I Don't Have to Keep in Touch, They Already Know…

We make assumptions. A huge one made by many is that others "already know" how we feel about them, their special occasions, what's important to them, things we can do to help them, or that we're interested in what they have to say. This includes family, friends, colleagues, customers and prospects.

So… being that we assume they already know all that, we don't communicate with them. Besides, it's a lot of effort to find their contact info and to keep up with what's going on in their lives.

Or is it?

If you put all your contacts into an easily organized and retrievable system, then no, it's not a lot of effort. And the payback is massive!

It goes without saying you should keep in contact with family and friends, but it's equally important to stay in touch with your business contacts.

You can't have a business without developing relationships. It's that simple.

For an example of a great organizational system that we use ALL the time… Go Here! It works amazingly well for us!

Pat and Lorna About the Authors

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed.

Pat and Lorna Shanks deliver the "COOL" Goods and connections to "COOL" People. They provide tips, tools, education and informative sessions with knowledgeable people that enable entrepreneurs, independent professionals and small business owners to attract more clients and make more money. For more "COOL" tips, tools, knowledge and people, go to www.TheCoolestCouple.com or follow us on Twitter.

BTW - Check out the new Facebook Like Button just below. Click on it to share with your friends.

Be Sure to Have Enough Money to Start and Run Your Business with Jorge Bueno

Be Sure to Have Enough Money to Start and Run Your Business with Jorge Bueno

We were honoured to be able to catch Jorge Bueno for a COOL interview during the Marketing Funnel Mastery event held in Las Vegas.

In this video Jorge shares how making sure you have enough money to start and run your business is essential. You may think you have enough… but do you? Don’t be a statistic… listen to the interview with Jorge!!!

Jorge’s approach to teaching the topic of financing your business is very cool. He is totally committed to helping people… and it shows.

To find out more about Jorge visit him at: TheBusinessCodex.com

Pat and Lorna About the Authors

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed.

Pat and Lorna Shanks deliver the "COOL" Goods and connections to "COOL" People. They provide tips, tools, education and informative sessions with knowledgeable people that enable entrepreneurs, independent professionals and small business owners to attract more clients and make more money. For more "COOL" tips, tools, knowledge and people, go to www.TheCoolestCouple.com or follow us on Twitter.

BTW - Check out the new Facebook Like Button just below. Click on it to share with your friends.

You Plan and Organize – After That It's All About Customer Service

You make business plans and preparations… you outline what you're going to deliver to your audience and how. Then you follow through and actually do it. You provide something of value to your customers, something that will make their lives better.

However, even with the best-laid plans and most thorough organization… things can still happen that affect the perfect outcome or delivery of your business product or service.

So what do you do?

What you do after things don't go quite as planned has a huge impact on how your business does as a whole. People will understand that things don't always go as planned, and sometimes there are "hiccups" in business. And they will remain a loyal customer IF you handle these challenges with them in mind.

The best way to figure out how to get past the challenges and keep your customers, is to actually ask them, "How can we make this right for you?". Listen to what they say… and unless it is a totally impossible or outrageous request… make it happen for them.

People want to be heard. If they know you are listening, and actually care about what they are saying, there is a great chance they'll become and remain a loyal customer.

"Customer Service"… two words, huge meaning… especially to your customers.

Pat and Lorna About the Authors

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed.

Pat and Lorna Shanks deliver the "COOL" Goods and connections to "COOL" People. They provide tips, tools, education and informative sessions with knowledgeable people that enable entrepreneurs, independent professionals and small business owners to attract more clients and make more money. For more "COOL" tips, tools, knowledge and people, go to www.TheCoolestCouple.com or follow us on Twitter.

BTW - Check out the new Facebook Like Button just below. Click on it to share with your friends.

Your Business – What Are You In It For?

You have a gift. You have something (experience, knowledge, or understanding) that can help others in some aspect of their lives. Perhaps it's to help them move forward on something, or get through something with a lot less pain and effort, or maybe it's just to help them make a better batch of brownies. Whatever it is you have, you can use it to improve the lives of others.

So, why is it you do what you do in your business? We know… you're probably thinking "wow… that's a change in topic". We don't see it that way. Think carefully about this question. Is your business set up to share your gift with the world, to make people's lives better? Or did you buy into your business because of the promise that it could make you a lot of money?

We're not saying you shouldn't make a lot of money in your business… you definitely should. It's just that if it is the main focus of your involvement in it, then the passion to help others, share your knowledge, and really be of service is going to be lacking.

Start with your passion, your desire to help others and you will make a difference… and you'll have a lot of fun along the way.

Pat and Lorna About the Authors

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed.

Pat and Lorna Shanks deliver the "COOL" Goods and connections to "COOL" People. They provide tips, tools, education and informative sessions with knowledgeable people that enable entrepreneurs, independent professionals and small business owners to attract more clients and make more money. For more "COOL" tips, tools, knowledge and people, go to www.TheCoolestCouple.com or follow us on Twitter.

BTW - Check out the new Facebook Like Button just below. Click on it to share with your friends.

The Christmas Spirit – All Year Round!

Christmas is about kindness, caring, sharing and giving. Giving of ourselves… our time, experience and understanding.

What's really cool is that this experience can be the underlying factor in our lives all year round. And it can be the basis of our business as well as our personal lives.

How?
Giving our prospects and customers value… and some of it for free.

Caring enough, so what we do promote and sell will really help people.

Sharing that which we've been blessed to receive. This applies to our knowledge and experience as well as our tangible goods.

The warm and generous spirit of Christmas is not one to be turned on and off at Christmas time, but one that we live our lives by all year round.

What Are You Focusing On?

Take a close look at your life right now and notice what aspects are going really well. Is your business flourishing? Are your relationships strong and healthy?

Now take notice of what aspects of your life are not going as well as you had hoped. Are there some areas of your business or relationships you struggle with, that you just can't seem to find the answer to?

The awareness now swings to… what are you focusing on? Do you find most of your thoughts focused on what you want? Or are they more tuned to what you don't want?

The Law of Attraction decrees that what we focus on or think about is what we attract into our lives. Now, obviously we can't spend every moment paying attention to what we are thinking about… however, we can guide or direct our thoughts to what we really want in life.

So, for instance, say there's an aspect of your business you really don't like doing… and you're not particularly good at it either. Instead of thoughts like… "Oh, I absolutely hate this!", or "I can't do this… it's no use, I'm just not good at it", envision yourself doing the things you love, with a talented team around you supporting you with the things they do best.

Now this team doesn't have to be physically sitting next to you either. It can be a simple website with information you can draw upon to boost your business forward, and make it so much easier on you.

Think of it this way… who or what do you need to attract into your life for your business health and your sanity?

Putting it a little more simply…

What aspect of your business are you most challenged with... the first "thing" you'd go to someone for help with?

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Understand that the same idea holds true for all aspects of your life. Focus on what you want and bring your dreams to life!

Pat and Lorna About the Authors

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed.

Pat and Lorna Shanks deliver the "COOL" Goods and connections to "COOL" People. They provide tips, tools, education and informative sessions with knowledgeable people that enable entrepreneurs, independent professionals and small business owners to attract more clients and make more money. For more "COOL" tips, tools, knowledge and people, go to www.TheCoolestCouple.com or follow us on Twitter.

BTW - Check out the new Facebook Like Button just below. Click on it to share with your friends.

Your Niche… You Can't be Everything to Everybody

Who are your potential customers or clients? Do you feel you can market your product or service to most anyone? Marketing to everyone, without narrowing your focus, will lead to vague messages to your potential market, with very few people understanding what value you can bring to them.

You really need to understand who it is that can best be served by your business and what you provide through it. At a quick glance, it may seem that some products would help most anyone, but there is always a group of people that it would benefit the most, and who would be way more interested in it… interested enough to buy it. And isn't that why you started your business in the first place… to help people and make a profit so you can help more people?

One great way to find out who would be your best target market (or niche) is to search for other similar businesses and find out who purchases their products and services. You'll probably find that there is a common connection within this group of people. Whether they are a certain age group, have certain interests, are single, married or have families… even perhaps the type of businesses they own. Find that connection and market to those people.

Think about this too… would you buy your product or service? If yes, take a look if you would fit into the niche you've selected for your business. If you do, chances are you've pinpointed your market quite well. If not, then perhaps you're not really following your passion.

Remember, diluting your marketing message by sending it out to most everyone will not only cost you a lot more time and money than you need to spend, it will also deprive the people who you can really help by making it unclear to them how you can make their lives better.

Find out who would best be served by your business and focus your marketing efforts on them. It works the best for you… and you are able to help more people. Bottom line… focus your marketing on those who will benefit the most.

To get a better understanding of what we're talking about, take a look at this entertaining video on why you need to have a niche…

Why You Need A Niche

We'd love to know what your niche or target market is.  Let us and other readers know in your comment at the bottom of the page. Thanks so much!

Pat and Lorna About the Authors

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed.

Pat and Lorna Shanks deliver the "COOL" Goods and connections to "COOL" People. They provide tips, tools, education and informative sessions with knowledgeable people that enable entrepreneurs, independent professionals and small business owners to attract more clients and make more money. For more "COOL" tips, tools, knowledge and people, go to www.TheCoolestCouple.com or follow us on Twitter.

BTW - Check out the new Facebook Like Button just below. Click on it to share with your friends.

Twitter… Yes, It is a Bonus for Your Business Too

Yes, Twitter is a Social Networking site, and is a place where people go to connect and build relationships. And… it is also a place that can boost the traffic to your site and reach more prospective clients and customers.

So… just to give you a perspective on how this can work, we've come up with 7 reasons how Twitter can help you in your business:

Reason 1 – It's Social – One of the rules in a Social Network (SN) is to be 80% social and 20% informative. Twitter is one SN where your current customers and potential customers can learn to “know, like and trust” you. When you are being helpful with your posts and articles you are also being social, and as you are being social you are also marketing and informing.

Reason 2 – Extends Your Reach – Extending your reach means to get your marketing message and influence in front of as many eyes and warm bodies as possible. When you tweet your posts and articles on Twitter, you are not only reaching those who are following you, you are also reaching everyone that follows each person who follows you. We call that Compounding Social Networking and that can happen when someone Re-Tweets (RT) your information to their SN group.

Reason 3 – It’s Present Marketing – In many ways Twitter is like Instant Marketing Messaging – you get an instant response from many people who are using Twitter at that point in time. Many internet marketers are beginning to notice that their Twitter list is many times more responsive than their email list.

Reason 4 – Gives You Expert Status – Mentioning your posts and articles and using them to answer questions increases your expert status in the eyes of the tweeting public. And with some of the latest tracking services you can find out what people are responding to. Because this is a new frontier, there is still time for the majority of you to get in and establish your expert status in your niche.

Reason 5 – Spread The Word – If you send out more than one email message a day to your list, people will unsubscribe in droves. With Twitter you can send out multiple 140-character tweets (which contain marketing and informational tips) in one day. In fact, we encourage you to, because your followers are on at different times throughout the day. And don’t forget they are also on different time zones as well. People can choose not to follow you, but we have found those numbers to be quite low. Of course, there is a happy medium… and there is such a thing as too much… just remember the social side.

Reason 6 – Be Helpful – "People don't care how much you know–until they know how much you care." ~ John Maxwell. So when you are having conversations in Twitter and you see a question where one of your posts or articles could help, you are being very helpful to someone when you refer them to your information. How's that for increasing your "know, like and trust" factor?

Reason 7 – It's Automatic – You can set up your blog to automatically tweet your blog post titles to Twitter. If you have an EzineArticles.com account, you can also automatically repurpose your brand new articles onto Twitter as well. So when your blog post and/or article is published, it will automatically show up on Twitter without you having to lift a finger. That is magic!

So get to know people on Twitter, have them get to know you… the social side is a blast. And remember, help them out with your expertise and point them to your valuable information or services. After all… that's what business is about… helping others to succeed.

Pat and Lorna About the Authors

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed.

Pat and Lorna Shanks deliver the "COOL" Goods and connections to "COOL" People. They provide tips, tools, education and informative sessions with knowledgeable people that enable entrepreneurs, independent professionals and small business owners to attract more clients and make more money. For more "COOL" tips, tools, knowledge and people, go to www.TheCoolestCouple.com or follow us on Twitter.

BTW - Check out the new Facebook Like Button just below. Click on it to share with your friends.

Preparation… Then Bam! It All Breaks Loose… Are You Ready?

Wow… we're right in the middle of dance competition season. Our daughter is involved in four different types of dance, so it seems we are constantly running back and forth to some venue to watch her compete.

It seems like eons have passed since September when she first began this season of dance. That means for seven months she has been learning and training for these three short weeks of competition.

The amazing thing is how these dances develop over those few months. First they need to learn and master the new steps and movements and then they learn and practice the actual dance. Plus… the costumes and make-up need to be chosen and purchased to put the finishing touches together.

All that preparation… the calm before the storm… laying the foundation for what's to come…

So hang on… 'cause that is exactly what happens in your business. You start by laying the foundations… creating your blog, setting up your Facebook profile and fan page, joining Twitter and all the other relevant social media sites that are going to help you on your way to success.
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Happy New Year!

It's a New Year, and as always it is associated with new beginnings and new possibilities. What a great feeling that is! It's like starting with a clean slate or a level playing field with endless opportunities.

And of course it is the time for resolutions, plans and the setting of goals. Not only do people set personal goals, they set business goals as well. Great! It is much easier to direct a business when there's a plan or "road map" to follow.

Along with all the "usual" plans for a business…

  • What products are we going to produce and offer?
  • What pricing are we going to set on these products?
  • What's our marketing plan?
  • … an essential question to ask is "What is the focus of our business?"

    Believe it or not, there is one answer to that question that can apply to any and all businesses.

    That answer is… "To provide value to our customers."

    Business success would be much more prevalent if this simple motto was followed.

    This motto has been and will continue to be the focus of our business at TheCoolestCouple.com.

    So to all we wish a Happy and Prosperous New Year! May 2010 be all that you hope for and much, much more.

    We would also like to thank all of our friends, clients and customers for the blessing of having you touch our lives. You are all very much appreciated.

    To a Spectacular 2010!

    Pat and Lorna About the Authors

    If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed.

    Pat and Lorna Shanks deliver the "COOL" Goods and connections to "COOL" People. They provide tips, tools, education and informative sessions with knowledgeable people that enable entrepreneurs, independent professionals and small business owners to attract more clients and make more money. For more "COOL" tips, tools, knowledge and people, go to www.TheCoolestCouple.com or follow us on Twitter.

    BTW - Check out the new Facebook Like Button just below. Click on it to share with your friends.