A summary of Projects and Writing for August 2010
This has been a remarkably busy summer compared to the last few. I hope your business or professional practice has seen the same kind of success.
Some highlights from your August newsletter:
- A new coaching group has opened up for managers and small business owners in the Cowichan Valley! We start September 21st.
- A new series on what ‘branding‘ is and what it does for your professional practice or small business.
- Articles on brainstorming, increasing team-based creativity, and why you should ‘ditch the pitch’!
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New: Small Business Round Table
Starting September 21
A new coaching group for managers and small business owners!
Some Sample Topics We Will Cover:
- Marketing: What are the keys to turning your customers into loyal fans?
- Pricing: Why is pricing one of the most important business decisions you will make?
- Finance: What are the money business-makers and business-breakers?
- Operations: Nuts & bolts, because if you only see the big picture, you’re not in the picture.
- Human Resources: What is engagement and why is it the most important thing your team needs?
The group supports you as a manager or business owner in 3 key ways:
1. Monthly group coaching conversations that focus on learning in a key business area
2. Scheduled individual telephone check-ins to provide support and support commitment
3. Unlimited email support
Details:
- We meet at the Duncan Rona Meeting Room, Cowichan Commons
- Monthly sessions starting September 21, 2010, and continuing every 3rd Tuesday between 7:30 and 9:00 AM – $75.00 per month
For more information download this PDF flyer or send me an email!
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Read my Facebook Business Page for Management & Marketing Info…
Social Media Basics for Small Business. A social media strategy is a powerful marketing tool. We explore Social Media tools like Blogging, Facebook, Twitter,and show you the right ways to use them. The 12th article in the series asks Why Use YouTube?
Village Square Marketing. 4 short articles that review promotional tactics as old as village markets, blacksmiths, and ditches for plumbing. If you aren’t maximizing these, you are missing opportunities to connect with customers. The final article shows that if you can get them talking, you can get them buying. Read here.
Ever wonder what ‘branding’ and ‘personal branding’ is all about? Check out my series Professional Branding & Social Media. The fourth article asks ‘why brand?’ Done right, a branding strategy focuses a career or an organization so that every component is lined up to create maximum sustainable impact. Follow this series to find out how.
I work with a number of real estate professionals. As I look at that industry, I see some marketing basics often overlooked by Realtors(tm) (not my clients of course!). Read here to find out how many businesses (not just real estate professionals) can make a better connection with clients…
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Branding by Design Branding & Logo Development Service
Starting a new business? Taking an existing business to a new level?
Establishing and promoting your brand are the key factors in your success. Proper branding can save you thousands of dollars. Find out how…
Proper branding can increase your sales. 75% of purchase decisions are based on emotion. Read here to see how a proper branding strategy and logo design can “bring you into the emotional loop”.
With Branding by Design from JoeyToes Design Ltd.and Clemens Rettich you get:
- Definition of your visual brand: fonts, colours, images
- Up to 3 logo concepts and a final logo ready for print & web
- Professional or Business Brand Report: a written summary of your brand to guide social media profiles, and future marketing and promotional projects.
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Great Links & Great Reads
My picks for some sites and articles that are useful or provide food for thought:
- United Airlines Inconsistent Service: System Or People Problem? A thought-provoking post by one of my favourite management writers, Bret L. Simmons “How do you explain the very inconsistent service experience I had with United Airlines today? Is this a crappy people problem, or a crappy system problem? I know how I would answer that question, what about you? For an upgrade that costs so much money, why would United Airlines make an $8 benefit an issue? Or is the problem the interface between T-mobile (providing the WiFi service in the lounge and the wording for the login) and United Airlines that caused the confusion in my expectations?” Read more…
- WordPress 3.0 Has Arrived If you are a blogger or support businesses through social media or web development, this is an important announcement from Mashable. Read more…
- Five Branding Secrets of Lady Gaga and Apple “With speculation about the upcoming tablet saturating the media and a certain exuberantly attired singer about as omnipresent, the fact that both Apple and Lady Gaga have mastered the branding game is pretty self-evident… These two wildly different brands actually use some of the same techniques and principles to achieve their status as kings (or queens) of their respective spaces. And these are tricks you can use for your personal branding as well. What are they?” Read more…
- ONLINE BUSINESS TOOLBOX: 230+ Tools for Running a Business Online Another very useful article from Mashable. A nearly-comprehensive list of good online tools to support the running of your business. Interestingly though, Tungle, a great Canadian startup that allows online scheduling for multiple participants, didn’t make the list. A mistake. Read More…
- CEO, Transform Thyself Want to transform your organization or the behaviour of your team? Start with yourself! “The self-aware leader can recognize his own emotions-positive and negative-and he knows the triggers for when he is hijacked by them. He recognizes his own sources of meaning, and how to use them as fuel. He explicitly designs his network and he watches his sources and uses of energy, recognizing how much energy it takes to catalyze an organization. Are you self-aware? Try these questions on yourself or on your team and let us know the results:” Read More…
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Changes to Single Coaching Conversations
A number of my clients prefer the flexibility of ad hoc coaching conversations to the committed structure of a monthly schedule. I haven’t made any changes to this service in over 2 years. Now its time…
- There is no longer a strict 1-hour limit. I find that things often get interesting 10 minutes before we need to wrap!
- I now provide the same ‘Notes & Reflections’ email follow-up service that my committed term clients receive.
- Clients can now pay for sessions by credit card.
- The cost for a Single Coaching Conversation will now be $125.00 effective September 1.
Individual coaching conversations are a great way for…
- long-term clients to check in quarterly after we have completed a project
- business owners to check in for ‘course corrections’ on long term growth or expansion projects
- managers to get feedback on a specific employee, marketing, or operational challenge or opportunity.
To book a Coaching Conversation send me an email, and remember that the first time we meet costs you nothing more than a cup of coffee. I don’t charge people to find out if we can stand to be in the same room together!
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Preferred Partners…
Business Networking & IT Solutions
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