The Power of Level 4

You do the task effortlessly without even thinking about it

So, you know what you know, you do what you know, and you breathe what you know... You are at level 4:  Unconscious Competence.  You finally understand what you know and you've become the 'go to' person in your field.  You are proudly wearing the Mr. or Miss "Together" sign very well.

At this stage, you have learned from your mistakes and have trainings and blueprints written to help others not go through what you have.  But this is not the last trial; there is still more to do.

WHAT IS A SUCCESSFUL PERSON?  IT IS ONE WHO HAS LEARNED A SKILL, BEHAVIOR, ABILITY, OR TECHNIQUE SO WELL THEY JUST FLOW IN IT WITH EASE.

Don’t settle. Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

At level 4, it is important not to get used to your surroundings!  Soon you'll need a challenge...That is how you got to this level in the first place.  You'll need something new like improving on what you know, making it better. The worst thing to do is get bored and never grow.  Don't get too comfortable being at this level.  You need to be mindfully aware that although you are the master of what you know, those around you do not know what you know so it can be hard to relate. 

Don't get me wrong, there is power in this model.  Regardless of experience, most people who are ready for change will find that they will go through levels 2-4 over and over again in theirs lives especially when they try to change some ingrained habits.  Each stage of learning had something to reveal to you when you are trying to successfully change habits and master what you know.  So RELAX!  Get good at recognizing those levels that get you stuck so you can release them as unnatural skills.Some things are not for you to master but to hire those who have mastered it.

So where do you go from here?  There is a suggested fifth state of this model: Conscious competence of being unconsciously competent- which describes a person's ability to recognize being in stage 4.  For now, let's just stick to the 4 stages and if you uncover level 5 in your life, please share it!

Let's Game Change Together!

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From Incompetence to Competence

Last week we asked two questions:
1)  Are you a level 4 individual or group in whatever you do?
2)  What Level do you think you are at right now in your business and/or life?

Are you able to answer these questions or do you need a moment? 

Practice Makes Perfect
Before we get into breaking down level 3:  Conscious Competence, lets refresh on the 4 levels:

Level 1- Unconscious Incompetent: You don't know what you don't know (no clue)
Level 2 - Conscious Incompetent: You know that you don't know (clue)
Level 3 - Conscious Competent: You know that you know
Level 4 - Unconscious Competent: You don't know that you know, it is easy

So we are at Level 3 and you now recognize that whatever the task is, you are doing it focused on the functionality of it but it takes some effort mentally.  Basically, you know the basic functions of performance but you still rely on an instruction manual and spend a great deal of time preparing.  In this level you continue to practice...Practice Makes Perfect!

IDEALLY-YO!

Ideally, most entrepreneurs think that their passion is going to get them profit but it takes some passion, competency, and the practice of the process in order to make a profit in whatever business model you are in.  Competency starts with realizing that you don't know what you don't know. So you'd better start asking questions to learn what it is that you don't know, so you'll then know it.Once you have an idea of what you need to fulfill the void of what you don't know, you'll need to either get a process or develop one to keep the business flowing.  Your process should include how you sell and market your products and services. 

PASSION + COMPETENCY + PROCESS = PROFIT!

Here's a chuckle for you from Key and Peele to get you thinking about what it takes to get to the next level.  Is it who you know or what you know?  ENJOY!
Let's Game Change together!

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Level 4...Why Does It Matter To Us Mere Human Beings?

Are you a level 4 individual or group in whatever you do?

As promised, we will be talking about how to get to and start living at a LEVEL 4 in every part of your life. This will be an important piece to make your 2014 the best year that you have ever had. We are putting together tools for you to utilize on a daily base as well as simple ways to implement this into your already lifestyle as you help others do the same.

Most of you that are with Team Pure Intent are hear because of your affiliation with Send Out Cards. Well this is still the core belief of who we are and why we are. Send Out Cards is nothing more than a vehicle that includes positive attraction, outcomes and tools to help you on an everyday base. Some have been out of touch for awhile, while new members are catching the wave and taking their business to the next level. Wherever you fit, you matter!  With this said, let's journey together and refresh our steps to how a theory called Conscious Competence can help you master skills in you business, relationships, and everyday life.

The Conscious Competence Model helps us understand the stages we go through when we are learning something.  This model gives us an awareness to how we process our learning and can assist us in our career development, our personal lives, and helps us to train others more effectively.

Stages of The Conscious Competence
Back in June, we broke down each stage of the Conscious Competence.  Stage 1, "You don't know that you don't know"; Stage 2, "You know that you don't know"; Stage 3, You know that you know"; and Stage 4, "You don't know that you know."

James Dyson: A Level 4 (Quite Possible Level 5 Human Being)
Yesterday, James Dyson, engineer and inventor of the Dyson Vacuum and other helpful products, was on CBS This Morning News sharing the newest product in his line of vacuum cleaners.  His interview was quite interesting.  Here's a glimpse of what he talked about.

James Dyson has mastered what he set out to do and that was to improve those things that have been invented that no one pays attention to but use on a daily basis and make it better.  He didn't invent the vacuum, but he used his design skills to make it better.

What Level do you think you are at right now in your business and/or life?

Get plugged in, get reignited and start this new year off with finding out how you can take your business to the next level while helping others do the same or helping a young adult get started in something very tangible. I am not naive to the fact that money is not important, however I do know that when you have something that everyone can identify with and its not challenging. If you stay focus and willing for this year you will see why I am so passionate about using this vehicle as a means of helping hundreds to thousands of people see the reality in owning their own successful home base business! If I can do it you can too!

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Reach Your Niche Digitally

For the month we have been chatting about creating niches for your business with your products and services. So once you have identified your niche and have narrowed in on who your target market is; is there a need that can be filled with your products and services? I’m sure there is! Hopefully you have built some stronger relationships by positioning the right products and services to those customers that need your specified products and services. If you have done all the above, now it’s time to engage with your audience. You can do this successfully by building relationships with online groups and/or forums.

Provide your targeted audience with a place where they can share both the ‘Highs’ and ‘Lows’ of their product/service experience as well as give you feedback on what other needs they may have. Providing this platform gives your group an interaction with you as the “expert” and keeps you connected to your clients and potential customers.

Groups are easy to form online through social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. Create a forum where you can have more input into the conversation. A great social network for this is Facebook groups. A Facebook Group is a great place to provide valuable information to your targeted niche market as well as provide a forum for conversation about topics that interest your niche. Be strategic in how you build your group and let those who are joining know the terms of how you plan to communicate with them. Your goal should be to build a “two-way” communication with all of your members and provide value so that they will listen and act on what you have to share. Build your niche and create multiple streams of income for your business!

4 More Reasons To Start An Online Group For Your Niche 

1. Find out exactly what your niche is looking for 
2. Encourage your niche to invite like-minded friends, increasing your reach 
3. Plant information via Q and A into your discussion board in your group with topics that will get 
4. Get your clients and prospects talking with you and amongst each other all-in-all giving you access to GIVE MORE valuable information and provide an OPEN market for product and service sales

Let’s Game Change Together!

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Did You Make Time For You?

All of the time management ideas we've discussed this week can be applied to your personal life. Entrepreneurs have to be even more mindful of how we use or time because we are the owners, managers, and employees or our own businesses. It becomes more of a task to manage our personal lives because we get to not only design how are businesses run but how we run our personal activities.

How many of you have found yourselves totally exhausted after a weeks long of hustling and racing to finish tasks? How do you restore your mind, body, and spirit to get back in the prosperous business grind? Realize that it is important to have time managing parameters around your health. By managing your time more wisely, you can prevent stress and begin to schedule in relaxation each and every day. Consider scheduling in these ideas into your everyday time management planner:

Create a Health ‘To-Do-List’. Schedule in a time to rest, a time to read, a time to sip some coffee or tea, and a time to stretch or visit the gym.
Give each task a time limit. Schedule a time limit on each task so that you can keep track of what is being done, how long it takes, and manage other tasks throughout the day.
Just Say No. You can say NO, you know? Consider what you already have to take care as well as yourself. If it is hard for you to say no, you can think about scheduling that task for another time.
Break it Up. Break up larger projects into smaller ones. Spread the task over a period of time so you’re able to accomplish that task with ease.
Get plenty of Rest. So it isn't an accomplishment that you only need 4 hours of sleep. You can achieve everything you need to accomplish within the day and still get the recommended 8-10 hours of rest. A well run business thrives on concentration and focus which can be naturally achieved with rest.

Gourmet Please

In addition to the latest gadget and planner, there have been national surveys conducted where it was found that 3 out of 5 employees in America are more motivated to complete tasks at work when they are given perks at the office. They felt that these perks made them feel more valued. Small perks like coffee had a major impact on productivity and boosting morale. Since some office budgets are learner than most, a small perk like gourmet coffee or tea was found to be commonly desired than the annual holiday party.

Something Brewing On The Horizon

There’s a new business opportunity ‘percolating’ here at Team Pure Intent and we can’t wait to ‘pour’ out and share a cup with you. We understand that having and running a successful business cannot be achieved without good health. It’s so important that we not only share tips and ideas to sustaining a healthy business, but also share tips and ideas of how to live a healthy lifestyle.  Look forward to some new 'steamy' business ideas and tips next week!!

Onward and Upward!

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I Am The Master of My Universe

Organize your environment 

So you are probably asking what does organizing my desk have to do with time management? Well it has a lot to do with it especially if you spend a lot of time trying to find something in those piles of paperwork. Basically everything you need to function throughout the day should have it’s own place. Pens should be in a holder, paperwork neatly organized in a tray, and those thousands of sticky notes all over your desk should eventually make it into the one notebook for all your brilliant ideas.

To execute effective time management you must be organized. Get in the habit of throwing away paperwork you don’t need or better yet establish a part of your day to go through any paperwork on your desk that needs to go into a folder or tossed. This saves time for the next day and helps you with getting rid of distractions. This is the perfect time of the year to make a special trip to the office supply store and pick up those binders, clipboards, and folders to organize your paper pile. Get Real about the mounds of distraction around you and declutter your work area!  Click on the infographic and get some ideas on the tools and tips to master time management.

Funny little Gadgets Get me Happy 

Am I the only one that still longs for those hot pink daily planners that came out in the ‘80’s? I loved writing my to-do list and contacts in those tabbed dividers. It felt so official and it was the one place I knew where I could collect my thoughts and find them. Okay back to the year 2013, now we live in a digital world and let’s get real, there’s an app for everything. Depending on your mobile platform, these apps have their own features and benefits.

iPhone Apps 

Looking to get a hold of your habits? Try Lift, a free iPhone app that is simple to use letting you set up a goal and track the progress of any task. There is community support with this app meaning you are amongst friends that may be trying to achieve a similar goal that can hold you accountable or just cheer you on as you move forward with completing it. Looking for a ‘hands-free’ app? Chronos could be the one for you as it is designed to understand your daily routines in a data format capturing every moment so that you can really see how you’re spending your time. This fun app also has the ability to allow you to set goals and track your progress.

Android Apps 

A back to basics app, MobisleNotes, is a 4 ½ star rated mobile app has basic features that are quick and easy allowing the user to write down whatever comes to mind and organize those thoughts in neat folders. This app is nowhere near complicated and great for that no nonsense user. Another free app that is more in depth, Remember the Milk, helps you drill down tasks with a daily, weekly, and monthly calendar enabling you to create tasks, assign priorities, due dates, times, create lists, use tags, and more.

Onward and Upward!

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Time's a wastin’

To be good at time management, you must identify those tasks that are time wasters. I recently read an article that mentioned a time management theory by David Heinemeier Hansson, an entrepreneur extraordinaire, where he recommends that you should plan to do the most work of your day within 50% of your day rather than plan to complete 8 hours of work in a day. He says we are fooling ourselves if we think in our 8 hour work day we complete 8 hours of work. He suggest if we plan to complete 4 hours of work in an 8 hour work day, we would succeed far greater with our time management and have more to show for. He says if we take into consideration bathroom breaks, lunch, and an occasional snack (our fuel) we probably only have 4-5 hours left to our work day anyway so get real about your time and plan accordingly.

Cut Up the Pie 

Things like reading email throughout the day, riding the world-wide-web (my weakness), or not scheduling a time to return phone calls are all examples of time wasting activities. Identify about how much time each activity takes and when is the best time to do these activities. Think of your day as if it’s a big apple pie. YUM! Apple pie and a big brimming cup of coffee sounds pretty good right now! Anyway, back to what I was saying…. Your day is like a big apple pie! Segmented into different pieces that all come together. If one piece of this pie were missing it would be very obvious.

The ‘apple pie’ of my day is segmented into phone calls, design time, consultation time, and personal time. If I didn't segment my time, I would be crossing over into these planned activities all day long leaving me no time to do other things and no real results of accomplishing any of them. What does your day look like? 

Onward and Upward!

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My Plate Runneth Over

So it is said that we all receive the same amount of time during the day. Some of us are wise users of our time and some of us are not so good with minding our time portion of the day. Are you a good manager of your time or do you find yourself running like a racehorse throughout the day racing to catch up to tasks and projects?

Time management , as defined by wikipedia, is the process or act of planning and exercising control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity. 

To accomplish time management I must value my 24 hours given to me as well as manage the priorities around me and act diligently. 

I don’t know about you but I am a master at multi tasking various projects at once. Okay….I am guilty of thinking this is a good thing. Multi tasking various projects at the same time is not a skill it’s exhausting. Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with activity of multi tasking, it’s how you execute it is where we tend to stumble and fall. It is better to multi task within a project than to multi task different projects that do not support or correspond to each other at the same time. What happens when we try to do this is called shotty, burn out, and not complete. This is the perfect time to hold a very necessary conversation with ourselves about what are priorities are and what we need to delegate to someone else or just plain say ‘NO’ to. Being a FOCUS TASKER is really what we want to achieve. Identifying all those pieces that need to be touched on within a project and completing them in a timely manner is what we should aim to achieve with our daily time allotment.

This week, let’s GET REAL about Time Management and the Tactics we should engage in to be successful Time Managers!

Onward and Upward!

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Be Direct with Your Incentives

Promoting your business is an essential activity to a thriving business. A focused and effective marketing plan to promote one’s business can easily double their customer base and I do hope you will try these 5 ways you can be successful with promoting monthly incentives to grow your business:

1. Give away a free sample 
2. Update your marketing materials 
3. Get creative with promotional products 
4. Launch a direct-mail campaign 
5. Start a client appreciation program 

Launch a direct-mail campaign 

Again, before you set out to spend the time and money on a campaign is to make sure to have a clear objective of what you want to accomplish with your mailing. Do you want more customers or do you want to offer an incentive to get the customers that you have already to come back to purchase more? Having an idea of what you want to accomplish with your direct mailings will help conserve money and make your direct mailing campaign effective.

If you missed our latest posts about the benefits of direct mailing with Send Out Cards, here are some highlights:

Just Say It with A Card 
Be Consistent: Stay in Touch
Brand Your Correspondence 

Start a Client Appreciation Program

A few week ago we touched on what Appreciation Marketing can do for your business. A Client Appreciation Program is a systematic approach to staying on the mind of your clients and potential customers. Not every business is the same so I won’t be able to give you a cookie-cutter process to accomplish this. However, here are some ideas to implementing a Client Appreciation Program to retain current customers and keep new clients coming back for more of your products and services.

1st Contact with a new or potential client: Send a thank you note thanking them for considering your business or for doing business with you. An added touch for a new client could be a $5.00 Starbucks card with the thank you note.

2nd Contact with a new or potential client: Send an email reminding them of what products and services they inquired about or purchased and how these products and services can help them with their project, business, or lifestyle. Offer an incentive to stay current on your business’s products and services by subscribing to your mailing list or newsletter.

3rd Contact with a new or potential client: Pick up the phone and see if there’s anything else you can help with or answer any questions they may have. This is a good time to ask for a testimony of their experience if they purchased products or services from you and also remind them of your referral program (if you have one in place).

30 days, 45 day, and 60 days after 3rd Contact: If this is a potential client, phone calls and emails are a great way to stay in touch with them again letting them know that you are here to help them in any way. Direct-mail campaigns can be utilized during these periods too. As for current customers, client appreciation programs work well during this time span. Send out thank you cards, referral reminder cards, or discount incentives cards. This shows your dedication and commitment to the success of their project, business, or lifestyle.

Weekly: An email newsletter can help your business stay fresh on the mind of potential clients and current clients. When you offer a tip or advice on how your business can be of service to them they will be more readily to call you.

Monthly: Offer a discount on products and services or an incentive prize if they signed up for an upcoming event or seminar that you may be giving. everyone loves winning something!

Every Quarter: Consider sending out a promotional product that your clients can use as well as show potential referrals how generous your business is. Remember to give out promotional products that best fit your business marketing plan.

All of these timeline don’t mean much if you haven’t given customers an easy way to buy. Offer a web address, phone number or order form/business reply card with each email, direct mailer, or campaign you send. Also make it easy to pay for your product or service by accepting credit cards, PayPal or checks online. Your business can create a sense of urgency every day through the tactics you put in place translating into more sales.

If you’re looking to start your monthly incentive promotions and need some help with getting started, just drop us a line so we can help you and your business be a great success with customer relations!

Onward and Upward!

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Get creative with promotional products

We've all seen those pens and tote bags embossed with the company logo. You may have also purchased some for your business to pass out at networking events or conferences. Although the thought of promotional products may seem “cheesy”, these ‘uniform delights’ are still a necessity to your business marketing mix. They come in handy to aid in the the launch of any new product or service and can help make that launch a memorable one for the customer and potential client.

Offering promotional items as a giveaway or prize is a proven effective method to attract new clients. Many businesses use custom printed promotional items to help build awareness of their business and what their business can offer a potential client. Building brand awareness is part of the marketing mix and this technique can motivate a current customer as well as a potential client to respond quicker to your incentive. Offer promotional products as an incentive prompting to purchasing products or services, signing up for something in advance or early, or referring someone to your business.

Ready to Launch a Promotional Product Campaign 

A fun and vibrant way to brand a business!

Now that you've reconsidered promotional products to aid with your incentive promotions, you can’t just go willy-nilly with ordering a whole bunch of products just because. There is a strategy to making this not only cost effective but worthwhile. Make sure you are aligning your business marketing strategy with what you’d like to accomplish from all this hard work. If purchasing promotional products to hand out at the next network mixer is to add to your new leads list, then how many products will you purchase to match the number of leads you have goaled your business to gain? I try to think in groups of “3.” If I’d like to add 30 new potential leads to my lead list, I may want to purchase 90 promotional products to guarantee myself those 30 new leads. If I am marketing to my current clients, my math should be to target the 20% of my current customers to yield an 80% growth of my business. It’s easier to market to your current clients because they are like walking billboards to your products and services.

Take time to select the right products to give out. If you are a new tutoring service in your area, pencils with your business name and web address would be a smart investment. It’s something your potential clients can use and will keep your business on top of their mind every time they use it. Depending on your target audience and the type of product or service you are trying to promote, make sure you use your logo and information you want them to use to contact you.

Plan Well 

What’s the main reason why companies lose customers? Guess what, more often than not it has nothing to do with price and most of the time it had nothing to do with the quality. Nearly 70% of customers who decided to no longer use a business’s products or services said it had something to do with “perceived indifference.” This is when your customers think you don’t care about them, that they aren't important to you or your business. Building customer loyalty is key for two reasons: 1) satisfied customers are the best source of quality referrals, and 2) your competitors are constantly targeting your best customers. Don’t let your business be “out of sight, out of mind.” It’s important that you keep your name in front of current customers and potential clients on a regular basis and with over a million items on which we can imprint your logo, you can find innovative ways to remind them about the value your business provides so why not do it with a gift-giving strategy!

 Send A Gift With Send Out Cards

 

How to Send a Card & Gift Tutorial from SendOutCards on Vimeo.

What’s It Worth To Your Business 

Promotional marketing products are an excellent way to re-establish contact and rekindle that relationship. Studies show that combining marketing literature with promotional products is one of the surest ways to make a good impression on prospective customers. Given how hard you work to get in front of someone for even a few minutes, what’s all this hard work worth to you monetarily? Think of your investment in Promotional Products as a 20% reduction in margin, or a 20% discount for your customers. The worth of a Promotional Product or the cost of a Promotional Product is directly linked to the return or use that you are able to get out of that item. If a $1,000 of expense is able to generate $10,000 of profit is the $1000 expense worth the $10,000 increase in profit to you?

Consider Social Media 

Many businesses use social media with their promotional products to get that multi-interaction effect. By printing QR codes or text “opt-in” codes to capture more buyer information or send them to a web page for more information. Some businesses imprint Twitter handles or Facebook pages on promotional products. Twitter and Facebook can add that “full circle” marketing strategy and make your business go viral at the click of a button!

Onward and Upward!

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Update your marketing materials

Update your marketing materials is success tip #2 of 5 ways to Promote Monthly Incentives to Grow Your Business. Although we do business in a digital world, never underestimate the power of good marketing tools like business cards, brochures, and flyers. You’d be surprised at how much they are needed especially when most of your marketing is word-of-mouth. What would you do if your smartphone suddenly decided to act up when you wanted to show off your new fancy mobile designed website? That business card you so smugly scoffed at would have come in handy especially if you had a QR code on it that could send that next potential client directly to your website!

Create Niche Business Cards

They say don’t put all your eggs in one basket so why are you putting everything you do on one business card? Yes, definitely have your main business card that has all your contact information on it but take this concept one step further with niche business cards! A niche business card is a custom designed mini advertisement of your products and services neatly composed on one card. You could definitely design your business card to display both a front and back image or make it multi-dimensional with the use of QR codes or listing a hyperlink to a landing page where potential clients can get more information. Try magnetic business cards or those that serve a purpose like adding a calendar or a place to right in an appointment to the backside.

Along with making your business card stand out from the rest, create or update your brochure and brand it alongside your business card or design it as an extension of your business cards. Get creative and take your brochure digital by designing a digital version of your brochure as a website. How about redesigning an existing website as an incentive promotion that entices current customers to repurchase products and services. Use your business cards and brochures as promotional products equipped with discounts and coupons that can be given away at networking events you attend.

Make Business Cards with Send Out Cards

Have you considered Send Out Cards for your next set of business cards? Send Out Cards not only helps you with designing custom greeting cards and postcards, they also take that fine quality printing one step further with business cards. That same process of utilizing their templates or uploading your own images can be used to produce quality business cards.

   

Onward and Upward!

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Retain Customers with Simplicity. Promote Monthly Incentives

Plan. Run. Succeed. 

Running a successful business incentive program is all part of running a successful business. In fact, when designed properly, a monthly incentive program can be one of the most powerful business tools available to marketing a business today. According to the experts, the return on investment (ROI) from a properly ran incentive program can boost incremental sales as well as market share. Got some products that need some help moving? Word-of-mouth not traveling fast enough? Launching monthly Incentive programs can speed up your marketing efforts as well as “up” the value of your business brand.

U.S. companies spend approximately $30 billion a year on incentive award programs, according to a study from the Incentive Federation. In order for your business to stay relevant and on the mind’s of your clients, incentive programs are essential to a business's marketing mix.

Before starting an Incentive Program for your business, take the time to plan out the reasons for the program and what you’d like to achieve (the end results). Here are five questions to ask & answer:

• What are you wanting to gain: 
• Collect leads 
• Discount products or services to drive revenue 

• Who is the target audience? 
• Customers (New or Current) 
• Clients who haven’t purchased in a while 
• A group of potential customers that have never been targeted before 

• What will be your lead incentive for the month: 
• Free Samples 
• Coupons 
• Drawing to win products or services 

• What is your available budget? 
• Will you use direct mail 
• Email Newsletters 
• In-store promotions 
• Social Media 

• Will you run the promotion in-house or hire an outside promotional agency? 

Are you Compliant 

Make sure whatever monthly incentive program you are running complies with the law. For instance, the Federal Trade Commission states "when a "free" offer is tied to the purchase of another product, the price of the purchased product should not be increased from its regular price." If you are offering a free gift with a purchase or for signing up for a product or service, be legit. Nobody likes to be a sucker so be authentic with you offerings so your customers continue to come back , tell friends, and participate in your incentives.

5 Successful Ways to Promote Monthly Incentives to Grow Your Business 

Okay! So lets get to it! Here are 5 ways you can be successful with promoting monthly incentives to grow your business:

1. Give away a free sample 
2. Update your marketing materials 
3. Get creative with promotional products 
4. Launch a direct-mail campaign 
5. Start a client appreciation program 

Give Away a free Sample

Giving away a free product or service is a sure-fire way to bring attention to your business. Making these promotions available to prospective and current customers can bring excitement and marketing value to whatever you plan on spotlighting for the month ultimately resulting in driving sales. The purpose for these free gifts is two-fold. One, the free item(s) function as a advertising the company’s products and services and Two, item(s) continually stay present on the minds of existing customers and appear “shiny” and new to potential clients. And here’s a third purpose…. It helps to build customer loyalty. Your giveaway should be tantalizing and be packaged in a way that your current customers should want to partake in the incentive even if they've already bought into it. Look over your products and services and see what you could promote each month as a free giveaway. Don’t limit yourself to just your products and services. Maybe you could offer a free consultation or offer some part of a service you offer as a “freebie.” However you position it, design your monthly incentives to be practical yet fun marketing opportunities.

Send a Free Card 

If you've received one of our weekly newsletters, you may have noticed a great FREE incentive we've offered to our subscribers. Have you sent a FREE custom greeting card on us lately? If you have not, here’s a great opportunity to do so. As you know Send Out Cards is a fabulous business opportunity that Team Pure Intent is a part of and is a great enhancer to any business’s marketing mix and income stream. Take a look at what you could send out FREE on us today!

 

SendOutCards Products from SendOutCards on Vimeo.

Onward and Upward!

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U - Don’t Be Afraid to Be Unique! How to build a successful business brand

Business? Why Y.O.U.

This week we touched on understanding the Y.O.U. in business ownership. There is so much to overcome when you first venture out with a business so why did YOU consider business ownership? Some of us built our business from scratch, some are managing someone else's dream making sure its producing to the best of its abilities, there are those who were given an opportunity packed with the vision, products, and services which they apply their marketing skills to, and there are some who inherited a business. Starting and sustaining a business requires that we show up and blow up fully with our ideas, commitment, and determination to make it a success.

Y - Why did “Y”OU become a business owner? 
O - Own It! Become known as an expert in your field 
U - Don’t Be Afraid to Be Unique! How to build a successful business brand

Be Unique: Build a Successful Business

Brand Branding is defined as having a strong consistent identity. A brand is can be many things like a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. Defining a recognizable image helps your customers remember you and distinguishes you from your competitors. Your brand can bring value to your products and services, create customer loyalty and build business recognition.

Perspective 

You as a business can’t be everything to everyone that is why it so important to focus in on what your business can deliver and deliver well. Developing a USP can help you identify the main reason why a customer may continue to get your products and services. Your marketing message must be believable, clear, inflict an emotion (positive I hope), and relevant to your audience. In life perception is everything. How someone perceives another person can make or break a career. There are 3 perspectives to consider when building a successful business brand:

1. Customers - What do your customers value the most and does that correlate with your products and services. How can you really be of service to them? 
2. Internal - As the founder of your business, what’s your vision? If you have employees, what do they truly think about what the business has to offer and can it do more? 
3. Marketplace - To be a successful brand, you have to position the business to be the only one out there in the marketplace that can do what it claims to do. For example, Ivory soap. For years this brand of soap became famous for its pure content and for floating in water. Although it has evolved into other forms of household products, the soap still floats! 

Unmarket your Marketing

   

As Scott Stratten may rant and rave about how businesses engage or not engage with their customers, I do like what he has to say about utilizing all these marketing tools that are available to us especially online. Although there are many strategies out there that will help you build a successful business brand, focusing in on what you have to offer, looking at your competitions marketing message, and considering the three perspectives will definitely get you started on your branding journey. Branding your business involves a lot of trial and error as well as evolution. Remember your brand will live in everyday interactions with your customers so be mindful of the images you use as well as the message you are trying to send. Simplicity is key!

Onward and Upward!

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O - Own It! Become known as an expert in your field

Confident in what you do? 

Competition is stronger than ever no matter what industry you are in. Are you a person who lives, eat, and sleeps your industry? Then you are a brand! Yes! That’s right...You are the face of what you know and people are clamoring to get to know you and how you can help them with your products and services. Value the years of experience you have under your belt. Look back on the triumphs and struggles to build your professional brand on. For the most part you will focus on a specific industry, one in which you want to be known as the go to person, but the beauty of the business industry is that although there are so many niche markets and industry platforms we all have something to teach and learn from each other to grow our businesses.

The Benefits of Being Mr. & Ms. Know It All 

In today’s socially connected world reputations have gone global thanks to the world wide web. Making your professional brand imprint is now more important than ever. The benefits in being the expert in your field can make you the go-to person for your industry. When you know your stuff and as they say, “walk the walk and talk the talk”, people will trust you more, be open to listen to what you have to say and base decisions on your knowledge and expertise. Although the ultimate goal is to sell your products and services your lead-in doesn't have to be just sales. Being known as “helpful” makes you a sought after commodity. 

Don’t use the term “expert” lightly. Be confident in what you do and don’t be afraid to try new things. 

15 Ways to instant Fame

1. Join a Mastermind Group 
2. Write a whitepaper 
3. Start a blog and share your knowledge 
4. Have an online webinar 
5. Sign up with a Linkedin Group 
6. Make video tutorials 
7. Swap and share content on social media 
8. Distribute a Press Release online 
9. Stay on top of your industry and let others know what you think 
10. Teach a class or create an online course 
11. Pitch yourself on the speaking circuit 
12. Network (Purposely attend networking socials) 
13. Fine tune your elevator pitch and make it buzz worthy 
14. Create an online persona for your professional brand (For example: Ivanka Trump is “an American wife, mother, and entrepreneur.”) 
15. Offer consulting services 

Specialized Knowledge is Key to Becoming an Expert 

When you've targeted in on who & what you’re an expert of, credibility, trust, and of course sales follow. It’s important to feel confident about the things you know and use that as a platform to market your products and services. Once you've got an idea for what you have to offer the world, OWN IT and watch opportunities open up for you like speaking engagements, guest articles, seminars, etc. The possibilities are endless but you've got to know what you know and be the expert at it. It's not a stretch to become an expert or to be perceived as one. Go ahead and throw your hat into the arena and become the expert in your field! 

Onward and Upward!

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Y - Why did “Y”OU become a business owner? You Had Me At “Hello I Am A Business Owner”

Y - Why did “Y”OU become a business owner?

So now that we’ve addressed some reasons why one starts a business, let’s explore why YOU became a business owner. Did you get a chance to look over the 6 steps to a successful small business link from yesterday? I thought the article was a great introduction to walking out the beginnings of business ownership but it didn’t get to the root of why a particular business would be suited for you. Again, we are all individually designed. You could say when the almighty made you he broke the mold! There is no one with the same drive and ambition that you have on this planet so the only person that could answer “why did YOU become a business owner” is YOU!

For the most part, starting and sustaining a business is real personal to the one who created it. Some of us built our business from scratch, meaning that we came up with an idea and implemented the creation of it solely from our imaginations. There are some who are managing someone else's dream making sure its producing to the best of its abilities, then there are those who are given an opportunity packed with the vision, products, and services and all they need to do is add their marketing skills to it, and there are some who inherited a business and are taking it to the next level by staying current with customers needs and wants. However you are running a business, there was a reason why you said YES to it.

Dream and Dream BIG 

I learned about business at a very early age. I watched my father run a successful fishing business on the weekends, teach upholstery classes and sew at the local hobby shop on the Navy base after he retired 24 years from the Navy as Chief of Submarines. Although he didn’t stay retired long, he worked for Honeywell as a project manager for many more years while he kept his side hustle going. I watched him manage his weekend deep sea fishing excursions with ease and pattern boat tops while he worked 40 hour weeks with a sheer smile on his face. He never appeared burden by what he was doing as a matter of fact he took great pride in it. It was clear his drive wasn’t money driven even though the money flowed greatly in all income generating activities. He was doing what he loved.

So I caught the business bug because of the example I saw. I had no fear about owning a business and still have high aspirations to one day own a large design firm. I became a business owner because I love to create. Being able to take an idea from a thought in my head and bringing it into a real form is amazing to me. I have to be honest though the older I get, the more I don’t take risks with my business but I’ve become smarter with what I want to accomplish in business and I recognize that running a business is a part of my DNA.

It’ All On You 

One thing's for sure, you are responsible for your own well being and success. Once you make the decision to venture out and run a business I hope you’ll take the time to ask yourself “Why” and be prepared to answer “How” you’ll handle yourself when business may be slow. Will you worry about where you will get money from and how you will pay your bills? Let me tell you, it’s more than a notion and it takes passion, guts, and real determination to persevere and move forward with your business ideas. With all that being said, I hope this only fuels your fire to get out there and get started. Write down why you became a business owner and post it somewhere you’ll see it everyday. Better yet, make a vision board with your statement and add pictures that signify where you see yourself succeeding in your business. This will only empower you to stay focused during those low moments.

The best advice I could leave you with about the YOU in your business is to take what you are truly passionate about, discover how your passion can help people, create a vision for it, make a plan (business plan), and GO FOR IT!

Why did YOU become a business owner?  We’d love to hear from you so leave a comment on our facebook page! 

Onward and Upward!

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Show Up and Blow Up

Why Start A Business? 

There is so much to overcome when you first venture out with a business. No matter what level of business you start, we all experience some type of barrier like not having enough money, wondering if your idea is good enough, not sure about business experience (not enough or haven’t changed with the times), or if this business is best suited for you. 

Growing up in America, you are told to go to school, get your education, so that you can get a good paying job. There was a time when that was all you needed to do, but times are changing and there is little to no guarantee that your education will get you the job of your dreams. CNBC reported this year that A survey released from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reported that businesses plan to hire only 2.1 percent more college graduates from the class of 2013 than they did from the class of 2012. This is way down from an earlier NACE projection of a 13 percent hiring rate for 2013 grads. I wonder if colleges were to add a degree on Business Ownership would this help us as a people to stay current with the times? It seems to me we need to do more than hold onto this way of thinking that getting a job is the only solution to our financial issues.

So why not consider owning your own business? Well it is known that over 80% of all businesses fail within the first five years, the odds are against you before you even begin. The internet makes it a lot easier to take a good idea, determination, and a good business mind to change this business failure fate. More and more individuals are leaving the traditional desk job and venturing out to work for themselves and there have been a lot of successful Internet companies getting respect from corporate America. So if you're that type of person who wishes to be their own boss, punch the “I’m In” button and make it happen!

What’s the Main Motivator(s)? 

When you allowed yourself to dream about owning a business, what compelled you to write it down and try to make it happen? Was it the desire to create jobs for others, build a legacy for your family, set your own schedule, work from anywhere, or make some extra money to go into your vacation fund? Maybe you've been prompted to bring to life an idea that know one could live without. Madam C.J. Walker was one of those individuals who tapped into her main motivator. She not only built a multi-million dollar empire but her business ownership prompting is still changing lives in America and all over the world. The first of her family to be born into freedom, was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, regarded as the first female self made millionaire in America making her fortune by developing and marketing a successful line of beauty and hair products for black women. Her motivation was that she experienced hair loss and needed to do something about it. She then noticed that she wasn't the only black woman experiencing damaged hair and hair loss so she began to manufacture products, developed a tool called a straightening comb, created a distribution network (network marketing) which created jobs for women whose only job option at the time were to be washerwomen and nannies.

Get Inspired! 

Here is an extreme yet funny take on encouraging you to go out and try out your dreams and ambitions! The world is waiting on you!!

 

If You Can Think It Up, Can You Think It Down?

Most people around you will talk you in or out of your dreams. We are all designed to create but it is up to us if we complete the creation or not. Execution can be tough especially if you have a lot of naysayers knocking at your door. First thing about being a business owner that you must embrace is not relying on what everyone thinks about what you are doing. You won’t make any money that way. Yes, there should be mentors and those from your village (people who are like-minded) who are there to bounce ideas off of and keep you on target but ultimately you are the one pressing the “GO” button on your dreams and ambitions. If you truly believe in your idea, take the first step, and move quickly on an idea. Everything in life can be risky but how will you know if you don’t try it out!

This week we are going to break down “Understanding the Y.O.U. in Business Ownership” so it can forever be consistently broke (famous line from movie, Love Jones):

Y - Why did “Y”OU become a business owner? 
O - Own It! Become known as an expert in your field 
U - Don’t Be Afraid to Be Unique! How to build a successful business brandOnward and Upward!

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