5 Easy Steps To Turn Lemons Into Lemonade.

You will never be the perfect entrepreneur. No matter how hard you work to avoid catastrophes… at some point, disasters will happen. At times, you will look bad, and your reputation will be injured. But, that doesn’t mean you or your company have to suffer long-term repercussions because of it.

Here are some steps for embracing your own humanity, and turning “bad” situations into incredible, marketing opportunities.

Step 1- Laugh at yourself and your mistakes. (Getting upset about the situation won’t fix things. Look at this as an opportunity instead.)

Step 2- Fix the disaster, tenaciously.

Step 3- Offer the injured customers or prospects even more than they expect. (If done properly, these individuals may become your biggest fans.)

Step 4- Use the situation to fix your current systems. (Making a mistake is alright. Repeating that mistake can be devastating.)

Step 5- Freely share these experiences in marketing messages, blogs, webinars, or as a “reason” to have another sale or promotion.

People are generally more forgiving than they seem. If you are willing to “expose” your weaknesses, your contacts will feel your honesty and sincerity. The harder you try to be the “perfect” small business owner (and hide your errors), the more detached from your contacts you become. And, the more likely they are to mistrust you.

Enjoy your imperfections and learn to use them to your advantage!

Leap of the Week: Next time you mess up, for whatever reason, try being more transparent about it and experience the benefits of building a great brand culture by being human and true. Because honesty builds trust and trust builds a fan club.

Because Your Attitude Affects Your Customers.

Find Your Passion.

Running a business is tiring, time-consuming, and often frustrating. It’s not uncommon for the “Entrepreneurial Light” to burn out. However, if you’re not excited about your products or services, no one else is going to be. And, who wants to buy a product/service they’re not enthusiastic about?

Quick tips for regaining your passion:

• Write down all the reasons you love your products or services
• Tell others the story of why you became an entrepreneur
• Imagine what you want your business to look like in 5 years (even if it’s unrealistic… perhaps especially if it’s unrealistic!)
• Read inspirational books, blogs, and articles about small business ownership
• Take time to rejuvenate

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

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

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

And most of all, enjoy the process…because the destination is next to nothing compared to the journey to get there.

Emotion Selling. Embracing Pleasure and Pain.

As a business owner, you already know that people buy for emotional reasons. No matter how great your product or service is, apathetic consumers will simply dismiss it. You need to tap into their emotions if you’re going to convince them that they need your product.

By manipulating the pleasure and pain triggers in your prospect, you will be catching their attention, and encouraging them to act (either to rid themselves of the pain, or to retain feelings of pleasure.)

Here are some tips for injecting pain and pleasure into your marketing messages:

• Tell stories- people immediately connect with stories. If your story relates to an experience your prospect has had, they will immediately be reminded of the feelings they are fighting to avoid, or the feelings they’d love to feel again.

• Make your prospect imagine- the mind is a powerful tool. Asking your prospect to visualize sets a stage for you to present painful / pleasurable situations. Tap into past experiences, or create hypothetical ones. When it comes to emotion, your prospect’s brain will not make a distinction between fact and fiction.

• Be confident in your product- when talking about your product or service, don’t say what it might or could do for them. Explain what it will do. (Remember, your prospect needs to get rid of their pain or acquire pleasure as soon as possible. They need a guaranteed solution!)

• Use the right words- make your message vibrant by using active verbs (example: Jane runs instead of Jane is running.) Also, use words associated with pleasure (babies, soft, relaxing etc.) or pain (dentist, suffering, trauma).

One last point: once you draw out the pain or pleasure, let your audience revel in it. Don’t be too quick to move past the emotion. It’s the emotion that moves people to action. If you can successfully incorporate emotional stimulation in your marketing messages, you will be transporting your prospect to a buying state!

Sell An Experience, Not a Product

For those of you who own a retail business or run regular sale-oriented promotions, this tip is for you.If people buy based on emotion over price, then why are sales so important? The truth is, having a motivation deeper than a regular brand does generate far more traffic through the door. Limited-time or special offers definitely grab people’s attention, particularly if they are already contemplating or ready to buy the product or service you are selling.

This past week one of our clients was having a weekend clearance sale. One of the things I enjoy about working with Paul and Barbara from Sofa So Good (www.sofasogood.ca) is their desire to create a fun atmosphere in their store and give their customers a richer experience than they would get from Sofa So Good’s competition.

Last week we sent out two emails in secession to their database. These emails informed customers and prospects that SSG’s deals were so hot customers would need ice cream to cool off. Upon arriving at the store they were presented with ice cream. To top it all off, the weekend weather in Vancouver was at all-time high for that time of year. How perfect is that?What are you doing to keep your customers and prospects coming back for more?

Motivated Affiliates = Shortcut To Success.

One of my favorite moments was when someone taught me about synergy. The example they used was two horses pulling a cart. Each horse can pull approximately 500 lbs. (I’m making that up, because I don’t remember the actual number.)

A basic understanding of math would logically determine that by strapping the two horses together, they could pull 1,000 lbs. In reality, two horses working together can pull three times the amount they could on their own–not double.

This same principle is the reason business owners need to consider using affiliates. You see… you can’t be the “perfect” entrepreneur. You can try. And, maybe get close. But, at some point in time everybody needs additional skills, markets, and time they don’t possess.

So, what exactly does having affiliates add to your business? Here are just a few benefits:

• More Referrals
• A Larger Market (yours + your affiliate’s)
• An Outside Promoter of Your Products/Services
• Increased Networking Abilities
• Ultimately More Sales!

Consider the value of having another “brand advocate” reaching out to your customers. Now, you don’t have to grow your company on your own. By creating an affiliate program, you can achieve much more than you will EVER be able to achieve alone!

When you develop lasting partnerships, your business is going to grow automatically, just from the leverage you gave it.

Strap yourself to affiliates, and see where the synergy can take you!