Here goes… my first attempt at video. I thought it would be a great idea to introduce you to the seminar series I am creating for 2011 called “Creating the Business You Want”. There has been a lot of interest and many questions. We have some dates scheduled for January & February and I will have more details on what’s coming soon.
There will be one seminar before the new year in Cambridge Ontario on Monday November 29th.
As I put together content for my seminars a number of themes keep coming up.
Many Small Businesses are at a Crossroads
Technology gives us so many choices from software apps, smart phones, laptops, book readers, web tools & social media networks. We are bombarded with a constant stream of new innovations and ideas that can easily distract us from the important work of running our business.
In the last 10 years there has been a constant rise in the information we all receive; emails, text messages, tweets, phone calls, invitations to join this group or that group; it can feel stressful and overwhelming at the best of times. If you are starting a small business one important lesson; learn to minimize your distractions and focus on the projects critical for your business.
An Introduction to Creating the Business You Want
This seminar series is designed to provide a foundation for how to start your business; that is if you are new. If you have been in business for a few years, you will gain more insight on how to successfully run your business. You will learn how technology and social media can help grow your community, learn to build products better suited and packaged for your audience, define your goals; and come up with an action plan that lets you take your business to the next level.
Business Philosophies are Changing
Traditional business philosophy tells us to create a business plan, come up with a business name, develop products or services, build a website and then use a variety of methods designed to sell; advertising, newsletters, direct mail, etc. To ensure success you then need to network and sell; create a good value proposition (or sales pitch!).
Many small business owners go to networking events with the intent to make connections and often they try to sell toos soon. The problem with this is approach is there are too many companies and too many people selling. And worse… consumers have turned off from the sales pitch. They don’t want to be sold by you, or told how your product is going to change their life. Sorry but the sales approach (without a relationship) doesn’t work any more.
Here’s why.
The Great Clash of the 21st Century
Sales Driven versus Community Driven
Technology has made it easy for people to sell and reach large numbers of people. For the past 10 years spammers and call centers have made billions of dollars targeting you and I with sales pitches. For spammers their philosophy is, if I spam a million people and find just one customer then I’m successful. Relationships are not important – they just want money. Email is inexpensive and easy. Spammers take selling to the extreme.
Today, Internet Marketers do the same thing. They spam you with tweets, text messages and try to interrupt you whenever they can with their sales pitch. The problem is many of these people call themselves social media experts. Between you and me, they’re not really experts. They are just spammers (in disquise) who have found new technologies to annoy people.
75% of Businesses are NOT Using Social Media
Too much selling and not enough community building; that is the problem with social media today. It is one of the reasons why 75% of businesses are not using social media. And of the 25% who are involved, a good number of these are giving sales pitches rather than creating value or building community.
In the 20th century, sales driven companies ruled the world. Companies like Microsoft, IBM, GM and thousands of large and small businesses, built their wealth by marketing, advertising and selling. However, it’s much harder to sell today. In fact, the companies having he most influence in the 21st century are those that are community driven. Companies like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Google. These are companies who have built the framework for community. Their technologies help us to build relationships, create our own communities and establish trust and loyalty around our business, our products or services or our cause.
In my workshops I show entrepreneurs how to become community minded when they build their business. I strip social media down to the simple model of understanding relationships, tribes and communities. Then I show examples of small businesses who are using these methods successfully to attract and retain loyal customers.
My goal is to help make the technologies less confusing and guide business owners to make better decisions. During the workshop we put together a simple plan that is different for each business. Some entrepreneurs haven’t gone through the planning process and they need help getting started. Others need to focus on websites, or defining products or revenue streams. Then there is the critical tasks of building community and finding customers.
Building sales yes, but the priority is building community first.
I hope you enjoy my first video.
If you want a sneak preview into what will be offered in 2011 then be sure to register for my upcoming workshop on November 29th.
Footnote: The plan for 2011 will be to offer these workshops in a number of cities within southern Ontario. If you would like to sponsor an event in your city please email me at kevin (at) kevinboon.ca.
Alright! I will admit I am not the first person to say that passion (or loving what you do) is what is necessary to run a successful business. But it is critical. Why? Because what we say and how we express it come across via the web and through our communication and conversations. If we are not passionate about what we offer then people feel it.
An Example of Passion – Scott Stratten
If on the other hand you are passionate about your business, then people are drawn to you. Take a guy like Scott Stratten from UnMarketing. Here’s a guy who started building his speaking and consulting business back in 2008 and today has his first book published and is on a speaking and mingling tour of North America. Scott has fun, he loves connecting with people and enjoys what he does. If you haven’t heard Scott speak or read his book, check out his blog. Scott’s passion rings through.
Why are some people more passionate than others?
There can be a variety of reasons. Based on our history, I believe that passion gets sucked out of a great number of people at an early age. We are taught that in order to be successful, we have to conform to someone elses standard or opinion of life. We go to school or find a job where we feel no satisfaction. Why? To pay the bills.
Then at some stage we decide to change careers or start our own business.
Started a Business – Now What!
We come up with an idea and may put together a plan, setup a storefront or website… but something is still missing… something gets stuck… our business doesn’t take off the way we had hoped… we feel passion but somehow we can’t communicate it.
How do you find your passion?
For some people finding their passion is easy. They connect to it from an early age. They know exactly what kind of education they need and seem to land that perfect job or career. For the rest of us finding our true passion is an quest that takes time, sometimes years. It comes down to asking questions like… what do I love to do… where am I most happy… what is my purpose in life… what are my core values?
How important do you feel passion is for running your business?
On Monday I started my first Facebook Fan page (see the link) and I have been busy putting together content for my upcoming seminar at 10Carden Street in Guelph, Ontario on October 25th. Thank you to the 25 of you, who so far have given me a “Like” and supported me as I get this Facebook page going.
Businesses, Non-Profits, Politicians, Authors, Musicians and Students are all Welcome!
I want to make this page valuable for all of you and I thought it would be a great discussion form to talk about how to take your business to the next level. Now to clarify… when I say business this could mean your existing company… your non-profit organization or charity… your political campaign… or maybe you are a student or employee and want to start your own business down the road and want some education now to get the creative juices flowing. Maybe you are an author or musician looking for ways to get noticed and market yourself. The ideas here will be helpful for a wide range of people.
Over the next few weeks I plan to write a few short articles to give you a sense of my thought process as I create seminar and workshop content. I’m hoping at some stage we will be able to connect personally and where I can learn more about you, your business, what works for you and where some of these ideas may help. Also send me any feedback or suggestions on topics you would like covered.
Core Concepts
Before we start talking about the components of a successful business I wanted to first introduce some core concepts. These are ideas to get you thinking…and get creative. In the framework of our changing business climate I thought an introduction to these concepts would put into context some ways to approach your business.
Here is a listing of the core concepts. I’ll be covering each one of these areas over the next couple of weeks. There are 6 that I can think of right now. There may be more as the discussion evolves.
Here is the list of some of the core concepts I want to start with.
Passion
Time & Technology
Relationships
Tribes & Communities
Social Media
Support Systems
Components of a Successful Business
And here is what I have listed as some of the key components for running a business. Please note that my focus will not be so much on Business Operations (#9) because I feel operations is usually very specific to the business you have created and it’s not my specialty anyway. And I won’t say a word about Accounting or Bookkeeping (#10) because trust me — you don’t want me saying anything about money or how you manage your business finances. Maybe we will find some people who can talk to these topics.
I will talk however about creating your Personal Vision (#1), aligning that vision with your Business Vision & Plan (#2), elements for good Website(#3), Developing Products, Services and Revenue Streams (#4)… and the big one, Finding Customers (#5)… this one will take a while but I think you will enjoy some of the ideas. Another big area will be developing a Content Creation & Communications Strategy (#6)… and then finally I will focus on Technology, Tools and Automation (#7) and Outsourcing (#8).
Whew!! That’s a lot. But this is a discussion that I hope will unfold over the next few months or maybe years.
Here are the components listed for you.
Components of Creating the Business You Want
Your Personal Vision
Your Vision for your Business
Website
Products, Services & Revenue Streams
Finding Customers
Content Creation & Communications Strategy
Technology, Tools & Automation
Outsourcing
Business Operations
Bookkeeping & Accounting
So enjoy the next few days and I will keep you posted as we get started with the discussion.
Comments and your thoughts and ideas are always welcome.
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