Mike Michalowicz's Blog, page 84

Build The Sidewalks After The Paths Are Discovered

This is a picture (thanks to Google Maps) of the Virginia Tech drillfield, the center of campus. All the students living in dorms cross the drillfield every day to get to classes on the other side.  The grey lines you see, crossing the drillfield are the sidewalks. The tan ones are paths made by students.

It is interesting what you learn after the fact.  The students (consumers) will blaze the paths that are most convenient for them. Yet the school had already invested in the sidewalks, and for years have let students walk the (sometimes muddy) paths.  Neither the school (who spent money on sidewalks that are not fully utilized) nor students (who walk muddy or dusty paths) are happy.

Your customers are likely experiencing the same. Just because you built a process, does not mean it is the right process. Watch the “path” your customers are walking first. Then pave it for them

The Teacher Is The Best Student

It is one of my favorite personal ah-ha moments:

My friend, JB Blanchard, and I were hastily walking to a speaking event I had on a college campus. We were running a little bit late, so we took some shortcuts through buildings.

As we passed a classroom, he muttered “There’s the best student.” I didn’t notice what he said.  My mind was rehearsing the speech I was about to deliver.

Aw we walked by the next room, he said the same thing while pointing, “Over there. There’s the best student.” I looked at him curiously, but didn’t say a thing.

He peered in as we walked by yet another packed room and said it yet again “Yep!  Over in the corner. There’s the best student.”

A little bit flustered, I stopped and looked at JB.

“Who are you pointing to?” I asked, continuing my questions unabated, “How do you know who the best student is? Is it the person taking the most notes? Is it the person sitting up front?”

“No.  It’s none of that, “ JB chuckled. “It’s the teacher. The best student is always the one who teaches.”

What are you trying to master? Teach it.

The Most Powerful Sales Technique That We Learn From Sunsets

“That’s the ugliest sunset I have ever seen!”

Now, that’s a line you don’t hear everyday! Yet there is no doubt that you have seen many sunsets in your lifetime. Sure, like most people, you have probably said, “That is the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen,” but you have most likely never said it was the “ugliest” one. You may even wonder why on earth anyone would ever find a sunset to be ugly in the first place! You simply can’t fathom the idea of an ugly sunset.

However, if you were a statistician or something similar, you may have uttered those words. Because in all reality, technically, one of the sunsets you have seen has to be the ugliest. So, the question becomes why you have never actually said it. Or, more importantly, why do your emotions always perceive it as being beautiful?

Limiting Access

What this all boils down to is an engrained behavior that we all have, referred to as exclusivity. For something to be exclusive, it needs to have limited access or be used on a limited basis. The more that something is perceived to be exclusive, giving us less access to it, we tend to appreciate it much more. We put more value on it and are less likely to ever find it undesirable, or to be the ugliest.

As we all know, the sun sets each day. And it is beautiful each time. But if you watched it set every day, your appreciation for it would probably wane. You would come to take it for granted, assuming that it would be there and be similar to the day before. No longer would you really hunger to see it and be grateful for it like you did when you only saw it occasionally, or on an exclusive basis.

Recreating Beauty in Your Business

Since you, like most people, probably only watch the sun set occasionally, and maybe even only on rare occasions, you tend to value it tremendously. You probably even feel it is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. And perhaps you snap photos of it, lingering a little longer, trying to be in the moment and not let it pass.

In your business, you can also leverage this natural behavior of your clients, and help them to see your offerings as beautiful. The technique works in much the same way, by imposing exclusivity on certain products or services that you offer.

By making certain products or offerings exclusive, you will make them available only for special customers (perhaps the big spenders), or will only put them on display in a special section of your site for a certain time frame, or maybe only make them available for limited hours. Whatever you do, focus on making it limited, or requiring some serious effort to gain access.

Seeing the Value

When consumers know that something is a limited edition, or that there is limited access, they automatically place a higher value on it, no matter what that thing happens to be. When we have access to everything, at any time, we are essentially helping to devalue it to some extent.

While this works with sunsets, rainbows and shooting stars, it can work just as well in your business. It’s worked for everyone from Lamborghini to McDonald’s Shamrock Shake. And it can work for you, too! Even common things, such as sunsets, when displayed to users infrequently, automatically have more perceived value.

So your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to determine what you can make exclusive or in a limited edition. Once you do that, and put it into action, you will see the value of that product or service soar, and as those sales take off, you can spend your time looking for the ugliest sunset you have ever seen!

Fractional Hiring

I wish I could stake claim to the phrase “fractional hiring,” but I can’t. It is something Fabio Rosati, CEO of Elance, shared with me as we chatted on the phone recently. The concept is this: Highly skilled labor, who, in the past, was only available as a full time hire or in an extended consultative capacity, is now available for specific, short term tasks and at a moments notice.

Fractional hiring is the great human resources equalizer. It put us, the small business guys, on equal footing as them, the big business guys.

For example, if your small business computer network has a problem processing SQL queries (cough… an exact problem I had with a, cough-cough, not to be mentioned CRM system. cough.), you used to have your in-house IT guy fix it (think big salary) or have an outside consulting firm fix it (think recurring monthly fee or big hourly rate). With fractional hiring, those same, highly skilled technical folks are available on a per instance basis.

A quick query for “SQL technical support” on any of the fractional hiring sites (Elance being my personal defacto choice) immediately finds the right people who are already qualified by other people’s ratings, gives you their pricing, and allows them to remotely connect and get the work done right then and there. SQL problem fixed – fast, fully and cheaply.

This isn’t limited to computer geeks; Lawyers, accountants, CFOs, HR experts, programmers, writers, event coordinators, you name it. Almost any professional service can be rendered this way.

Entrepreneurs can no longer use the excuse of “lack of resources.” You can’t say that you can’t compete because the big guy has the better folks and more of them. Fractional hiring gives you (and me) access to a five star trademark attorney, with the same skill set to the in-house trademark attorneys at Google.

Yeah, sure, Google has more money. But now you have the same accessibility and can actually afford it. I am just hoping someone figures out how to do fractional hiring of a massage therapist. I would love to get a 5 minute neck massage right now.

7 Apps That Should Be Banned From Your Office

We are all – whether we’re the employee or the employer – infinitely distractible. Studies have proven that multitasking is a myth – that while we can switch between and among tasks – we can’t actually do many things all at the same time. I learned a valuable lesson in my business about increasing productivity, and I’m going to share it with you.

In my office, we didn’t think we had a problem with the staff wasting time on apps that distracted them from their primary function – at least no one was willing to admit to wasting time on Candy Crush when they should have been coordinating calendars. Imagine our surprise when we installed a device that prohibited access to sites and apps that are major sources of time suckage in an office. Productivity magically increased, despite the claims that no one had been using those sites previously. We couldn’t argue with the results; many popular apps are bad for your business.

Here are the apps you need to eradicate from your workplace:

1. Any kind of virtual drive (Google Drive, Dropbox, Sugarsync, etc.) – Protect your proprietary information by making your data less portable. Virtual drives make your files much more susceptible to theft or even accidental sharing. An employee may legitimately have files, but if they’re accidentally shared along with his vacation pics, your information could end up in hands it shouldn’t. Should you absolutely need a virtual drive, your most secure choice is a corporate drive with far more security than the many free apps that make file sharing far too easy.

2. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Google Play, YouTube – these digital media players are far too tempting. Even if you access YouTube for a legitimate business reason, it’s far too easy to get sucked into True Facts About Sloths…and Land Snails…and Chameleons. You get the idea. Shut it down before it starts.

3. Angry Birds, Candy Crush, and the other addictive games – these games are expressly designed to entice folks who intend to play for a minute or two into losing huge blocks of time. Your staff may legitimately need breaks, but you’re much better off getting them up and away from their desks. A walk or even a Foosball game will help your staff decompress and be ready to get back to work.

4. Facebook, Google +, Twitter – Company policy must be clear here – business matters aren’t discussed on employees’ social media apps, and the apps aren’t used during the workday. Your social media team should be the only folks authorized to put your business out there on Facebook and Twitter. The last thing you want is for a potential client to read about inter-office drama in your company, and you must keep your business secure by limiting the number of people who share information publicly.

5. Pornography, gambling sites – There are lots of reasons to keep these vices out of your workplace, and lost productivity is one reason. The other biggie is to limit your company’s exposure to criminal investigations. You do not want to be part of a child pornography investigation and discover that your company’s computer had been used to store illegal material. Again – the goal is to head these things off before they start. These vices don’t ever belong in your office.

6. Most productivity apps (Orchestra, etc.) – You’d be surprised how much time you waste when you open an app, wait for it to load, remember what you wanted to record, and have to settle back into a task. Sometimes low-tech is best, and your biggest time saver could be a pen and paper. Jot notes and reminders as they occur to you, and you’ll be able to keep working without interruption.

7. Interoffice chat and texting – Multiple factors make this tip practical. First, your message is far more likely to be understood properly if you make a call than if your writing is misconstrued. Second, if you send a message and distract an employee who feels compelled to answer right away, you may be introducing a wake of disruption into their workflow that could last for up to fifteen minutes. It’s often quicker to pick up the phone, pass on the information, and let everyone get right back to work. Or use your pen and paper to remind yourself to deal with matters that aren’t time sensitive. We waste time when we convince ourselves that everything must be dealt with immediately.

You’re the captain of your company, and if an app doesn’t make your ship run more efficiently, then your best bet is to throw it overboard.

Episode 42: Office Products and Niche Focusing with Adam Smith and Jonathan Domsky

Also Available On

 

Show Summary

Adam Smith and Jonathan Domsky join us for Episode 42 of the Profit First Podcast. Adam talks about office products that can help protect your company. Jonathan tells us his journey of founding Kidorable and what it’s like to work  with factories in other countries.

 

Our Guests

Adam Smith (left) is currently a Director of Marketing for ACCO Brands based in Lake Zurich, IL. He leads a team responsible for the integrated B2B marketing of brands including Swingline, Quartet, AT-A-GLANCE and Mead in the B2B market. He has been with ACCO Brands since 2010 and previously worked for Newell Rubbermaid and TTi on various durable goods categories and brands such as Hoover, Dirt Devil, Sharpie and Graco.

 

Jonathan Domsky (right) is co-founder and president of Kidorable.  The company exists to delight both children and the adults who love them by transforming everyday, functional kids’ accessories into objects that excite their imaginations and enrich their lives at play.

Jonathan leads the company’s sales and operations (his wife and cofounder, Liping, is the creative force behind Kidorable’s success).  They met and married in China in 1994.  In essence, Kidorable is a love story.

Jonathan’s current project is the Kidorable Parenting Blog, helping parents make their family life more fun, easy, meaningful and joyous—due to launch late summer 2015.

 

Show Quotes 

Data protection is a huge thing to focus on in the office; almost 90% of businesses still have sensitive information on paper (even in today’s world of technology!). It is so easy to through away or recycle paper without thinking twice about the information that is on it. Invest in a shredder!

Always ensure a product with good warranty.

When it comes to office supplies, people often under-buy what they need. Do your research before making a purchase.

If you choose to work with a manufacturing company outside of the U.S. you can work with an import/export company, or to work directly with the factories.

Always expect that there will be some intellectual leakage of your product. Be pro-active and set certain expectations with your employees and vendors.

Have a question you’d like us to answer on the air? Email Kristina or Mike!

Kristina@MikeMichalowicz.com 

Mike@MikeMichalowicz.com 

Show Links

Adam Smith

LinkedIn

Jonathan Domsky

Facebook

Website:  www.kidorable.com

 

Corporate Partners

Nextiva – VOIP phone providers for small businesses.

Fundera – Single source online funding for entrepreneurs. Also offers an adviser program for CPAs, bookkeepers and business coaches.

TSheets – The #1 customer rated time tracking solution!

Don’t Change, Leverage

I was contacted by a business that’s struggling. Atypically, the concern was not financial. The founder was struggling with his own micromanagement. He can’t help but insert himself into every part of the business, unintentionally stunting the growth of his employees and his company.

It is a surprisingly common dilemma. Micromanagement was necessary in the early days. The entrepreneur needs to do it all, and manage a few people. There is no time devoted to systems and process, so everything just sits in the founders head and the “system” is micro-managing. But what got him here, won’t get him there. The fix?

Simple! Don’t fix it.

Let me explain. If the owner tried to defeat his micromanaging behavior, it would be a battle of willpower. It was a behavior that served him well. It was a habit that was chock full of successes and emotional rewards. His brain is literally wired to micromanage. And willpower won’t fix it.

He may be able to pull it off for a week or two. He may be able to loosen the reigns, briefly. But the moment something falls short of his expectations he will jump in again to micromanage. In fact, he is wired (like we all are) to keep our habits intact. So if he believes micro-managing is necessary, when he removes himself from doing it, he will unconsciously look for failures so he can return to micro-managing. He will look for any reason to sustain his established, old habit.

The solution isn’t to fix a habit, it’s to redirect it. Since his tendency is to constantly check-in and give input, we simply give him the “check-ins” before he seeks it out. Instead of him asking how things are going, triggering fear and inserting himself, he now gets reports that give him the status before he asks.

Studying his micromanaging ways, we found that he has “ten areas of concern.” Each employee now knows the ten situations that will trigger his micromanagement and always report the problem with a solution already in place.

Since the fear triggers have been removed, he no longer feels compelled to micromanage. He is using all this spare energy to sell the big deals. They didn’t have a financial problem before, just a management problem. Now they don’t have a management problem, and sales are on course to double.

Don’t try to willpower your way through habits; Understand their triggers and redirect the energy.

VIDEO – What Is Being In Control?

What Is Being In Control?

This is likely the most misunderstood concept circulating in modern day society.  Being in control means that all the elements of your life are easily managed by you. Effectively you have all the dials of your life laid out in front of you and can turn them up or down as you wish.

Being in control means you have direct influence over your health, income, relationships, job, family, spirituality, and emotions.  The reality is that is not possible.  You can surely influence all of these categories, but you can’t control them.

You can improve and maintain your health, but you can’t prevent a lightning bolt from striking you dead. You can grow your income through hard (and smart) work, but you can’t stop the boss from whimsically firing you. You can work on great relationships, but for them to reciprocate they must do the same.

And so, in the greatest ironies of all, your thirst to be in control of all the elements of your life actually gives you less control. The harder the effort you make to be in control, the less and less possible it becomes.  The more control you assert, the more you need to get involved in the uncontrollable minuta.

The desire to be controlling is controlling you. Release what you can’t control and delegate the things that are better controlled by other. Those two things will give you the greatest sense of control.

Episode 43: Content Sharing and Budget Management with Nathan Hecht and Gregg Hollmann

Also Available On

 

Show Summary

Business owner Nathan Hecht and Disk Jockey Gregg Hollmann  join us for Episode 43 of the Profit First Podcast. Nathan gives insight to what his software can do for your business and gives tips on protecting your intellectual property.  Gregg shares his story of how he grew his DJ business from part-time fun to full time profitability!

 

Our Guests

Nathan Hecht

Nathan Hecht is the mastermind behind Dstrux.  The acclaimed platform to share self-destructing files on the web. He is also the Founder and CEO of Components Intl & CI Lumen Industries, the first LCD integration company to effectively deploy large- scale airport and mall digital signage systems.

 

Gregg Hollmann

Gregg Hollmann is a music lover who has parlayed his passion for music and parties into a thriving DJ entertainment company.  A graduate of The College of New Jersey with a degree in business, Gregg caught the DJ bug in his late 20s and has not looked back.

His company, Ambient DJ Service, performs at over 350 events per year with its 15 DJ entertainers.  Ambient DJs specializes in weddings, teen dance parties and corporate events.

Gregg is a highly-regarded expert in the DJ entertainment field, and has spoken at national conventions.  For the past three years, Gregg has served as President of the New Jersey Disc Jockey Network (NJDJN), a premier professional DJ association. He publishes 100+ blog articles per year, and in addition is the author of the well-reviewed book “The Bride’s Guide to Selecting the Perfect Wedding DJ” – available on Amazon.  

Two business mantras that he lives by are #ContinuingEducationCounts and #NetworkingWorks

Gregg resides in East Windsor with his wife and two children.  His interests include reading, writing, international travel, Las Vega$, tennis, bodyboarding and creating mix CDs.

 

Show Quotes 

When you share something over the web (email, social media, etc) you are essentially giving that information to the platform that you’re sharing it on. They can then use that information to advertise to you. The recipient that gets this information can also keep it.

Your small business is all about your intellectual property. Regardless of what business you’re in – everything that you are sharing is valuable to you. It’s important to protect that information!

It’s pretty common to have your business start out as a hobby. It is also important to know when it’s time to start charging for your services when you make the decision to turn your hobby into a business.

Keep a tight budget and avoid impulse purchases! You will be amazed at how much money you can save.

 

Have a question you’d like us to answer on the air? Email Kristina or Mike!

Kristina@MikeMichalowicz.com 

Mike@MikeMichalowicz.com 

Show Links

Nathan Hecht

Website: www.dstrux.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Dstrux

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DstruxInc

Gregg Hollmann

Website:  www.ambientdj.com

Facebook. www.facebook.com/ambientdj

Blog: http://ambientdj.com/ambience-a-nj-dj-blog/

Twitter:  www.twitter.com/ambientdjs

Instagram:  ambientdjs

Pinterest:  pinterest.com/greggambient

Soundcloud:  https://soundcloud.com/gregg-hollmann

 

Corporate Partners

Nextiva – VOIP phone providers for small businesses.

Fundera – Single source online funding for entrepreneurs. Also offers an adviser program for CPAs, bookkeepers and business coaches.

TSheets – The #1 customer rated time tracking solution!