if needed, send quotes as he needed to and keep in touch with his team back at his Melbourne office. It amazes me just how mobile business can be these days - due to all the productivity tools we have available for us in the cloud (online). Ryan and I have discussed our travel and business strategies as his Tasmanian trip is only weeks ahead of my own 5 week trip to the USA. This trip will be where I'll stress-test my own systems which will soon see if I can manage my own businesses remotely. Whilst in the USA I'll be attending Infusioncon 2013 - you can keep track of the event on Twitter if you search for the hash tag #ICON13 This weeks Book Review; Do The Work by Steven Pressfield The enemy in all of our endeavours is 'The Resistance'. Steven helps you put in place strategies or a mindset to help you get things done. If you're not a big reader, Ryan also recommends to buy the audio book which he highly rates. Ryan's star rating: 4 1/2 stars Steve's star rating: 4 stars Getting Started with Online Video Marketing Last week we discussed Blogging with Dan Norris and we also discussed the other forms of media now being used by business to convey their message. So much so, I thought it was time to speak to Ryan about video presentations. In today's world potential customers often make their first connection with a business online. That might be through reading the latest news updates from their website, or watch a video or a 'how to' guide created by that business. Advantages with video; Video is immersive - most people won't do anything else other than watch the video. Training video's are both visual and informative and can be highly affective and memorable. Sales videos are a favourite of copywriters who would previously have created long form direct mail sales letters. Ryan explains first and foremost, if you've got a compelling story or compelling content, the video production isn't as critical. However, if you have poor content and your video is poor quality, it will reflect badly on your business. We are still in very early days of the online video revolution - today, you don't have to spend much to create a video and your distribution is very easy via sites like YouTube. The savvy small business owners are creating good quality videos and are already starting to distinguish themselves from their competitors. Ryan's tip - in a few years low quality video will quickly be dismissed. Your strategy should be to keep brand consistency - if a video is in line with your brand, people are a little more forgiving. MUST SEE - Here's a great video marketing example created by Ryan where he reveals how to create a video production brief. Check list for your online video production 1. Choose your location wisely Make it relevant to your subject as it will add visual context to your content. So if you're talking about building a home - stand in front of a home being built, as opposed to being at the ocean. 2. Work out your lighting

Dan Norris from inform.ly joins us to give us some insight into building a blog that will have your readers return over and over again. Dan recently won the Top Blogger People’s Choice Award presented by ‘Smarter Business Ideas’ so I thought it'd be great to chat about what he does and how he's managed to connect with his audience. Blogging is still a hot topic for businesses; Should we blog? Who in the company should blog? What should we blog about? Is it going to make a difference if we blog? We ask Dan a lot of questions about blogging (a term he hates). Here's a short hit-list of our hard hitting questions we lumped on Dan during the episode; First, why do you blog and why should others consider blogging? If someone was just starting out, what would be your best piece of advice? How important is SEO to a successful blogging strategy? How long did it take you to really ‘find your voice’ Is blogging on it’s own too 1 dimensional? Is there a trend moving towards augmenting a blog with Video and Audio? Guest blogging seems to be one of the popular ways of sharing your ideas. Certainly, you’re known in many blogging circles. How important is that as a strategy? How important is it for you to capture readers email addresses and what methods are you currently using to do that? There seems to be a trend with bloggers becoming more transparent. Is this something you’re seeing and is that a result of the Internet audience wanting more authenticity? Here's Dans latest and most shared content - an interactive infographic - to see this in full action click on the image below; Courtesy of: Informly Mentions; Jake Hower James Schramko Brendon Sinclair Seth Godin Michael Hyatt Pat Flynn Ana Hoffman   Resources; Software: Evernote Software: Onenote Software: Xero Software: MYOB Blog Post: Look at Me - Yellow Pages Software: Hubspot Book: Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World

This weeks typical business podcast is all about three traits of leadership you should embrace. If your a business owner or leader, these leadership traits will help you lead your business to greater success. If you’re a business owner, then you need to practise leadership and these three traits of leadership are a good place to start. That often means you’ve got to learn how to cope with adversity and living under the spotlight. If you can navigate this well, you’ll be able to build a cohesive environment that will thrive due to your direct efforts. But first, here’s this weeks snippets; Digital Marketing Tip Have a look at Google Analytics and find out what your 3 most viewed web pages are. Now think of ways you could enhance those pages to create more sales. Ideas like; Adding a special limited time offer A free trial A link to a successful case study page. This will encourage your website visitors to take further actions which will benefit you in the long run. Business Fundamentals – Pricing A lot of consumers shop around on price only. But that doesn’t mean you should let pricing be a reason why people won’t deal with you. You can take some simple steps to provide immeasurable benefits for clients to deal with you over the competition. As an example; Track Record; “ We’ve won the customer service award 5 times – and our priority is to keep you happy so we win it again.” Passion; People want to deal with others that are passionate Expertise; Display your expertise. People love it. Make it Fun; When work becomes fun it becomes easy. This weeks feature topic on the Typical Business podcast; Three Traits Of Leadership You Should Embrace For our feature story about Dave the Designer you’ll need to listen to the podcast audio. Leadership Trait #1 – Allow others to voice their opinions Don’t feel threatened Other opinions don’t equate to a vote of no-confidence. If a direction you’ve chosen is proven to be the wrong direction, don’t be too pigheaded to change. We all make the wrong decision from time to time. The best leaders make adjustments when they need to. Leadership Trait # 2 – Great leaders mentor others First, realise that most people want to grow. If you’re insecure in your abilities and position, you’ll stifle others to keep them beneath you. Getting involved with others is another trait of strong leaders. but it means getting your hands dirty. It might also mean getting involved emotionally. You’ll also have to get intimate with others. You need to really understand their motivations, fears, obstacles they need to overcome. More importantly, you need to be able to address them and not hold anything they confide in you with over them. Leadership Trait #3 – Communicate Your Expectations I asked this questions on linkedin “What are some of the traits shown by Bad Leaders” and the NUMBER 1 response was Poor Communication. You MUST give clear instructions for others to follow You MUST provide accurate feedback (good or bad) so your staff know exactly where they stand. Don’t play games. Don’t expect others to just ‘get it’. They won’t. Instead of complaining that staff aren’t showing initiative, show them an example of how to take initiative and give them opportunity to do the same. Action Points This week you should choose do one of the following; Change direction if someone has given you a better option – and let them know it was because of their good feedback. Choose someone to mentor and spend 1 hour with them this week discussing the way forward. Identify who might be struggling, then speak with them and give them clear instructions and feedback Here’s your Typical Business Tweet – just click it to share it on Twitter: Don’t be pigheaded. We all make mistakes. Great leaders make adjustments when they need to – via @typicalbusiness What are your thoughts? Have you felt uncomfortable as a leader when your leadership has been challenged? What did you do about it? The post Three Traits Of Leadership You Should Embrace appeared first on Typical Business.

It’s always a hot topic at any time in your working career – juggling work life balance. Today on the Typical Business Podcast, I wanted to spend some time sharing my thoughts on why work life balance is important. Once you’ve identified that life might be a little out of balance, it’s then going to be a little challenging to get things back on track. Perhaps a close friend or family member or loved one has said you’re too focused on work. Or perhaps that little voice inside has been prompting you. Either way, you’re starting to listen and that’s a good thing. It’s the first step you need to take before you can really make effective changes. Now that you’re here, I’ve shared 5 steps to help you make adjustments if and when you need to. Like many of us, you may identify yourself closely with what it is you do as a profession. Business owners are especially guilty of this. But I think it can be very unhealthy and I’ll share why below. But first; It’s Time To Open My Toolkit One of my favourite tools is my Fujitsu ScanSnap Scanner with OCR which I love for these reasons; Small, doesn’t take up much space. Allows me to scan everything quickly then shred the originals. Allows easy editing before I archive the document. Can set it up for character recognition for easy search later. This Episodes Book Review – Rework by Jason Fried and David Hansson This book addresses a lot of ideals about business and challenges them and puts them in a new light. Some chapters include; Learning from mistakes is overrated. Planning is guessing. Start a business, not a startup. Ignore the details early on. Meetings are toxic. My rating – 5/5 stars. Everyone in business should read this book. This Weeks Feature Topic on the Typical Business Podcast; Why Work Life Balance Is Important And How You Can Make Adjustments I share a few tragic stories of people I’ve known who heavily identified themselves with their work, without giving enough regard for their life outside of work. Unfortunately, in these cases it resulted in their demise. I don’t want to get preachy on you, but I felt it was appropriate to share a great scripture from the bible that says ‘What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?’ Your soul is better defined as your heart. It’s the place where you feel love and affection for others. It’s what holds all of your dreams and passions. It is, in essence, YOU. Who YOU are and what YOU believe. So if I were to rephrase this scripture I would say; “What good is it to attain your financial goals, but in doing so lose everything else that is dear to you.” One of my friends and mentors used to say; “There’s no prize for being the richest man in the graveyard” – Laurie Fitzgerald So what adjustments can we make to have a better work life balance? If you’ve identified that work life balance is important, here are my 5 recommended steps that will help you; Step 1: Spend time with the people you care about. Q: What is the most important thing in life? A: People. So your first step is to work out how to invest more of your time with the people you care most about outside of your work environment. Step 2: Consider those less fortunate This step helps us stay grateful for everything we currently DO have. This is really important for Step 3. Step 3: Step back from the rat race and Ignore the Joneses. You know what I mean right? The rat race is where we’re all scurrying to get somewhere in a hurry – with lots of outward pressure. That pressure often comes from our peers or, the Joneses. I say Damn the Joneses! What they think doesn’t matter! Step 4: Cut down your working hours to a reasonable amount of time. There’s always more work to do. Don’t kid yourself – you could work 24/7 and still find there’s more to do. Your working hours as a business owner is a choice. It’s YOUR choice. Choosing to spend time elsewhere is healthy. Step 5: Give time to a hobby. If you don’t have any hobbies, that’s also fine. But be sure to give time to something else that might interest you or that you enjoy. This is really ‘you time’. And it’s vital to keeping your work life balance in order. Here’s your Typical Business Tweet – just click it to share it on Twitter: “There’s no prize for being the richest man in the graveyard” – Laurie Fitzgerald via @typicalbusiness I hope this podcast answered why work life balance is important. Most of all, I hope these 5 action steps above will help you create an identity beyond what you do for a living. So help us out… does this relate to you? Are you struggling with your work life balance? Perhaps you’ve worked out your own priority system – share it with us in the comments below. The post Why Work Life Balance Is Important And How You Can Make Adjustments appeared first on Typical Business.

This weeks typical business podcast is all about how to build your audience using advanced content marketing and syndication techniques. Content marketing is taking off as ‘the only form of marketing’ right now especially with the rise of social media. But it’s not just good enough to create great content. You need your potential target audience […]

This weeks podcast is all about putting yourself out there and getting into the fight. I reveal how I got a free win – and became the state Tae Kwon Do champion, just because I entered the tournament! But there are some typical business principles in this life lesson, which I want to share with you. The three principles we discuss in this topic are; Be prepared – do the work. Don’t wait for permission. Have faith in your own abilities. Thought of the week Subway repositioned itself, and a lot of marketing and advertising gurus are attributing the success of the Subway business to the repositioning. You can read more about my thought on the success of Subway and get the real 8 reasons why Subway is your typical successful business. This Weeks Book Review Your Marketing Sucks and You Know It (Exposed) by Mal Emery The content is a little dated, but it is filled with a lot of good marketing techniques. I would have liked it more if he shared new ways of implementing these campaigns in the digital age. I think it’s probably a good book for many bricks and mortar businesses, and if you’re new to marketing it will probably open your eyes to better ways of winning business. My Rating: 2/5 stars Faizels Rating: 4/5 stars What’s Coming Up At Typical Business This week we announced ‘The Decision Tree’ eCourse. This course is very close to launch, and will help you free up hours of your time. It’s designed to help you make better decisions and get more done and gain momentum in your business. We’ll give you more information when we launch the eCourse. Putting Yourself Out There And Getting Into The Fight I competed in a Tae Kwon Do knockout tournament as a teenager. As it turns out, there were only 7 competitors in our age and belt bracket. The above picture shows me as the blue and all the other entrants as black. I got lucky and got a first round bye as the other 6 had to compete. That meant I was launched straight into the semi-finals. When the semi-finals came around, my opponent didn’t show up in time and got awarded a disqualification. All of a sudden I’m in the finals! When the final was announced, my competitor showed up and I was finally going to fight. We were warming up and getting ready for the fight when his coach stepped onto the mat and spoke with the referee. The referee beckoned for me to come out into the middle of the mats and he raised my hand and declared me “WINNER”! Apparently my opponent was feeling too sick to compete because of the 2 hard fights he had before this fight. In life and in business, we need to compete. Many people are nervous going out and launching their business but here are the three factors you should take into consideration; 1. Have You Done Your Preparation I’d done all the work I could to get ready for this tournament. I was fit, agile, quick, had good technique, and I’d practised for a number of years including sparring with opponents. That training was what I needed to ensure I could be successful in the tournament. If you’ve done the work, perhaps you’ve been in a business and basically running it for someone else. You’ve done the work – the preparation you need to step out there and compete on your own. 2. Don’t Wait For Permission One of my regular sparring partners at my gym would beat me regularly. He was a giant. He went through an early growth spurt and was about 6 foot 2 inches at the age of 13 and could grow a full beard. Unfortunately, his parents wouldn’t let him compete in the tournament – which as it turns out, he probably would have won. Don’t wait for permission. We’ve been trained all our lives that we need to wait. You don’t. Get out there and do it. 3. Have Faith In Your Own Abilities It’s nice if someone pats you on the back and says ‘Hey, you can do it – I have full confidence that you’re going to make it’. Unfortunately, that’s probably never going to happen. For good reason too. No one knows you like you do. Your spouse, your friends, your parents – they haven’t worked with you. They’ve just seen you work and slowly climb up the ladder in your career. But they don’t really know what you’re capable of. In fact, even those that have worked with you probably don’t know what you’re capable of. If you’ve never been given the opportunity to show your ability, it might still be lying dormant… just waiting for a chance. Here’s your Typical Business Tweet – just click it to share it on Twitter: “If you’ve done the preparation, you’ve got all it takes to step out and make it happen” – via @typicalbusiness So tell me, what’s stopping you from going out and doing it for yourself? Leave a comment below and let me know what your biggest challenge is, I’d love to help. The post Putting Yourself Out There appeared first on Typical Business.

Today Ryan & I discuss the concept of goals, how to set goals and how to make it easier to achieve goals using a template and some of our own personal goals for 2013. Setting Goals OK so if I’m honest, I haven’t been good in the past with formally setting goals. However, I started to get serious with this in recent years and found Zig Ziglars videos inspiring to help me really get motivated and get moving with my goals. I also found some workbooks that have helped me write my goals down and evaluate them better. This has helped me build 2 small profitable businesses PLUS start Typical Business and the podcast which launched late in 2012. The books were curated by Seth Godin and Zig Ziglar and I share a link to those at the bottom of this post. But first, if you’ve listened to this podcast episode, you’ll have a better understanding of each of these points that Zig raises in his 3 part video below. Zig Ziglar shares a great methodology that works when creating goals. Watch these 3 short videos for his own insight into setting goals. Episode 1: Episode 2: Episode 3: Here are his 7 steps which will help you get serious and give you a greater chance for success. Write it down. Set a start date. Listed the obstacles you have to overcome. Listed the groups and organisations you have to work with. Spell out a plan of action. Set the time aside to complete those actions. Identified the benefits. This methodology is what I use with the Pick Four workbooks which are available on Amazon; Here’s some tips to help you get started: Small steps work – Don’t give yourself long or large tasks. Instead, break them down into smaller, bite sized chunks that are easier to achieve. Momentum will really help you stay motivated and feel a sense of accomplishment. Consistent effort works – chip away at your goal regularly. That consistent effort all adds up and before you know it, you’ll achieve your goal. Group support works – if you can rally some additional support around you, do it! This helps hold you accountable, but your support group can also keep you encouraged. The one consistent rule that is followed by all successful people – Do it now. Don’t put it off. Start NOW. Here’s your Typical Business Tweet – just click it to share it on Twitter: “Don’t confuse activity with accomplishment. Be effective and accomplish your goals instead!” – via @typicalbusiness The post Steve & Ryans Tips On How To Set Goals In 2013 appeared first on Typical Business.

Dr Ilona Jerabek discusses the value of psychological testing and answers the question “What is Emotional Intelligence” and the role it plays in your business, not only as an attribute for you as a business owner, but in your staff. There were some surprising revelations that came to me during this interview – namely how much I should start to exercise my own emotions and ‘gut’ decisions and how that can improve my business. I hope some of this information is also an eye-opener for you as it was for me, especially when we discussed some of the stats. Why use Psych tests in recruitment? When interviewing people, even as a skilled interviewer you will miss things. Candidates are well trained when applying for jobs. Resume’s are often cookie cutter and embellish the truth a bit. Psychological Assessments however help reading between the lines and give a better overview of staff. They are also excellent for those staff who perhaps don’t interview too well, maybe because of cultural traits, but could be a real asset to your business. If your business is outsourcing, psychological assessments can still translate well even with cultural differences. We discuss how cultural differences can play a part in how we relate with each other. We both agreed that Jerry Seinfeld gives a clear cultural example that can come arise when a close talker crosses cultural boundaries. “Emotional Intelligence is the missing link that explains why some very smart people don’t always function well in society” Dr Ilona Jerabek Dr Ilona explains; Have you ever had a gut feeling? Most people try to suppress their gut feeling as they think it’s a little unreliable. However, every cell in our body stores memory – not just our minds. So as an example, when you’re making a stressful decision, your gut feeling is telling you something based on your experience in the past, or based on instincts – but either way it’s probably telling you something important. So here’s a big thing, are you rationalising away your emotional intelligence? I know I’m guilty of it, and even Ilona admits there have been occasions where she has done the same. I just recently wrote about listening to that small inner voice – which I suppose could also be called your gut feeling. So perhaps I’m not as emotionally retarded as my friends say So how important is Emotional Intelligence? Check out some of these stats relating to Emotional Intelligence (Note: These stats come from Ilona’s Emotional Intelligence Test page at Psychtests.com); 98% of those with high emotional intelligence (compared to 77% of those with low EIQ) enjoy learning new things. 82% of those with high emotional intelligence (compared to 43% of those with low EIQ) carefully think through decisions before moving forward. 82% of those with high emotional intelligence (compared to 38% of those with low EIQ) believe that they are useful to their company and know exactly how the organization benefits from their skills and strengths. 94% of those with high emotional intelligence (compared to 52% of those with low EIQ) continuously look for ways to improve their performance at work. 93% of those with high emotional intelligence (compared to 34% of those with low EIQ) have complete confidence in their abilities. In the face of major challenges, 81% of those with high emotional intelligence (compared to 23% of those with low EIQ) become even more determined to succeed. 46% of those with low emotional intelligence (compared to 8% of those with high EIQ) are not satisfied with their work unless someone else praises it. 39% of those with low emotional intelligence (compared to 2% of those with high EIQ) rely on others to “push” or motivate them. The last stat in the above list just blew me away. As someone who outsources a lot of work, I want staff who show initiative in their work and are self-motivated. It just highlighted to me the need for the EI testing in my own recruitment process. Here’s your Typical Business Tweet – just click it to share it on Twitter: “Most people make emotional business decisions, but they just don’t realise it” – Dr Ilona Jerabek via @typicalbusiness How You Can Develop Your Emotional Intelligence Watch Bridget Jones’ Diary (Just kidding). Be conscious and self aware of where you are personally with your own EI score. Recognise strengths and weaknesses Work and exercise your emotional intelligence in real world situations. Action Point Recognise that testing like this is an inexpensive exercise but even more importantly, recognise that not implementing testing like this could be costly. Tests are priced between $15 – $45 which could easily be used for your short list of candidates to help you split the difference between them. If you look at the cost to your company when changing staff, read this blog where I break down those numbers a bit further. It’s almost embarrassing that I haven’t been using these tests for every hire! You can find out more information from Dr Ilona Jerabek and about her company Psych Tests by visting Archprofile.com The post How Emotional Intelligence Could Be The Missing Link In Your Business appeared first on Typical Business.

Sales has been a theme here at Typical Business for the last couple of months, so I couldn’t think of a better guest than James Schramko to join us and give some awesome advice about offline sales and developing and online sales system to sell online. James runs his current business Superfast Business primarily as an online business offering business services like web development and search engine optimisation, as well as a coaching and mastermind groups. James was previously a General Manager of a Mercedes dealership in Sydney. He started initially as a sales person and was promoted to sales manager then general sales manager and finally as the GM before leaving and forming his own business. That experience provided a great grounding in business skills, working with a high level brand. Offline Sales Techniques James learnt his own sales techniques that made him the #1 sales person at BMW. However, he later learnt an even more comprehensive selling system called ‘Road to a sale’. This system held each step you would go through from the moment a prospect walked in, to the moment they drove away with their new car. The Steps: Meet and greet Handshake Exchange of names Business cards Offer of tea, coffee or water Sitdown to discuss requirements further Demonstration Test Drive Wrap up session which included; Finance Sales Manager if needed Finally, taking the order Subtle elements you could delve into during the discussions; Negotiation Body language Test drive evaluation Delivering news about the price Customers motivation beyond the basics (trigger points or hot buttons); Safety Performance Appearance Comfort Economy Durability All leads were tracked – in depth. In the podcast, James provides a clear 9 step roadmap for implementing your own sales system in your business. First – commit to building your own sales system, then build your own Write Up sheet; 1. Who is this for? If the decision makers aren’t in the meeting, then there’s no point going further. 2. What car are you trading in today? This gives you clues as to the reasons they bought that car in the first place. Did they buy it new, second hand? Did they finance it? How did they buy it, were they a spreadsheet shopper? 3. Ask the main reason for this purchase? This is the hot button.  You’ll find out the driving reason for this decision to purchase. 4. Ask for the specific features required? This is where you make sure you’re solving the problem properly. 5. Ask a timing question, when is this required? This makes a big difference in some cases as to if the product will be available. 6. What type of vehicle is required?  Get the specifications right. Go through the nuts and bolts and make sure all the details are covered. 7. Is there anything else? This is where they’ll respond with comments like “this is going to come down to price” or “this needs to meet a certain safety requirement”. 8. Right now you should be able to show them beyond any doubt that your solution is right for them. Demonstrate that this is the ideal solution from proof, testimonial, pictures etc… to show them this solution is perfect for them. 9. Ask for the most reasonable commitment.  This might be an order for the product or perhaps booking in the final appointment. Online Sales Techniques & Tips to Selling Online There are a few subtle differences with online sales vs offline sales. First of all, you’ll need to anticipate questions more carefully as you are unable to react to prospects responses. So build your websites as client focused. Here’s your Typical Business Tweet – just click it to share it on Twitter: Online Sales Tip – “Don’t be high pressure, tricky or manipulative” – James Schramko via @typicalbusiness Showcase your product well on your website. Don’t be short-sighted. Recurring customers are key to your business success. They also require a lot less effort and add to your profitability. Keep the focus on solving your customers problems and not your own problems and you’ll remain successful. Here’s what James recommends you do with your online presence. 1. Look at your website through the eyes of your customer.  Provide benefits for your customer – don’t worry about telling people how good you are, instead, solve the customers problem and give them a benefit (at no cost) by offering something your competitor doesn’t. Ask yourself honestly ‘Is this doing something for my customer’? If not, you need to change” – James Schramko 2. Beef up your website and put really useful information and services that help your customer get to know you better and see some value. You might consider offering some kind of experience free. 3. Tell people about your website. You’ll need to put some effort into promoting your website. This might be done through a lot of different methods like; Creating a facebook page Putting a video up on YouTube Writing a Press Release And others… In the podcast Steve discusses how “The Ultimate Sales Letter” by Dan Kennedy helped him re-focus his web presence and increased his sales online. How do you align your Offline & Online Sales The high priority are those customers who are on your website right now. If you can increase your response to those online customers, you’ll grow your business significantly. Those customers who are in your store are already semi-captive. Create seamless checkpoints on your website, in the same way you have seamless checkpoints offline. Be fast to respond online – also having a human on the end of your online sales enquiries will increase sales conversions. Gerry Harvey admits a lot of people going into the store have previously researched online. Action Point “Create a non-negotiable sales system in your business today” – James Schramko If you’d like to know more about James Schramko and his business, visit Superfast Business. The post Developing A Successful Offline & Online Sales System With James Schramko appeared first on Typical Business.

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