Posted by tjkimberly on Mar 31, 2010 in
Uncategorized I’ve been spending a lot of time working with small business owners on their SEO and Marketing plans. One of the things we recommend for business owners who are passionate about their business is to blog regularly about topics related to their business.
However, to get the most out of your business blog you must follow one critical rule:
Provide value!
The reason behind this is that no one will want to read your blog if they don’t get something out of it. Selfish, right? Not really, I’m a very busy person so I choose what I spend my time on very carefully which means that, outside of my family, I don’t spend time on blogs that don’t provide a very specific value to me.
You’ll do well to provide tips, tricks, information and links that your readers can use and appreciate.
If you want to read more about this subject Super Blogger Joel (from JoelOnSoftware) wrote about it here
Tags: blog, blogging, blogs, business blog, passion, selfish, value
Posted by tjkimberly on Jan 19, 2010 in
Uncategorized As an entrepreneur / small business owner we wear many hats, and one of the most important is that of the sales-person. The #1 problem I’ve seen among entrepreneurs is not ACTING like a sales-person. Which brings me to the #1 Rule to More Sales:
Ask for Sales More
I know what you’re thinking; “this is so ridiculously simple it could work!”, and it does. One of the biggest problem among TRAINED sales-people is not knowing how to ask for the sale. So here are my 3 easiest recommendations for asking-for (and getting) more sales:
1) Ask your current customers: When you’re talking to a customer who you know is happy with your current work say “If you’re happy with our current service (or product) will you help us out and tell your friends and co-workers? We’re looking to ramp up sales and would love your help!” Make sure you show some enthusiasm and ask sincerely (A smile and eye-contact should be a no-brainer). If the customer has appreciated what you do there’s a great chance they’ll help.
2) Ask new people you meet: Don’t be shy about passing out your business card with a note on it that says how to purchase. The person you’re talking to might not want your product (or service) but there’s a good chance they know somebody who does.
3) Ask everyone you email (without being annoying): Edit your Signature that goes on the bottom of your work and personal email telling everyone about your product and how to purchase it. Take some advice fromTwitter her and keep it short (140 character or close to it). But make sure you link to your website, you can even use a link shortener like bit.ly to make it more aesthetically appealing.
Ask for Sales More.
Think up your own ways to increase sales! There are THOUSANDS more, feel free to share in the comments!
Tags: accounts, clients, customers, marketing, sales, tony, tonyonbusiness
Posted by tjkimberly on Jan 12, 2010 in
Uncategorized Success is in the Details.
About a year ago I was working with my patent attorney on a new product I’d designed and wanted protection on. I had spent a bit of money designing and building a prototype and a significant amount on the patent process also. Unfortunately, it became quite clear early on that there were a number of patents similar to mine that I hadn’t found during my patent search because I used google’s patent search and they were typed in as WBENCH rather than WRENCH. This seemingly harmless typo almost cost me well over $12,000!
After some deliberation and questioning I decided it best to proceed with the process and we began searching for distinguishing differences between my application and the issued patents. As I poured through these patents and discussed it with my attorney I realized that just one word could change the entire scope of a patent’s coverage. In fact, after my application was initially rejected I was able to find one sentence in each of the two most similar patents distinguishing a significant difference. By identifying these differences and making only minor changes in the application we were able to get the patent issued and obtain protection of my intellectual property!
Disclaimer: The above is a picture of the first patent granted, not mine!
These are only a few of the examples that have convinced me to spend a little more time on the details, if you’d like more leave me a note in the comments!
Remember, sometimes it’s important to ’sweat the small stuff’ because Success is in the Details.
Tags: business, details, google mistake, success, sweat the small stuff, tony, tonyonbusiness, Wbench, Wrench
Posted by tjkimberly on Jan 3, 2010 in
Uncategorized
I have rules that I live by. I have rules that I conduct business by.
I often get the “you’re crazy” look when I tell people I won’t do something because it is against my rules, but I’ve always felt better about the decisions I’ve made when following them.
For instance, recently I was deciding on a large purchase. Of course I’ve weighed the pros and cons of the purchase, I’ve cataloged the possible variables that could make the purchase better or worse. I’ve done my due diligence and I was riding the fence on what price I thought it was worth. Ultimately, my decision came down to the question “Will I regret this?“. By asking myself this simple question I was able to decide what price I was comfortable with and what price I wouldn’t feel positive about. After some deliberation and discussion with the seller we were able to come to an agreement that I’m happy about (hopefully he is too!).
This isn’t the only Rule I use on a regular basis so check back next week to find out what else I consider critical!
Posted by tjkimberly on Dec 28, 2009 in
Uncategorized Last week I failed to post my Monday morning weekly post! Well I was planning to bank this post for later but it seems this is a great time to lay this out…
A few years ago I was working as an Automotive Technician (mechanic) at the local Toyota Dealership. I came in one Monday morning to find a menacing note instructing me to see the Shop Manager. I quickly found out that the last car I had serviced on Friday had been towed back in because a wheel fell off! I’m sure you can all guess how bad that is to a customer, so in order to right my wrong and save my job I took these 4 steps:
1) I Identified the cause of the problem: Lug nuts don’t just come loose on their own. I specifically remembered torquing these wheels so when the Shop Manager accused me of not torquing them I was more than a little perturbed. I took my torque wrench to the wheel and then borrowed a buddies torque wrench and took it to the same wheel. I quickly found out that my torque wrench had bitten the dust and wasn’t functioning properly.
2) I Solved the problem: I torqued the wheels on the car using the borrowed torque wrench then I informed my Service Writer that I needed to check the torque on the wheels of every car I had worked on for the last 3 days. Although this was a big undertaking and a big annoyance to some customers, most were pleased that we were taking every precaution once they had heard the reason.
3) I Made sure it wouldn’t happen again: I ordered a replacement torque wrench with a lifetime warranty and made arrangements to use the borrowed wrench until mine showed up. We also chose to partner up with another mechanic and each time we would double check one lug nut with the other mechanic’s wrench so that we would have an “early warning” when it came to defective tools, this made a big impression on the customers (and our boss!)
4) I Communicated the problem, solution and steps we had taken to everyone involved: This meant the customers, Service Writers, Shop Manager, everybody! My screw up here lead to me developing this process and implementing new safety measures at work. Everyone was suitably impressed and the owner of the company, who was known as a bit of a quiet guy, even stopped by to thank me for taking care of the problem promptly and thoroughly.
I hope you can all learn a little bit from my screw-ups. I always try to learn something so that it feels much less like a screw-up and more like a learning experience.
Just remember, be Prompt, Thorough and Communicate honestly.
P.S. Sorry I screwed up and didn’t post last week! I’ve scheduled a post for next week and set up my Google calendar to notify me twice a week so that I won’t forget again! Thanks for your understanding 
Posted by tjkimberly on Dec 14, 2009 in
Uncategorized Nuclear Meltdown Prevention Program
Each week I dedicate a few hours of my time evaluating my business situation and plans in order to predict possible problems. I know a lot of over-worked professionals (especially entrepreneurs!) think they simply cannot dedicate time to something so trivial, especially when the business is running smoothly. But remember this is more of a preventative maintenance than a reaction to a problem. I’ve found these steps immensely valuable and I won’t let a week go by without this. I consider my time to be one of my most valuable assets and this is near the top of the list of important things for me to do.
What could go wrong: After a month’s worth of challenges and obstacles I find it easy to remember the problems. I spend quite a bit of time imagining possible problems in the future of the company (In fact I do this in every situation, for example we’re considering buying a house and I’m maintaining a list of possible problems with the house and the deal). I consider all the moments where I was stressed, all the nightmare stories I’ve heard, in fact I often jot down these as my week goes along. After I’ve written the list I take a couple minutes and rate the problems on a 4$ scale with $ being a little expensive to $$$$ meaning “holy crap, we’re going out of business” expensive! When in doubt I go with the worst-case scenario. This month’s list goes something like this:
- Employees could quit – $$
- Customers could fail to pay a bill on time – $$
- Equipment could break – $$$
- We could fail to pay insurance bill – $$$$
What’s Next: Prevention and planning. This is the point where you go through your list and take steps to prevent every one of these possibilities and design a plan to deal with the aftermath if you aren’t able to prevent the disaster. My list looks like this:
- Talk with each employee. Ask if they have any questions, concerns or greivances. Remind them of my open-door/e-mail policy. Build a file of resumes of potential employees and sort in order of qualifications.
- Contact customers to discuss satisfaction. Make sure each bill lists the due date. Implement an automatic reminder system on the due-date. Calculate the amount in dollars and percent of business controlled by each customer to understand potential losses. Continue to pursue additional clientele to minimize individual effects.
- Make sure all equipment has a maintenance schedule and it is being carried out properly. Ensure funds are dedicated for maintenance. Check equipment for signs of wear or leakage. Evaluate the reliability of the brand of equipment. Search for equipment rental locations and availability in order to have a back-up plan.
- Check the company calendar for automated reminders regarding each payment and their is a double or triple check system in place to prevent problems. Discuss with an agent the options for making this easier (i.e. can we automate payments?) and check with other companies to find out if this could be easier elsewhere.
Remember: You could spend months planning for every possible contingency, just a s NASA does for every space mission, but you simply cannot predict it all. I spend time planning for my list of possible meltdowns and working to prevent problems where I can control it, but I don’t stress over it at all. In fact, planning makes me feel much more in control because I’ve done my due diligence. Once you’re done with the Nuclear Meltdown Prevention Program put it aside and enjoy the rest of your day! <– Some days I have to remind myself to do this. Thinking about disaster for too long can have a negative effect that nobody wants.
Tags: business, employee quit, evaluate, meltdown, nuclear, problem, solution, tony
Posted by tjkimberly on Nov 2, 2009 in
Uncategorized Welcome to my blog, TonyOnBusiness. We’re a proud member of the FocusOfTheWeek blog-ring hosted by MKBernier. I’ll be unveiling business ideas, methods and industry secrets, although I’m writing for entrepreneurs many principles apply to larger businesses. I have a TON of content so if you have any particular requests feel free to post them in the comments or email me at tony.kimberly@gmail.com. As we get started I’ll present some simple, yet extremely useful concepts because it is all too easy to forget the basics.