Lifestyle: Manage your time...

This is an open letter to all the horrible time managers out there...please take the initiative and manage your time, because it affects all of us!

All right, this is going to brief but hopefully informative and reflective. How many of you out there have been victims of a horrible time manager, or are one? (show of hands) I see about half of the crowd has raised their hands (hahaha).

I get it, we all have a lot going on in today's hyper fast, ultra digital world. We have our physical life and well-being to attend to and our virtual life, which is slowly creeping up on the physical, but not there yet. So we may be late to a meeting, date, friends birthday, wedding, etc., but why?

If the reason is: There was a horrible accident. I got lost. I was on the phone with my mom (who lives in another state/country). I ran out of gas, not a good one but acceptable (unless it happens more than once), etc. You get the picture. There are some legitimate excuses, however, for the most part being late is a product of poor time management.

I know it may sound "parental" in a way, at least my mom says this all the time; "You should leave early enough to prepare for traffic and/or accidents," especially when leaving for an interview, important work meeting, pretty much anything business related as social situations are allowed some leeway by default.

What I have come to realize as my life has gotten busier and busier, and as I've grown into a responsible man (thanks mom), is the fact that my time is valuable as is everyone's. If the meeting is at noon be there at noon (at least) or even better get there 10-15 minutes early. If you say let's meet at 3pm and you can't get there at 3pm, let everyone else know, preferably at least 30 minutes or an hour before. After all, everyone is busy, whether they are busy being productive that is another story.

"Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late." ~ William Shakespeare

Technology is supposed to make our lives that much easier, not harder. There are tons of apps out there that can help you manage your time and tasks, set reminders, set alarms, workout timers, monitor traffic conditions, estimated time of travel, etc. All there to make you more efficient and productive. Let's not forget the countless ways to communicate: text, social media, email, a PHONE call, so let's try and use it people.

Side note: The new iPhone comes out today and iOS 8, both of which have applications to help with time management.

Salutations,

Nicholas

Entrepreneur: Launching a Business

Having been a part of numerous startups over my career in various industries, and having known and knowing close friends, family members, and business associates that have made the leap and taken the risk of starting their own businesses, I wanted to share a few things that I feel are very important to get right from the jump.

1) Write a business plan

This is a BIG one, yet is rarely executed properly, if it's even done at all. Many entrepreneurs and small business owners feel they have a great idea for a new product/service, feel they can take an existing product/service and do it better than what is currently on the market, or have an incremental innovation to an existing product/service that will enhance the consumer experience and fulfill a need. In fact, these reasons are why most businesses and startups are launched, however, 3 out of 4 will fail! That is an extraordinary high percentage. Yes, some will fail due to lack of capital funding and others will fail by burning through capital far too quickly, and some will fail from lack of leadership, direction, and vision. Regardless of the reason, a lack of a well thought out business plan is more often than not at the root of the problem.

Writing a business plan forces the business owner to carefully analyze why they are starting a business, who their competitors are, what is the market for the product or service, economic climate, etc., prior to investing all that time and money, which is needed to get a business off the ground. Many people I have met with, and worked for actually, will for-go writing a business plan all together, claiming they have it all in their heads; they are purely reacting to scenarios day-to-day. Writing a business plan is a proactive approach as it will help streamline your thoughts, make adjustments prior to launch, enable a clear vision for the business, enable you to seek and procure investors, heck, it may even force you to re-evaluate your decision to start a company all together.

I would suggest consulting with someone who is well-versed in writing a business plan(s) and/or launching startups, even if it may be seen as a costly expense as it will no doubt save you money in the long run and moving forward. If you do not know anyone to consult with, or if you find it to be too costly there are many websites that offer business plan templates for a limited one-time fee, some may even be found online for free. However, I would be cautious of anything that is free as many times in life you get what you pay for.

2) Determine your target market(s) and position your brand accordingly

This one is all too common as well. You have a great product/service that is ready for market, perfect let's start making some money! Right?? Well, of course one wants to make money, but who exactly are you selling to? A small business or startup (typically) does not have the resources to just get a company off the ground and start selling to anyone and everyone that is ready (or not) to buy. Furthermore, marketing can be an expensive business unit, particularly without a clear target market(s), as much will be wasted (time and money) while you're testing to see who is going to be a viable customer for your business. Determining your target market(s) should be done prior to launch, again a proactive approach, not a reactive one.

Once your target market(s) have been identified, it is extremely important to position your brand accordingly. What do I mean by this? Well, let's say you have targeted the high-end, high-quality coffee consumer market - essentially competing with Starbucks. This would not be an easy task, even with a well-thought out business plan and preparation; however, it could be done with a focused strategy. Therefore, when you position your brand on the high-end, high-quality market, all of your branding and marketing should be targeted as such. You want to go full-bore and start capturing market share in that space immediately. Far too often I have seen companies without a defined target market and brand positioning waste valuable resources at a fast-clip by trying to serve any and all markets, even to a market that would never pay $2 for a cup of "drip" coffee or $5+ on an "Orange Mocha Frappuccino" (couldn't resist the Zoolander reference).

3) Start tracking financial (costs, expenses, revenues) and sales data immediately

Many new (and sometimes experienced) entrepreneurs and small business owners fail to do this as they just jump right in and start producing and selling their product/service. I am all for initiative and motivation as that is what is going to enable your company to survive and thrive, however, prior to launching I'd recommend putting the data tracking applications in place. This can be accomplished through the use of Excel, Quickbooks, Quicken, or any other new app/software that is out there in the market place (there are a lot of them). Again, this may seem like an obvious implementation, but you'd be surprised how many business fail to have this in place, or have started it but stopped for whatever reason, too busy, lack of spreadsheet knowledge, I'll do it later, etc.

The problem with failing to track financial and sales data is that as it accumulates and business operations pick up (hopefully), the harder it is to go back and input the data. Furthermore, having all your data tracked will enable you to compare data from previous days/weeks/months, forecast sales, procure more capital in the future, find partners and investors, identify issues, etc. In today's technological world financial tracking and data storage is highly accessible and in many cases fairly user-friendly. Once again, I'd recommend consulting with a professional on this matter, at least initially to setup the templates.

Obviously there are many other factors that go into launching a business, many of which have been posted in other posts on LinkedIn. However, I feel these 3 are major factors to consider prior to launching a business and in the long run save you a lot of time, money, and headaches moving forward.

As always, I'd love to hear your comments on this topic, so please leave comments if you desire.

PS - If you are in need of any Business and Marketing consultation for your small to mid-sized business/start-up feel free to shoot me an email at: modernbizstrategy@gmail.com.

Cheers,

ModernManTellsAll

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Marketing: 3 most common digital marketing mistakes

The 3 most common digital marketing mistakes...

Ah yes, it's that time again.  With digital marketing becoming more of a necessity than a "fad," I thought I'd share my opinion/observations on the three most common mistakes I see across the digital landscape and with clients and associates.

1) Duplicate and redundant content across all channels

I have this listed as number one for two reasons: For one, it is probably the most common.  And two, it drives me nuts to see this.  Think about it, with 3rd party apps like Hootsuite, SpreadSocial, and SocialOomph scheduling and coordinating posts is super easy, and sometimes too easy as a social media manager or operations manager can schedule multiple tweets for the week and assign the same posts across all channels (not recommended).  This makes sense right??  Spread our message to as many people as we can across all channels efficiently...that's the name of the game.  Well, no, not really.  All of the social media channels have a different communication and interaction method, and many times, a completely different demographic.   Therefore, duplicating the same message across all social channels could in fact be hindering your brand instead of growing it.  Many social media users are extremely educated and versed in the proper communication and interaction methods/techniques and can quickly tell what your company is doing, and many times turn them off all together.  It actually portrays laziness as well, almost as if you don't want to take the time and don't really care about your product/service.  So take the time to properly communicate, promote, and engage across all social channels.  If you're limited on time and resources then narrow your channels down to one or two.

2) Poor grammar 

Poor grammar, the ultimate brand killer.  If there's one thing we've learned over the last few years, it's the fact that one or two mistakes on social media can absolutely damage your brand, and it can be very hard to bring back the loyalty.  I'm not going to tell you what you should or should not post as far as graphic content (American Airlines), politics, religion, etc. as that is obvious.  What I do want to address is the use of poor grammar.  I get that you only have a certain amount of characters to get your message across; however that should not mean you have to sacrifice proper grammar.  Yes, it forces you to be far more creative with your writing, which is a good thing; All the more reason to find a qualified digital marketing expert to communicate this message properly.  I understand that mistakes are made from time to time, as many of us get so busy and our attention is not fully focused on our social media posts; heck, I'm sure you can find a few grammar mistakes on this blog (I am not perfect).  However, when these mistakes are constantly happening you will discredit your brand and portray a lack of professionalism and commitment to stand behind your product/service.

3) Buying followers and likes

OK, I get it you want more followers.  This actually used to be a lot more common two or so years ago, however, I still see this happening with some smaller companies that I meet with, they have 1000s of followers on Facebook and/or Twitter, and my first reaction is, WOW, that's great!  Then I'll ask questions such as: How are your sales from these channels? How much is your website traffic increasing monthly? What is your ROI?  Once I get the answer, which is most common, none or very little.  My next step is to analyze the social media channels and see how engaged their followers are; are there a lot of likes and shares, comments, etc.  Typically the answer is no.  If you have a few thousand followers and you're posting content regularly, you should, by default have some interactions happening.  That is if your followers are a part of your target demographic and actually invested in your message: your brand and your product/service.  If they are not, then those thousands of followers mind as well be one.  That said, not all is lost as the reality is, if you have that many followers it is that much easier to find and engage, new, real, potential customers and attract them to your social media pages organically.

So there you have it, the 3 most common digital marketing mistakes I have come across over the last few years.  The best advice I can give is to pay attention to what you are posting, what you're followers are saying, and where your content is being distributed.

As always, I'd love to hear your comments on this topic, so please leave comments if you desire.

PS - If you are in need of any Business and Marketing consultation for your small to mid-sized business/start-up feel free to shoot me an email at: modernbizstrategy@gmail.com.

Cheers,

ModernManTellsAll

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Career: Know where you're going

Know where you're going...

To know where you are going is one of the best pieces of advice any one can receive.  I can't tell you how many times I've heard this growing up, from my parents, teachers, mentors etc.  However, I can tell you it is about just as many times as I've ignored the advice, not necessarily on purpose but more from being naive and inexperienced in life.  I was always one of those people that knew what I did not want to do or where I did not want to go, but that only gets you so far.  At some point you will come to a crossroads in life and you'll have to decide where you are going and where you want to be.  And having a general idea can be extremely helpful.

Although knowing where we are going and where we want to be is a great piece of advice, most go through life without an understanding of what they want for themselves, and what their purpose is.  Many of us let life dictate our future and our plans even if it is truly not where we want to be and go.  Napoleon Hill would refer to this as "drifting".  According to Mr. Hill, nearly 98% of the human population are considered drifters and only 2% are considered non-drifters; therefore the chances are, you, me, and most people you know are drifting.  There are countless reasons for why this happens and Mr. Hill goes in to the details in his books, Outwitting the Devil and Think and Grow Rich, and he explains it much better than I, so if you're interested I'd recommend giving them both a read.  I will, however, tell you that the act of drifting and non-drifting, for that matter, are in full control of the individual.

I actually have been drifting for the majority of my life.  Yea, I always knew what I did not want to do and where I did not want to go, but I never actually knew where I was going and what I wanted to do - until now.  So how did I figure it out?  We'll, it really wasn't rocket science, but it did take a lot of hard work, ups-and-downs, successes and failures, and mental toughness.  I'll outline 3 main steps that changed my path, and pointed me in a direction where I am excited to be adventuring towards.

1. Determination

Determination is what it takes to get through much of everything in life, but it is even more important when breaking out of the drifting mode and into the non-drifter demographic, which is not easy.  As everyone knows, life will always throw you "curve-balls" and try to beat you down, but it is how you choose to react to these life challenges that dictate the outcome.  You can't let these challenges have a negative affect on you, after all, you have a goal and an idea of what you want out of life and where you are going, so keep at it.  Take all those challenges and negative experiences and learn from them, but don't let them set you back - stay on your path and keep moving forward.  Believe me, I have gone through many ups-and-downs from moving to LA without knowing a soul to my dad passing away to leaving a job, laid off, etc.  But, in the end all has led me to where I am now, and mentally I've never been in a better place.  Determination is the one thing that has kept me going through all of this, and I believe it is the most important if one wants to break the habit of drifting through life.  Without determination one would try things a couple of times, maybe even just once and then give up - staying stuck in the same place mentally and physically.   I know this for a fact as I've had this mentality in the past.  I had no clue as to where I wanted to go and how I was going to get there, I just went with the flow.  After all, determination is what made Thomas Edison fail over 10,000 times before he came about the phenomena of electricity, which many of us take for granted as if it has always been a part of this world and human life.

2. Never stop learning

It doesn't matter what it is, never stop learning.  You could be the president and CEO of the biggest and best company in the world - think Amazon, Apple, Google, etc.  And the minute you think you know it all and stop learning, you will lose that competitive advantage, your job, the company will lose market share, etc.   In today's world, the information age, knowledge can be acquired quite easily and educating yourself should be at the top of everyone's list.  While you journey to where you want to go, gather as much information as possible along the way, on as many subjects, as you never know what you'll need on your way and when you get there.   Furthermore, as you learn new subjects and expand your knowledge of topics you already knew a bit about, your path and destination will become clearer with each step.  Maybe you had a general idea of what you want to do, the industry you want to work in, where you want to live, but as you continue to learn - the knowledge you gain may help you hone in on an that exact position, industry, company, city, etc.   Soon your vision will become a reality.

3. Write things down (your plan, ideas, tasks, etc.)

I know it sounds cliché' but it's true, write things down.  We all have ideas and plans in our heads, whether it be personally or professionally, your business plan, marketing ideas, etc., it doesn't matter.  If you ask me, if you don't have it written down you have nothing.  Now, I am not saying that having ideas in your head is a lost cause, quite the contrary, those ideas are the seeds that will lead one out of drifting and into the 2% of non-drifters.  The problem is a lot of us have those ideas for a great business plan, new invention, ways to find that dream job, where we are going - you get the idea; however, the majority of us do not act or succeed in transitioning these ideas in our heads into a reality.  As a matter of fact, for the majority of us life ends up dictating our situation and before we know it time flashes bye and it's either "too late" or the passion for that idea has left or the idea never was expanded on.  I know for me personally, writing things down, making lists, setting goals, and dates to complete "X" by this date has enabled me to have a clear vision of my plan to where I want to be/go.  To be honest, I tell clients that I meet with, many of whom are small business owners and entrepreneurs, where the most common thing among them is they all have plans and ideas, however, it is almost always in their heads, to write things down.  Write that growth strategy down.  Write the marketing plan down, etc.  How do you know how you are going to get there without having it written down?  How do you plan on tracking your accomplishments?  What if you forget?  How can I help you if we don't have it written down in a business plan, marketing plan, growth strategy, etc.?  The same can be said for ones life and where they are going...how do you know exactly where you are going and how you are going to get there, if it's not written down?

I really do not know if these steps will help everyone, but what I do know is this is what has enabled me to move forward and finally find a path to where I want to go, not just where I didn't want to go.  Now everything I do moving forward will be one-step closer in the direction of where I am heading instead of to the right or left, or worse, backwards.  And that is a pretty good feeling.

As always, I'd love to hear your comments on this topic, so please leave comments if you desire.

PS - If you are in need of any Business and Marketing consultation for your small to mid-sized business/start-up feel free to shoot me an email at: modernbizstrategy@gmail.com.

Cheers,

ModernManTellsAll

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