One of the most important things any business owner can do right now is to keep their head up, remain optimistic, and keep pushing towards their goals.  As I’ve said again and again on this blog, the news media wants us all to believe things are headed for Hell in a handbasket.

Yes, the financial picture is pretty bleak and yes, people are losing their jobs and yes, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to grow your business.

BUT, that doesn’t mean it’s time to throw in the towel.

When times get tough, it means you’ve got to get tougher.  You’ve got to identify those areas where you can control the outcome and focus on those things.  Not everyone’s going to purchase your services.  Not everyone’s going to pay your prices.  However, there are still people out there that WILL purchase your services and WILL gladly pay the prices you’re charging.  It’s your job to go find them!

Do you ever get discouraged with your business or job?  Do you ever feel like you’re the only fighting an uphill battle?  Do you wonder what other businesses are doing to be successful?  How do other business owners overcome the challenges they face on a daily/weekly/monthly basis?

Well, these are all GREAT questions and I’m sure you’re not the only one that’s ever asked them.  In fact, I’d be willing to be there are a LOT of other business owners asking the very same questions.  I know I sure do!

So, where do you find the answers to these questions?  Where do you find the support you need to truly take your business to the next level and beyond?

I can tell you it sure isn’t staying right where you are or associating with the people you normally hang out with on the weekends.  Well, maybe it is, but chances are you’re not always around like-minded people that are thinkers, doers, and go-getters.

However, it’s EXTREMELY important that you surround yourself, even if it’s only on occassion, with people that are thinkers and doers.  People that you can bounce ideas off of, get support from through the challenging times, or just feel like you’re not alone in this scary world of ‘business’.

I raise these questions to you because I spent all of this morning  and most of this afternoon in what’s called a Mastermind meeting.

What’s a ‘Mastermind’ you ask?  Well, it can be many things really, but in this case it’s a group of local business owners here in the Charlotte area that get together at least once a month to talk business ideas and strategies.  We all come from different industries and businesses which makes for a VERY interesting time, especially when it comes to discussing the challenges and issues we face.

However, it’s a good interesting because I LOVE hearing suggestions or commentary from people outside my business.  It gives me a different perspective and way to look at the problems and challenges I face every day.

Another benefit is that I get to associate myself with other successful people that are trying to push and stretch their way to new growth, just like I am.  Napoleon Hill said,

“Men take on the nature and habits and power of thought of those with whom they associate most closely…”

Well, let me say this.  If I can take on the collective nature, habits, and power of though of the guys I get to mastermind with, I’m excited about the fantastic things I’ll be able to accomplish in my business.

So, let me ask you this?  Who are you associating with?  Who are you ‘masterminding’ with?  Are they the kind of people that can help you achieve your personal and professional objectives?  Will they provide you with a solid sounding board upon which to grow and stretch your capacities?

I challenge you to seek out your own mastermind group so that you too can benefit from the power of the collective wisdom!

In yesterday’s post I gave you a list of 10 different ways you can beat the question of price.  I’d like to elaborate just a bit on that again today.

Of all the ways you can beat price, the one that stands head and should above the rest is positioning.  In other words, you need to position yourself as much more than just a ‘lawn care guy’.  You need to become the lawn care or landscape EXPERT and you need to provide a service so valuable that anyone would be foolish to hire anybody but you.

So, how to you position yourself in this way?  Here are a few suggestions:

• Become the recognized expert in your marketplace by writing articles for the local paper, giving interviews to local TV and radio, offering seminars at the local home improvement store, etc.
• Make it difficult to get on your schedule.  With this one, there are two ways to do it.  The first is perceived business, which basically means when somebody calls demanding your service RIGHT NOW, you tell them you’ll have to see if you can squeeze them in.  The second way is to just become so busy that you really do have to try and squeeze them in.  You do this through relentless, effective marketing.
• Provide such a quality service that everybody’s talking about you.  Remember, customer service these days is pretty much dead, so anything you can do to go above and beyond what your customers and/or prospects expect will help set you apart and position you as the ‘go to guy’.

So, as you work to build your business, remember that price is the LAST thing you want to compete on.  Find others ways to differentiate your business and you’ll soon find yourself the top dog in your chosen marketplace.

I’m sitting in a Panera Bread in Orlando, FL right now writing this post, and even though that may not sound like a big deal, it is to me.  You see, if you didn’t already know this, I live in Rock Hill, SC which is a quiet little suburb of Charlotte, NC.

I’m in Orlando today because I was meeting with a prospect I’ve been trying to get some business from for quite some time.  Now, the big deal really isn’t the fact that I’m in Orlando.  The big deal is how I got here.

You see, I woke up this morning at 2:30am, in Rock Hill, SC, to hit the road for a 12pm meeting with this prospect, in Orlando, FL.

That’s right, I didn’t fly.  I drove. All 8+ hours of it and just so I could sit with a prospect for no more than 2 hours and talk about MAYBE doing business together.

Now, I know it sounds like a totally crazy idea, but in my mind it was something I absolutely HAD to do.  See, I’ve been working on building a relationship with this gentleman for quite some time now so I knew he was qualified.  And he’s a bit scatter brained and ADD so if I wanted his undivided attention I knew I had to be sitting in front of him face to face.

No problem, right?  Not so.  He’s on the road about 200+ days a year so getting in front of him is no small feat.  When he told me he’d be in Orlando, FL today and would have a few hours to sit and chat I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.

So, what are the marketing lessons to learn from this?

First, know that I very carefully qualified this potential opportunity.  I knew he’d absolutely be a good candidate for my services, plus he has the potential to be a very big add for my business  so I was willing to take steps I wouldn’t take with most prospects.

Second, something you just have to do in person.  As much as I talk about creating marketing systems for generating leads, screening and converting those leads, and then maximizing your customer relationships, absolutely NOTHING beats sitting face to face with your prospect.  You just can’t get the same level of communication via email, direct mail, or the telephone you can when you sit down together.

And third, be willing to do big things to land the big fish.  Sure I drove 8 hours to get here and am getting ready to turn around and drive another 8 to get home, but with the way the meeting went, it will be 16 hours VERY WELL spent.

Oh yeah, and why did I drive instead of fly?  Because it was a last minute meeting (I found out about it on Wednesday) and I couldn’t really stomach paying over $700 for an airline ticket when it’ll end up costing me less than $100 in food and gas.  Heh, maybe when I’ve got Donald Trump type money it won’t be that big of a deal. 

I had a meeting with an associate today and he asked me to review one of his marketing pieces.  And true to form, like almost 99% of all small businesses, the piece was a menu-board style marketing piece.  It had their company name up top, a few words about what they did, and then it listed the services they offered.  Unfortunately, it was pretty blah.

Now, if you know me, then you know how much I had branding style or menu-board style marketing, mostly because it’s a HUGE waste of money.  Sure, you’ll get some business as a result of it, but only a very small percentage of what you could if you used true direct response style marketing.

In fact, even if you only changed one small thing about the piece and added some type of low risk offer, you’d increase the response 10 fold.  You see, people are lazy and even though they may have a need for the products or services you’re offering, unless you give them a reason to pull their lazy behinds off the couch, they won’t act.

So, in EVERY PIECE of marketing you put out, be sure to include some type of low risk offer that will motivate them to pick up the phone and call RIGHT NOW!

One of the keys to building a successful business is understanding the principle of taking your customers off the market FOREVER.  Basically, as soon as you land a new customer, you don’t ever want them to have to look around for another service provider for the various services you provide, ever again.

For example, if you simply provide mowing and edging services, you want to make sure your customers NEVER look for anyone else to provide the mowing and edging.

However, the smart business owner will ask their new customer what other services their interested in, fertilization and installing an irrigation system perhaps, and then find a way to offer those services as well.  Either offer them yourself or partner with another service provider that offers those services.

And even beyond that, there are MANY services your customers could potentially be interested in that you might want to consider offering.  Things such as:

• Landscape design
• Landscape installation
• Pest control - lawn and house
• Pet cleanup service
• Gutter cleaning
• Hanging holiday lights or decorations
• Power washing
• Interior cleaning service
• House sitting
• Pet sitting
• Dog walking
• Plumbing
• Electrician

As you can see, there are MANY MANY possibilities.  Some make sense as an add on for your business, while others simply don’t.

The key however, is finding out what additional services your customers are interested in and figuring out a way to offer it to them.  In today’s tough economic times, the more opportunities you have to provide service for your customers, the better off your business will be!