In fact, on a photo set, I often have compliments on my hair from the stylists. But I have a secret.

I go to any hair cutting place with a coupon. I hate spending much more than $10 on a haircut.

And I don’t think I’ve had any more than 1 or 2 bad haircuts along the way. Knock on wood.

Today as I waited in the front area of the Great Clips I went to with my $2 coupon, I observed some things that every business owner needs to hear and understand.

1. Waiting Areas: The place I go to has a slogan of “walk right in, sit right down”. I guess that has two possible meanings, “there’s no wait” or “there is a wait (that requires a seat)”. I guess they have themselves covered! Outside this location, they had a sign that said “Low wait times” but inside, the waiting area was full (as well as all the stylists’ areas). One child was upset that they didn’t have any toys for boys (and the girl’s toys were weak at that!), adults were seemingly bored, and we could hear the personal conversations from the stylists. In most businesses, sadly we have to make people wait: be sure to manage their time, better to overestimate and deliver early.And, make it enjoyable. All this hair place needed was a TV set, entertaining music, or a better selection of books/magazines. Realize your client doesn’t want to wait — consider them and what would make them happier as they wait.
2. The right tools: While my hair was being cut, all the stylists were talking about their broken hair vacuum. My stylist explained that it took twice as long to sweep the hair and pick it up rather than their shopvac system that collected the cut hair easily. They said that the business owner probably wouldn’t replace it. I’m sure they haven’t explained what it does to the business: it takes additional time when they could be making more money and, because they all hate sweeping, the floors had quite a bit of hair cluttering the floor. Ick. In businesses we need to make sure our employees have the right tools to do their jobs well — and profitably!
3. Use Coupons Wisely: When I handed my coupon to the stylist as she rang me up, she looked at me with “that look”. Then she said, “I wish you would have given that to me before I rang you up. I can’t add it to your order now”. She handed it back to me and told me to use it next time. I explained that it expires next week (and I won’t need another cut next week, I hope!). She shrugged and said, “Oh well”. Needless to say, she didn’t get a big tip. In business, consider (in light of the new “value” economy) coupons, be sure to make it easy on the customer and make sure that your employees understand why couponing is important: bringing customers to you (over your competition) and rewarding your current clientele with a bonus. Make sure your customers are happy using them, or it’s not worth it ever!

Well, I got a good haircut but I left feeling like I paid too much. Not what I usually feel, so I’ll probably go back. Unless I get a coupon for another place in the next 3 weeks.

One you never want to hear. It was the office saying that the Police needed to talk with us. No other information.

My heart leaped as we hastily said goodbye to our visitors. A quick call to the police left us breathless. They had discovered our passports, immigration papers, business contracts and some unused visas with our names on them. Next to our demolished safe, in the middle of a street in the north end of town.

We raced to our home, where police and crime scene investigators walked us through our home that had been ransacked. Clothes scattered over our floors, drawers emptied, closets strewn everywhere. Electronics, jewelry and cash missing.

Through this ordeal, being interviewed by the police, discovering patterns from others in our position, and observing the aftermath, I discovered some interesting things about robberies.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Robbers rarely go to the kitchen or dining room. Want a good place to hide your valuables? Next to the canned goods is a great place. The Police told us that the only time a robber enters that area is to grab a snack from the fridge.
2. The path seems to be similar. Break the door down, head for the Master Bedroom, check other rooms quickly, then if there’s time, check the TV room for electronics. Our robber had time to check all our bedrooms and the TV room. We’re so lucky.
3. Top Drawers. In some of the rooms, our robber only looked in the top drawers. The Police said that most valuables are stored there. Ours aren’t there any more. They also looked in almost every “box” on top of the dressers.
4. Firearms. They’re often looking for guns. They look under mattresses and under beds. We’re Canadian, therefore, he was disappointed. If you keep one loaded in your room, remember that it becomes a weapon of offense in the wrong hands.
5. Security Systems. The Police told us that the only deterrent for robbers is a very loud siren alarm that a robber thinks others will hear. They work so fast (4-5 minutes to sweep a house) that a “call the police” alarm is often wasted.
6. Smooth surfaces. Every robber goes for jewelry boxes. In order for the CSI to get a good fingerprint, they need smooth surfaces. Make sure if you keep your valuables in anything, be sure that it’s smooth. The police got several good prints in our home.
7. Pray. Like we are. That our robbers get caught. The police said that most robbers seem to be very smart in the planning (sometimes staking out the area for days; unscrewing security lights, etc.) but they’re “quite stupid” in getting caught since 99% do.

We now have it all turned over God and to the police. We’re assembling our final list of stolen items (this is harder than we thought since it’s hard to remember what’s in every room, every box, every drawer). Pray with us. We want to feel safe again. And that our robbers are put away for a long time.

3 Obstacles.

Money. The tickets to the games can easily run well over $1000. Each! Then to fly there as a family would cost a couple thousand dollars. Not to mention the price or availability of rooms. At this time in our lives, we don’t have that kind of money.

A Wedding. My nephew chose the one weekend that the opening of the Canadian Winter Olympics launches. So we’re on our way (driving) to Indianapolis to celebrate with my brother’s family. Family is easily more important than the Olympics.

Distance. Most people realize the distance across the United States. It’s a long way from New York to Los Angeles. It takes a long time to fly it, let alone drive it. But if you look at an accurate map, you’ll notice that the shape of the US starts slightly “pinched in” at the bottom and swells outward as its sides go north. Then Canada (which is attached to the top) continues the West/East expansion. I’m from eastern Canada and for us to travel from the east to the west, it’s almost 60% farther than the New York to Los Angeles trip.

So. Do you think your potential audience has the desire to come to your business?

Have you considered the obstacles?

No matter how much I wanted to go to the Olympics this year, it’s just not possible because of the obstacles.

Here are some potential obstacles that you’ll need to overcome for your customer:

Money. Don’t have one price structure. Always have a multi-tiered pricing strategy. A low-cost solution that will welcome those with a small budget, and have the higher-priced option for those who want the luxury package. I know I’ve been to a steakhouse and I’d be willing to pay quite a bit for a REALLY good steak, but they didn’t offer the highest quality steak. They didn’t get the money from me that they could have.

Previous Commitments. Make sure you consider what your audience is doing (outside of coming to your business). Are your hours convenient? Home Improvement stores need to be open before the early morning crews go to the job site; but have to also be open the weekends and evenings for the homeowner do-it-yourselfer.

Distance. Where’s your audience coming from? Can you deliver to them? (remember that when the delivery cost appears to be nothing, it’ll help the sale) Can they purchase on your website? Download it directly from your URL? It’s easier than you’d think — and it’ll expand where you can reach your audience; and the greater the area, the greater the audience.

Your product development and what you can deliver is important, but be sure to overcome the obstacles. Or you’ll end up with potential customers like us. We’ll be watching the Olympics from a hotel room in Indy. Welcome to Canada!

Ah, football. But this “big game” day has some interesting facts:

• Usually one of the largest American sports TV audiences
• 2nd biggest eating day next to Thanksgiving
• Most expensive advertising evening of the year ($3M average ad this year)
• The big championship game was named after a kids’ toy called the “SuperBall”.
• Superbowl was only a temporary name; the originator thought a better name could be found.
• There was no SuperBowl before SuperBowl IV. They were called Championship Games.
• 92% of households in America tune in some time during the game.
• The broadcast is passed around the main networks – except ABC doesn’t broadcast them any more.
• SuperBowl became the sole legal trademark to the NFL in 1985
• You can’t have a party with the SuperBowl broadcast on a screen larger than 55″. (Unless you regularly broadcast sports)
• There has never been a SuperBowl scoreless at halftime.

The NFL knew they had something with their “superbowl” — and now they protect it. With a passion! In fact they tried to trademark the name “the big game” three years ago, but failed.

As a business owner, come up with a concept, develop it and if necessary trademark it. It’ll pay off for you — just like it has for the NFL. I hope you enjoy the game!

We moved to the Carolinas almost 10 years ago from Canada, the land of wilderness, trees, fisheries and snow. When we moved south, we gave away our snowsuits, shovels and winter boots. We were done with it. We moved to the land of sun!

Then, about 2 months after we moved here, we got a bunch of snow. Just like we did this weekend. About 10 inches to be exact.

But unlike Canada, this amount of snow shuts the place down. TV news programming forgets about all other news to scare us with the fact it’s going to snow. Then when it finally does, they forget the news again to talk about the horrible snow. Grocery store shelves are empty as people frantically clean them out (just in case of “something” I guess). Church was canceled today and school is canceled tomorrow (2 full days after the storm). A state of Emergency was called by the Governor. It’s crazy.

Snow got great “word of mouth” advertising this past week. Wouldn’t it be great if your business could? Here’s what your business could learn from our snow day!

1. Be different. We don’t get a lot of snow (although we get too much for my liking!). Try to decide what everyone is “used to” and be different. No one will talk about you if you’re the same old, same old.
2. Comparison get’s reaction. Everyone talks about how much snow we got compared to the usual or the last storm. This helps exaggerate the small amount and creates great buzz. Consider what you can compare your services or products to, in order to generate some shock and awe.
3. Involve media. It’s hard to get your business to preempt the news, right!? Well think differently about media. Think social media. With the right buzz and message, you can control facebook and twitter for a short time. But you can’t, unless you have “followers” or “friends”. How do you get them? Get an account and be friendly and informative. Then when the right time occurs, you can launch a product message. Just don’t overdue it, or you’ll lose the people that follow you.
4. Negatives need to point to Positives. When you hear about stores shutting down during our storm, you wonder, how on earth does that help business?! But then you see or hear ads that state that they’re open and delivering to those who can’t make it out on the slippery streets. Or you see one of the weather people broadcasting from the streets; and she thanks a fast food restaurant for bringing her food. Start listing the negatives about your business — then consider how you can turn them into positives.

Well, hopefully people will be careful as our snow slowly melts away. And I hope you’ll be careful to always find a reason to talk about your business. It’s key to your success. Learn from the snow that fell in NC!

I’m organizing and building a room in our basement, so I need to dwindle the clutter down. I opened box after box and realized that many things that I thought I needed to keep were worthless this time through. I ended up throwing a lot of it away. This actually made me as happy as my wife who has moved the boxes around more times than I have.

Then I opened a box I hadn’t had open for about a dozen years. It had memories of my Mother who passed away in the early 90’s from lung cancer. I miss her a lot. She was my musical mentor and my biggest encourager.

As I flipped through the pages, photos and albums, I remembered something about my mother that I’d forgotten. However, now, I do what my Mother was famous for.

I create lists.

As I thumbed through notebook after notebook, I found what was important to my Mom each day. Most of the pages were dated. There were shopping lists, things to do, symptoms of her worsening illness.

Everyday I write things that need to be done. Important people to call and things that have to be accomplished. Then I have thick journals that I keep track of long-term “things to do”. I’ve filled several books in my career; and they sit on my shelf behind my desk.

It seems so 80’s compared to the digital clutter in my pocket and on my desk. But it works.

Someday I’ll switch entirely to a computer list, but for now, I’m keeping my handwritten scrawls. My Mother would be so proud.

What are all consumers looking for in a business website?

Relevant content.

That means that the information on your website must have at least the appearance of being up-to-date, accurate and informative.

Let’s not skip that first point. Up-to-date.

That means that you need to have an easy way to create new content, update old or aging materials and keep your site current.

Every year in January and February, I’m amazed at how I go to so many websites and they haven’t even changed the date in their copyright. Crazy!

Want to take the first step in making your web traffic feel comfortable? Then change your copyright information. Now! If you don’t have an easy way to do that, consider getting us to do it for you. Then we can show you how we can convert your website so you can easily change your information. It IS 2010. There are many options available to you! Contact us today!

OK, the first 2 or 3 are always on my list, fortunately I don’t have to deal with smoking issues.

What can this teach us as business owners? It means that “ads” or “sales messages” need to reach us where we are.

So what’s going on right now that you can get in on? Well, it depends on your product.

• Consider the season of year. It’s winter, or spring, or.. ok, you get the drift.
• Consider the celebration or transition going on it the lives of your audience. Maybe it Valentine’s Day or it’s spring or summer when a lot of moving is going on.
• Try to link your product’s benefits to one of these things. Start by listing all your benefits; perhaps you can tie something to “love” or entering a new home.
• Create a calendar of these benefits so you have a yearlong strategy. This is half the battle!

Important! If you meet a benefit with a perceived need of your audience, you’ll make more sales if the perceived value is reasonable. Go ahead and try it! And wish me luck on eating better…

I want this year to be amazing! I’m tired of what we went through last year (and before) and it’s time for expansion!

Resolutions are crazy things. They start with self-reflection, make us look into the future, but sadly often end with defeat.

Want to have a resolution you can actually succeed at? It’s simple:

Look at what you did well last year. Aim to do a bit better this year. It’s that simple.

Have you ever noticed that we often want huge transformations? The Before and After pictures from the Biggest Loser; or in the back of a fitness magazine. Perhaps you dream that your business would be huge and profitable.

Instead of thinking of what you don’t have or don’t do well, start with what you do good and do it better. Incrementally.

Then want to guarantee accomplishing it?

1. Write it down.
2. Word it in the present tense. Claim it as your own.
3. Have regular check-ups. See how you’re doing along the way. Are you moving toward the goal or away?
4. Accountability. Get your friends or co-workers involved. Give them the license to hold you to the task.

It’s that simple. Just get started! It’s going to be a great year. Happy New Year!

Then you need to work on your “word-of-mouth” strategies.

We often are told by business owners that they don’t want to do a formal advertising campaign, but instead they think their revenues only come from (free) word of mouth.

OK, let’s be real. You need to have a brand properly developed (logo, color/font palette and positioning), then you need “word of mouth” to work in conjunction with your advertising and/or direct mail strategy.

But how do you increase word of mouth referrals? Here’s 3 ways:

1. Facebook/Twitter: get accounts and start talking. Not overtly like an ad, but be open and authentic. Share with your friends why you love your products. Start giving some away and creating fans.
2. Demos: choose an active place that has your target audience — call and ask someone in charge of that place, if they mind you coming and giving away some of your product. Take the time to feature your benefits.
3. YouTube: This is often overlooked. Make simple videos featuring the benefits of your product. Make sure they’re properly tagged with good keywords. Then start communicating that the videos exist by posting links on blogs, social networks, etc. And watch the fun begin!

Be sure to always talk benefits — and if they’re really compelling — you’ll increase revenues almost instantly. Good Luck!