7 Activities That Don’t Scale but Will Win You Customers

7 Activities That Don’t Scale but Will Win You Customers written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Photo Credit:www.launchsolid.com

Starting a business is hard work and early on you will need to hustle to find your first customers. There is no need to stress right away about what marketing channels will scale because you won’t know which options work best. And even when you do find out what will scale, it’s often the activities that don’t scale that will continue to provide the best ROI.

1. Attend an Industry Conference

For example, if your business is building websites for construction companies, you need to find out the most popular conferences. A quick Google search shows these conferences would be a good bet to attend: Construction Super Conference or the International Conference on Transportation. For your first few conferences, going as an attendee is recommended so you can scope them out and determine if it makes sense for you to come back as a vendor (and possibly rent a booth). Spend time walking the aisles, and I love hanging out by the lunch area, if you sit down at the right table and strike up a good conversation you can make a critical connection.

2. Organize a Q&A with Industry Experts

Create a list of 6-10 questions and reach out to industry experts to see if they want to participate. Package up the responses in a PDF, include bios and photos and make sure to give everyone a copy. Blog about the responses and encourage participants to get the word out. Since you are appealing to the vanity of the experts, it’s very easy to drum up interest, don’t be afraid to ask!

3. Sponsor Relevant Meetup Events

Meetup events all over the world are going on and they are often just a handful of people. If you target relevant Meetup groups and offer to sponsor their next event, you will find a lot of takers. Sometimes money to buy pizza is all you need to do and the organizer will add a special offer on their Meetup page and if you’re lucky and/or persuasive they will announce it at the event.

4. Solicit Individual and Personalized Feedback on Your Product or Service

Early on it’s a struggle to get even 5 or 10 people on board as customers. When you do get the first few customers reach out to each one of them with a personal email and thank them for trying you out. Ask for pointed feedback and if you can get them to spare 10 to 15 minutes on the phone that is fantastic as they will provide helpful insight about your product.

5. Attend Local Meetings/Events

Leverage your hometown or nearest big city to attend marketing groups and meetings. Chamber of Commerce meetings or local business groups are a great place to start. It’s not that you will necessarily find your ideal customer in your backyard, but once you start talking about your new company, your networking may uncover other opportunities. In addition, the people you meet may know other people that will help propel your business forward.

6. Target Tangentially Related Companies for Joint Marketing Efforts

If you own a stock photo site, it would make sense to contact web development companies as they often need stock photos when they are creating new websites. You could create a co-branded landing page that provides a discount to the web development companies if they want to have access to a special offer on your site. You could send their special offer to your email list (and vice versa) if you want to do additional joint marketing.

7. Create Handwritten Letters as a Relationship Builder

The old school approach can win you big points. If you take time to customize handwritten letter like this example here, you have a great shot at making a beneficial introduction. Do your homework and understand what the person likes and dislikes before writing the letter and make sure to send it to their place of business.

Chad Fisher is a co-founder of Content Runner, a marketplace for connecting users and freelance writers for the creation of unique written content. Friends of Duct Tape Marketing can create a free account and receive a $30 credit to try out the writers on Content Runner, click here to learn more!

In Order to Scale You Must Be Obsessed with Delegation

In Order to Scale You Must Be Obsessed with Delegation written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

The difference between someone that thinks they are a business owner and someone that thinks they are an entrepreneur is one of mindset mostly.

A business owner looks at the work to be done and asks – how can I get all of this done? An entrepreneur looks at the same work and ponders – how can I get someone else to do all of this?

I know that may seem simplistic, and it certainly is, but if you create a business, and you do all of the work – especially if you do all the work because you currently have the time – you are bound to fall into the trap of business.

And that’s a trap that some find impossible to escape.

From the very beginning, you must understand that there are very few things in your business that it makes sense for you actually to do. Of course, that can be very hard to wrap your head around when you’re still trying to gain enough traction to call what you do a business, but it’s crucial.

In my experience people who start businesses that do something they don’t know how to get this the most because they must.

Think about it. Let’s say you are a consultant, and you see a huge opportunity to help people do something like tax planning, but you know nothing about accounting or the tax code.

You would be forced to go out and find people who could do the work, right?

Now let’s say you are a marketing consultant, and you start a marketing consulting practice. Well, by gosh you know how to write a good ad and you know just enough about SEO to have an impact and after watching a few videos you can customize a WordPress theme and guess what – you’ve created a job!

Jobs are very hard to scale and even harder to sell.

If you want to grow your business, you must become obsessed with delegating all but a few things. (Oh and delegation and abdication are not the same things – there’s a right way and a wrong way to delegate – more on that to come.)

If this idea has you intrigued, let’s take a look at how you get started.

Take inventory

The first thing you must do is take a look at all of the tasks you currently do in your business. If you’re a solopreneur, there’s a good chance this is a very long list.

The point of this exercise is to start understanding what you can and should delegate. Take a look at this list and start categorizing the work by importance.

Mandi Ellefson has a handy little Scalable Toolkit that offer some forms you can use for this exercise. She emphasizes thinking about work in the context of things like work you hate, you must do, and you can’t do.

From this list start assigning value. There’s value to the business and cost to have someone else do it. Don’t underestimate the output of someone far better at something than you either. I have a bookkeeping VA that charges $65/hr. That may seem high to some, but I hate this kind of work so much that it takes me far longer to do it than someone who strangely love this work. The output vs. cost is significant.

Chris Ducker has a great list that might help you get started – 101 Tasks You Can Outsource to Virtual Staff

Own fewer things

Now that you’ve made your list and hopefully a commitment to outsource and delegate it’s time to figure what you can’t delegate.

Even if you put together a killer internal team, there are a few things that CEOs/Business Owner simply can’t delegate. (How you approach them might change, but you’ll always own them so why not start doing just that right now!)

• Vision – you must have an idea of where you are going and why you are going there and what difference you going there is going to make in the lives of your customers, staff, and community. You can’t ever delegate this, but many never go here in the first place.
• Culture – the core beliefs, operating standards, and core story are something you have to continue to nurture, uphold and teach no matter how large your staff grows. Eventually, this is lead by example, but it must be intentional.
• Client Relationships – You may have project managers (I hope you do), but how your clients feel about your business, understand the results they gain by working with you and grow to appreciate what your business means in their life is something of great value to your business and must be guarded and practiced.
• Rainmaking – So this one is a little tricky. At first you will be the rainmaker, the person who brings in the big contracts, constructs the sales playbook and monitors feedback throughout the sales process. But, at some point, if your business depends on you for this, you’re stuck – you have to build a sales system that others can easily operate before you can become totally free.
• Money Management – I already mentioned that I don’t like bookkeeping, so I delegate every element of it. I have an accountant for tax preparation as well. I even work with a coach who is focused on the growth metrics inside my business, but I insist on staying on top of key performance indicators and managing the money inside the business.

Focus on high payoff

Once you understand the things you must own, it’s time to start creating priorities and managing your days, weeks, months and quarters based on doing more of these high payoff activities.

At first this may well include spending a great deal of time documenting how the work is done and recruiting, hiring and training internal and external team members to take over more and more of the work.

Perhaps then you can free up more time to go sell more work and start to create processes that allow you to train others to sell more work.

Then, maybe, just maybe you’ll find a day or two here and there where you can lock yourself away and come up with a new product or service innovation that allows you to step into and conquer an entirely new market.

And soon enough you’ll find yourself in your lab designing marketing experiments aimed and tackling new channels and entirely new ways to generate clients.

That my friends is how scale happens.

Sure, there are two hundred and seventy-three million steps in between, but it starts with this mindset – how can get someone else to do everything that needs to be done.

The best Tips And Tricks About Auto Repair

The best Tips And Tricks About Auto Repair

When an individual requires auto repair services, they might be frightened. The more you find out about auto repair work, the much easier it is to make sure that your car gets the treatment it is worthy of. Keep reading to find out useful pointers on ways to protect quality repair services so your car is running once more as great as brand-new.

If you discover your windshield wiper blades are not eliminating all the water from your windshield when it rains, you might need to get new blades. Throw out the old blades and buy brand-new ones from an auto supply shop.

Safeguard your car from water damage. Keep your car on the greater ground if you live in a location that’s quickly flooded. Do not begin your car if it’s been exposed to floodwaters.

When you require an auto repair service, search making sure that you get the very best offer. Go to a minimum of 3 various service center to obtain a quote. If any individual charges something that is unrealistically low or high, you need to look for somebody else to do the task.

Oil Change Tomball Texas

Ensure the oil in your automobile is altered about every 3,000 miles. Waiting longer for an oil modification can lead to dirt and particles fouling your oil which can harm your engine. If you make use of artificial oil in your automobile, you just have to alter the filter every other oil modification.

You want somebody who is educated about your make and model of car to be working on it. While you may get by having a good friend do your oil change in exchange for supper, anything more complex is much better left to an expert.

Make sure that your oil is altered with uniformity. If you want your car to run fantastic for a very long time, the oil has to be altered regularly. In the long run, omitting this crucial step might cost you countless dollars, and it might lead your automobile to sudden death.

Turn your car tires every 6,000 miles or at every other oil modification. Turning your tires on a set schedule assists guarantee that they use uniformly, and therefore last longer. Your car will likewise be simpler to drive, as out-of-balance tires can cause the car to pull to one side or the other.

All Out Performance Diesel and South Texas Transmission

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Spring, TX. 77388

(936)273-3977

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Ready for a Long Life, Having Years to Have a Partner and Build a Successful Intimate Relationship?

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All indications are that life expectancy becomes longer and longer. It means that if you are a baby boomer you may still have years to live. Are you one of those believing that in order to be happy you need to have a partner with whom to build a successful intimate relationship? And if so, do you know how to do just that?

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The post Ready for a Long Life, Having Years to Have a Partner and Build a Successful Intimate Relationship? appeared first on Instant Infatuation Formula.

Jeet Kune Do Philippines

Real Jeet Kune Do in the Philippines

​Combatives is the U.S. Military’s term for hand-to-hand combat training and techniques, Sometimes called Close Quarters Combat (CQC or close combat). Jeet Kune Do is the scientific street fighting system of Bruce Lee. Combined together Jeet Kune Do Combatives and Modern Arnis Mano-Mano Combative is the best of JKD, Arnis and Military style Hand to Hand Combat and Street Fighting. For the weapons of JKD Combatives we have also included the deadliest stick and knife strikes, counters and defenses for the street.

​Jeet Kune Do Combatives is an organization set up to promote, teach and certify instructors in JKD Combatives (TM) and Arnis Combatives ( TM) and Hand to Hand Combat. There is no room for fancy moves, just hard core street self defense. Jeet Kune Do serves at the core training based on JKD Footwork, Punching and Hand Techniques, Trapping, Kicking. JKD is the core of our program. Arnis Stick and Knife, Arnis Mano Mano for our weapons training. Hand to Hand Combat from Krav Maga, Combat Kempo, JuJitsu, Kyusho Jitsu ( Pressure Points) and Silat techniques are part of our training as long as they work within the flow of Jeet Kune Do and Arnis from the Philippines. Jeet Kune Do Philippines

“Sifu John Thompson is one of the rare individuals that I’ve seen and trained with who can actually do Jeet Kune Do and make it work. He has produced some of the toughest Black Belts I have ever seen in my 30 plus years in martial arts!” – W. Hock Hochheim – Founder/ Grandmaster Scientific Fighting Congress
http://www.jkdcombatives.com

Transmission Repair in Tomball Tx

Transmission Repair in Tomball Tx


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All-Pro Transmission & Total Car Care, the Tomball Transmission Repair Specialist  is a locally owned and operated full-servicetransmission and drive-line repair specialist. Our highly trained technicians use state-of-the-art diagnostic and repair equipment to make sure each and every car we service is diagnosed correctly, and repaired to meet, and in many cases, exceed OEM specifications.

What this means to you is that when you visit All-Pro Transmission & Total Car Care, you can be sure that your car will be properly diagnosed and repaired right- the first time. We will only repair what needs to be repaired, and we will make sure that when we return your vehicle to you, we will have exceeded your expectations in terms of quality, value, and customer service. Visit us or call us at Tomball Transmission Repair Shop – All Pro Transmission Repair Tomball, Tx the only auto repair shop you will ever need. Call today 281-205-7373.

Jeet Kune Do Philippines - Philippines Jeet Kune Do

Jeet Kune Do Philippines