Did you see the news recently about Kodak killing the Kodachrome product? Yes, technologies come and go. Yet, in the midst of that we can do well as marketers if we adapt.

Here’s a short video you’ll enjoy that deals with the demise of Kodachrome and what lasts in business. In a tough economy, this is what matters most.

Let others know what is working for you by leaving a comment on this Blog (at the bottom). I’ll look forward to hearing from you and I know many others will as well.

Enjoy!

Terry
Terry Brock, MBA, CSP
Terry@TerryBrock.com
www.TerryBrock.com

Business-Building Ideas From Terry L. Brock

NetFlix’s CEO thinks their business is doomed. This is in spite of record sales and the stock price doing well. Why does Reed Hastings, CEO of NetFlix, think that? He is smart!

Very Smart.

He sees what is coming and knows that their distribution model of DVD delivery won’t last more than a few short years. However, even in the midst of their business doing very well, he is adapting and changing.

This is what you and I need to do in our own businesses. Watch this short video (4:41) and you’ll discover some important principles that what help you adapt in this or any economy.

Also, you’ll see some valuable information at the conclusion of this video on how you can get my new book, “Relationship Marketing: It’s NOT about E-Commerce (Electronics); It’s About R-Commerce (Relationships)” This can help transform your business and how you connect with others. Check it out now and you can get it online and we give away the paper book for free! Find out how on the video.

Time to change is now! NetFlix continues to do an excellent job and show us how to remodel our own businesses. Watch the video and then let me know what you think. Leave a comment (below) so others can also benefit from your thoughts.

I look forward to hearing from you —- as do many thousands of others!

Enjoy the video!

Terry
www.TerryBrock.com
Terry@TerryBrock.com

Business-Building Thoughts From Terry Brock

I often work with businesses who are interested in the fast rise of Social Media and how it is making an impact on their businesses. They don’t want to spend too much time on these new forms of Social Media, but they also don’t want to be left in the dark.

Recently I shared concepts from the late, great Peter Drucker that can act as a filter for decision-making. If you filter your use of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other business activity through this you will be on the right track.

Drucker’s advice here?

The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.

That simple phrase sums it up. If what you’re doing doesn’t accomplish either or both of these, it is not worthwhile. Remember the emphasis has to be on “customers” — this means those who are actually paying you money. If they aren’t paying you money, they are not customers. If they have a strong probability of becoming customers that is good. But remember, the emphasis has to be on those paying the bills.

This morning I was talking with a friend who has her MBA from Harvard. We were discussing the fact that she has been on Twitter for about six months now. I asked her what specific business results she has seen from that. She indicated that she had a lot of “followers” (people on Twitter who subscribe to her posts). However, she couldn’t point to any specific business that has come through — yet!

This doesn’t mean that time spent on Twitter is a waste. Far from it. Usually it is like advertising. You don’t always see a direct result immediately. If you’re not there regularly, you could lose business as people don’t know about you. People don’t usually buy on their first exposure to new ideas. It takes time.

I suggested that a business needs to develop a set of “measurable deliverables.” This is where the hard thinking comes into play.

A good tool can be one that was very popular years ago and is still valid today. Management By Objectives, or MBO for short. It was used and taught by people like George Odiorne, George Morrisey and initially introduced by Peter Drucker in 1954. Managing your business (and your life) by objectives has a lot of advantages.

This is a great way to know if Twitter, Facebook, etc. are accomplishing their goals. You, as a leader of yourself and your people, have to think through what deliverables you can measure. In a squishy world of “need to be seen” we have to think hard about what will help to attract and retain customers. You might measure the number of “tweets” sent, the number of followers, the number who visited a site you referenced, the number who purchased an offer, etc. Work with your people to determine realistic goals. This practice eliminates a lot of confusion and bonds everyone to accomplishing the same goals.

Measure what is important. Evaluate by performance within those goals. This will help clarify the business purposes of Twitter and other Social Media sites. Hey, it’s an important way to evaluate any business activity.

Important Point: One of the criticisms of MBO (by people like J. Edwards Deming) was that it failed to take into account a changing environment. This is a reasonable and understandable objection. Of course, the way around this is to build into any MBO system regular, periodic evaluations that allow for changing external circumstances. In other words, “Hey, things are different now and we need to adjust.” Make sure the adjustments are based on real, unchangeable external factors and not just a lazy way to justify missing the goals. Again, this is where wise leadership and judgment are needed.

Twitter is a great tool for communicating. However, it can also be a great time-waster. Do the hard work — the thinking — first. Determine how you’re going to measure success. Filter results through Drucker’s “attract and retain a customer” prism. Use the methodology of MBO to set realistic, stretch goals that help you and your team achieve results.

This system will work in this economy and any economy in the future. MBO is a great way to plan and live your life. MBO is a great way to run your business. Remember to temper it with reviews adapted for changing circumstances and you have a winning combination.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results.  He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

 Manage Deliverables For Success [6:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (180)

Business-Building Thoughts From Terry Brock

I opened the email that said I had “won 35 MILLION DOLLARS” (yes, the email used all caps for that screaming at me effect!). It was about a lost bank account and they just wanted me — because I’m an honest person, of course —- to help them transfer it to my bank account. It was signed by some important-sounding guy with a fancy title in Nigeria.

Maybe you’re familiar with this Nigerian gentleman.

It has now become an old joke in the Internet community about the “guy from Nigeria” who is offering huge money to unsuspecting Internet users. In Lagos and other cities in Nigeria they call this “419” and they don’t mean an area code in Ohio. This is the section in their law referring to this type of scam.

The saddest part is that there are still some people who open this email, believe it and send their bank account numbers to these thieves hoping against hope that money will come to them because they are a “nice person who can be trusted.”

Most of us have realized you don’t even want to answer these notices as they only create havoc. It is better to ignore and exercise your God-given, Thomas Jefferson-sanctioned right to use that wonderful “delete” key on the keyboard.

Yet, I’m seeing similar behavior on Social Networking sites. Only this time, instead of asking for your bank account number, they want to take your precious time, perhaps some money and lots of your effort that you should devote to building your own business relationships.

Recently I spoke with a friend about a mutual connection we had here in town. I’ll call this connection “Arnold” (not his real name). It seems that Arnold is regularly trying to do the social networking thing “connecting” with everyone he meets, “friending” them (boy, have we desecrated that word!), and “linking” to them on all the various social networking sites. My friend commented that she had the same experience with “Arnold” as the pushy salesman trying to force his way on everyone. Arnold has developed a reputation for taking advantage of Social Networking (both online and offline) and just pushing his stuff on others.

Arnold! We have work to do and don’t really care about you if you don’t show that you care about us!

See, Arnold never takes the time to find out what the other person is doing. He is not interested in showing concern for them. He is only interested in selling his stuff. This is what others have said and his reputation continues to suffer. I’m sure you’ve met some “Arnolds” along your own journey.

The principles of Relationship Marketing require that you start a relationship by genuinely caring for and paying attention to the needs of others. When someone is only interested in getting thousands and thousands of “followers” or “friends” through anonymous people that is not a high-level relationship. It is a way to begin a relationship and is perfectly legitimate much like reading a Blog or watching the YouTube channel of someone you admire. You begin a relationship at that level and then build from there.

The key is to focus on how you can help and provide value. I’m sure that the “Arnolds” of the world have some good products. Hey, I also admire their tenacity. They just need to do it the right way. That means getting to know someone as a person before you insist they come to your place and see all you are doing with your stuff.

Please!

Focus on the needs of the others and how you can help them. Build quality relationships for business by being authentic and genuinely caring for others. Then as we see complimentary needs and can help each other we’ll be happy and delighted to do business with real friends (in the time-honored sense of that word).

Find something specifically where you can help them build their business. That is one of the best ways to cultivate and nurture a genuine relationship. This is the key to long-lasting, value-for-value relationships.

Successful Relationship Marketing is a process. You can’t rush it. It takes time, money and effort to cultivate the best relationships. Just like in farming, you plant the seeds, nurture the crops and help them grow. You can’t rush it. Become more of a “Relationship Farmer” and you’ll enjoy a bountiful harvest.

Doing this will help the “Arnolds” of the world avoid a reputation of being the Social Networking version of that guy from Nigeria with the 35 MILLION DOLLARS (I guess you have to capitalize it for the effect, huh?).

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

Russian Translation Below

Подкаст от Терри Брока 10 июня 2009 года

По общественной организации сети – как тот мужчина из Нигерии

Идеи Тэрри Брока как построить бизнес

Я открыл электронную почту где было написано, что я “выиграл 35 МИЛЛИОНОВ ДОЛЛАРОВ” (да, со всеми заглавнымим буквами для кричащего эффекта!). Сообщение было по поводу потерянного банковского счета и они хотели именно меня, т.к. я честный человек, помочь им перевести деньги на мой счет. Сообщение было подписано человеком с важным титулом из Нигерии.

Может быть Вы знакомы с этим джентельменом из Нигерии.

Теперь это стало старой шуткой в интернет-сообществе о “парне из Нигерии”, который предлагает огромные деньги ничего не подозревающим интернет-пользователям. В Лагосе и других городах в Нигерии они называют это “419″, и они не подразумевают междугородный код в Штате Охайо. Это часть в их законе, касательно данного типа жульничества.

Но обидно, что есть все еще некоторые люди, которые открывают эту электронную почту, верят и посылают банковский счет этим ворам, и надеются что деньги придут к ним, т.к. “это хороший человек, которому можно доверять”.

Большинство из нас понимают что это жульничество и лучше просто нажать кнопку “удалить”

Все же, я вижу подобное поведение на сетевых сайтах, только на сей раз вместо того чтобы просить банковский счет, они хотят ваше драгоценное время, возможно немного денег.

Недавно я говорил со знакомой о взаимной связи, которая появилась у нас в городе. Я назову эту связь “Арнольдом” (фиктивное имя). Кажется что Арнольд пытается “присоединиться” к каждому кого он встречает, и присоединяется к ним на различных сайтах. Моя знакомая прокомментировала, что она также почувствовала что “Арнольд” как настойчивый продавец, который использует все с своих интересах.

Арнольд! У нас есть работа, и мы не очень заинтересованы в тебе если ты не проявляешь интерес к нам.
Дело в том, что Арнольда не волнует в чем заинтересованы мы, все в чем он заинтересован – продать его товар или услуги, остальное не важно. Именно также подметили другие и, на данный момент, его репутация страдает. Я уверен, что Вы встречали “Арнольдов” на своем пути.

Основой взаимоотношений является то, что изначально Вы проявляете интерес к  определенному человеку, и Вы видите нужды  данного человека. Когда кто-то заинтересован только лишь в тысячи так называемых “последователях” и “друзьях ” через анонимных людей, я бы не назвал это взаимоотношением высокого уровня. Именно так можно начать отношения и построить дальше исходя от туда.

Главным фокусом должно являться как Вы можете помочь и предоставить ценность. Я уверен что у “Арнольдов” есть ценные предложения.. Эй, я также восхищаюсь их упорством. Осталось только сделать это правильным образом, и это означает узнать потребности человека до того как толкать на него Ваш товар.

Пожалуйста!

Сосредоточитесь на потребностях других и как Вы можете помочь им. Стройте настоящие отношения для бизнеса, будучи подлинными и искренне беспокоясь о других. И именно когда мы видим потребности других и видим как мы можем помочь друг другу, тогда мы можем иметь дело с настоящими друзьями.

Найдите что-то определенное, где Вы можете помочь им построить бизнес. Это – один из лучших способов вырастить и лелеять подлинные отношения. Это – ключ к длительным отношениям – это ценности-за-ценность.

Успешный Маркетинг Отношений – процесс и не следует его торопить. Для того чтобы построить настоящие длительные отношения, занимает время, деньги и усилие. Точно так же как в сельском хозяйстве, Вы сажаете семена, лелеете зерновые культуры и помогаете им расти. Не возможно ускорить данный процесс. Станьте больше “Фермером Отношений” и и именно тогда вы сможете насладиться обильным урожаем.

Если “Арнольдам” удастся этого достичь, то они смогут избежать репутацию того парня из Нигерии с “с 35 МИЛЛИОНАМИ ДОЛЛАРОВ (я предполагаю, что необходимо капитализировать для эффекта, ха?).

Авторское право © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc, Тэрри Брок является международным маркетинговым тренером и профессиональным спикером, который помогает многочисленным фирмам . Вы можете связаться с Терри Брок по электронной почте: terry@terrybrock.com или через его вебсайт в www.terrybrock.com. Также можете присодиниться на Twitter  через его адрес: TerryBrock.

Написано Терри Броком/ переведено Натальей Илларионовой

 Social Networking - Are Some People Like that Guy From Nigeria? [6:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (206)

 Прослушать на Русском - Listen in Russian По Общественной Организации Сети - как тот мужчина из Нигерии [4:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (98)

Business-Building Thoughts From Terry Brock

“Little things mean a lot? Not true. Little things mean everything.” Harvey Mackay, Author, Speaker, Business Owner

Often the little things make all the difference in life. It is not just the big promotion or advertisement that seals the business deal. If the salesperson makes one little remark that offends the prospect, it can destroy the sale and ruin all the good work done (and all the money previously invested).

The biggest “little things” are those that relate to relationships and building them in business. Relationship Marketing, or R-Commerce as I refer to it, is about establishing, building and nurturing relationships for mutually beneficial results in business.

Recently I was able to conduct some video interviews with a couple of psychologists who mentioned some vivid examples of these “little things” in building relationships and getting business. This is important for you and me in our businesses.

Dr. Brian Grossman, from Palm Desert, California, consults with businesses about how to increase listening effectiveness. Today we have four generations in the workplace and communication styles can vary a great deal. Often the way expressions are said or what is done can make a huge difference in how it is perceived by the other party.

Dr. Grossman has worked with many people in his role as a psychologist. In the video he talks about the importance of repeating back to the other party what was said — or what we thought they said. This technique is simple and has been discussed a lot. Yet, it is practiced seldom. It is a technique that can help to let a tentative and slightly hesitant potential buyer feel reassured that you care for her needs. Watch the video and see what Dr. Grossman said and then let your people watch this. It provides a way for you to add a useful strategy to not only enhance communication —- but potentially increase sales. Watch this video with your close associates at http://tinyurl.com/l8dtt8 and discuss how you can increase listening skills — and profits — in your business.

In another interview I spoke with Dr. Joachim de Posada from Puerto Rico, who was talking about the BookExpo America event he attended. Dr. de Posada has sold over 2.5 million copies of his books so he was there to renew ties with existing relationships and build new business relationships.

Dr. de Posada shared with me about the importance of being aware of opportunities. This is a “little thing” that can pay off in bountiful profits. As with most important principles in life, it is simple, but few people employ it. He shared with me how many literary agents set up meetings with authors to review their latest books and consider an introduction to a major publisher. As is normal, many of the authors don’t keep their scheduled appointments. That creates opportunities for the street-wise authors who would love to have “just a quick moment” to begin a relationship.

Watch the video at http://tinyurl.com/n32bdo and pay particular attention to how Dr. de Posada shares this point. Then as you watch it with your staff and colleagues, ask how you could apply this principle to increase sales in your business. There are enormous opportunities every day. Few people take advantage of these “little things” which pop up regularly.

Yes, it is the little things that make all the difference. In an economy where we have to be more careful with marketing dollars, these “little things” make the big difference. And when they are free — that’s even better!

Extra Juice For Your iPhone

Mophie has done it again. I told you a while back about their slide-in packet for charging your iPhone. I’ve been using it on mine for several months and have been very pleased with its ability to give me about 4-5 extra hours (usually at the end of a busy day) just when I need the extra juice.

Well, they have come up with the new juice pack air. This extra battery slips comfortably around your iPhone while being careful to leave slots for full functionality for your charger, volume controls and camera (!). It is like carrying the power cord with you — but you aren’t tied to the wall. When your battery goes dead and you have to make those important deal-making calls, this is the tool you want within arms reach.

No exact number of hours is given with the literature but it supposedly more than doubles the battery life of your iPhone. For the average salesperson and mobile professional, this is fine. Think of it saving your neck at 5:00 pm when you’ve been on the phone all day and the battery goes dead. You still have important calls to make through dinner and into the evening. The Mophie Juice Pack air for the iPhone 3G (also worked with my original iPhone) can save the day. This is a “little thing” which can save your neck when the battery dies!

(Juice Pack Air, $79.95, www.mophie.com)

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock.

BookExpo America is a big event for those publishing books — and authors who wish to sell their books. I recently had the chance to interview a best-selling author and professional speaker, Dr. Joachim de Posada. Join us for this interview to not only learn about what happened at BookExpo America in New York City but also some key principles you can use to get your book —- or other products and services — sold.

Be sure to stay through to the end of this short (7:24) video to learn about other Relationship Marketing ideas you can use to build your business in today’s economy. This is a must-watch!

I look forward to your comments (below).

Enjoy!

Terry

Terry Brock, MBA, Certified Speaking Professional
www.TerryBrock.com
Terry@TerryBrock.com

Listening in business is more than just a good idea — it contributes to the bottom line. Dr. Brian Grossman has been talking about this (and yes, people are listening!) and helping businesses for years. In this interview, he shares ideas on what you need to do.

The best part is what Dr. Grossman shares that this doesn’t take a lot of time or money. It is simple to do it right. Watch this short video interview and learn about what you can do to increase your effectiveness with others — even across the generational gap!

As a bonus towards the end of the interview, Dr. Grossman offered a free report. Watch this video to learn about how you can get it and boost your own business.

Let me know what you think.

Terry
Terry@TerryBrock.com
www.TerryBrock.com