This week we are sharing a post by John Rampton that was published by Entrepreneur.com. It’s one of our favorite topics – great marketing books and there are some top-notch recommendations on this page. Please check it out. If you’ve been nice this year there are still a few days left to include some of these titles on your Christmas list…
Here’s the article. Happy reading!
Did you ever have something happen – a coincidence that is so unlikely that it seems to be a sign that you’re on the right track with whatever it is that you’ve been doing? Today I had an experience just like that.
I was on a monthly mastermind call with some women I had met at a workshop two years ago. I was telling them the story about how I was recently at a friend’s birthday party and another friend was reading everybody’s “Angel Cards.”
“These cards are intended to give you guidance,” she explained as all the members of the birthday party picked out their cards. I was sure mine would be something to do with abundance, business growth or something along those lines but instead I got “Play”.
As I was explaining that while I had initially been disappointed by the “Play” card, it actually was the perfect card for me, Michelle asked if we remembered the words of encouragement we had written on blank cards at the workshop. After we wrote them they were randomly distributed amongst the attendees.
I had forgotten all about those cards, but Michelle had actually pinned hers right above her desk. She told our group, “I look at my card every day. I love it so much and it’s really a message that’s perfect for me. I’ve shown it to so many people who have told me they were jealous they didn’t get this card.”
“What does the card look like?” I asked. “I can’t find mine.”
Michelle snapped a picture and texted it to me. I couldn’t believe it.
“Oh, my God. You got my card!”
Of the hundreds of people at the workshop somehow Michelle had picked the card I wrote and she had just shared what an influence this card had had on her. That was incredible enough, but then I re-read the message and one word particularly stood out to me: the word PLAY.
Here is the message I inadvertently wrote to Michelle, which just goes to show, you never know how you’re going to positively affect someone, or who you’re going to help (hint: it could even be yourself):
I love you for your beauty, kindness and killer sense of humor. Your wit, wisdom and courage is a shining beacon to everyone who crosses your path. I know you’re right on the cusp of creating the company you’ve always dreamed of.
P.S. Remember to go out and PLAY!
Elin Barton is the President of White Knight Productions and the host of the podcast, Ready, Set, Grit. Her first book, Ready, Set, Grit: A Three-Step Formula for Turning Your Daydream Into a Phenomenal Success, will be released early 2018. To find out more about how you can use video as a smart tool to grow your business visit our website.
Have you ever fired a client? If you’re new to business you might think that this would be a crazy thing to do, but ask some more seasoned business owners and almost everyone has a story about how they had to cut a high-maintenance client loose.
The other day I was talking with some fellow business owners and one of the group shared that she had done exactly that. This woman had done some real soul-searching, which resulted in her restructuring her business and letting 30% of the clients go. At first those of us in the conversation were all kind of surprised by this woman’s audacity in firing all of those clients, but then she reminded us of the 80/20 rule. In her case, 80% of her profits were coming from 20% of her clients, so letting the less profitable ones go actually significantly increased her profitability – that all important bottom line.
And here is the part of the story that is really interesting. When this person fired all of those clients her business revenue – her top line numbers – took a nosedive. Some of the clients she was releasing were really very large accounts. But despite the temporary reduction in revenues what she found was that, at the end of the day, her profitability was up more than 50%!
“I think one of the hardest parts about this restructuring,” she shared, “had to do with my own ego. Everyone likes to say that they have a company of a certain size or X-million-dollars in revenue, but if you’re not all that profitable then it really doesn’t matter.”
Another friend of mine ended up letting her largest client – Walmart – go, after experiencing years of intense pricing pressure and many “logistical hoops” from the behemoth organization.
I know that making that decision wasn’t easy for this friend, but although her overall volume is down, she too has experienced increased profitability and – also importantly – she also seems a lot less stressed these days, too.
When considering the smartest way to grow your business, there really is a lot more to look at than just sales volume. It’s about not only knowing your numbers but also about knowing which of those numbers really matter the most to get you to the fastest -and smartest- growth.
Elin Barton is the President of White Knight Productions and the host of the podcast, Ready, Set, Grit. Her first book, Ready, Set, Grit: A Three-Step Formula for Turning Your Daydream Into a Phenomenal Success, will be released early 2018. To find out more about how you can use video as a smart tool to grow your business visit our website.
The Balance: Business, Marketing and Life 