Penguins & Preschoolers: A lesson for business owners

I know what you’re thinking. Connie’s lost it. What on Earth do penguins and preschoolers have to do with business? At first glance, maybe nothing. I mean preschoolers are like 4 years old and we’re…well…older and supposedly wiser.

I love to read a good blog and one of my favorites is the Mann Made Blog by Jaime Lee Mann. It amazes me how she can spin an everyday happening or event into a blog post that teaches you a life or business lesson. Seriously. She can be cooking, gardening, playing with her children or visiting a local coffee shop and she thinks of something about the situation that sparks a great blog post about business. Things we already know, but forget or choose to ignore.

Jaime’s latest entry revolves around her 4 year old preschooler bringing home a picture of a penguin she drew, or so Jaime thought. You’ll have to read the whole story over at Jaime’s blog, but the morale of the story involves copying off of someone else. Something that happens way too often in business.

I couldn’t tell you how many business owners, many have been potential clients, literally want me to copy someone else’s logo, website, marketing piece, or even web content. This is something I cannot wrap my head around because it simply isn’t something I would do. For many reasons. And the fact of the matter is, I have morals and blatant copying is just plain wrong.

Some people think imitation is the highest form of flattery, but it feels more like a slap in the face. It happened to me a couple of years ago when someone decided to not only copy my website content…word for word mind you that also included my personal bio…but this individual also decided to steal my design.

Think about how that felt. This was something that I poured my heart and soul into. I spent many hours, weeks, and months working hard to set myself apart from other business owners in my industry. Do you think I was flattered that my copy and design was so good that they wanted to copy it? Hardly. Not to mention that this person didn’t even have the decency to apologize when I contacted them to remove it immediately.

Jaime makes an excellent point and one that everyone should pay attention to. It is the same thing I preach to my own clients and they love me for it. I push them to think past their own comfort zone, to set themselves apart, to be the one that their potential clients want to work with. But Jaime said it right on target: “Market with your own personality. Be authentic. Be yourself. Make your own unique, individual mark on the world and be proud of it.”

So what are you doing to set yourself apart from your competitors?

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Anyone who knows me knows that I am extremely selective when it comes to promoting or even recommending products, services, or events. I don’t just trust anyone, and I certainly don’t promote lackluster happenings without first hand experience and knowledge. So today, I wanted to let you know about a really great opportunity that won’t cost you a dime…or even a penny for that matter.

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Self Improvement 4 will be open only for a VERY LIMITED TIME – until January 19th 2010. When you go there you’ll find a multitude of products – all FREE – provided by Self Improvement and Internet Marketing experts from all over the world. Here is just a small sample of what you will find:

Get all of these and 100’s more here: Self Improvement Gifts and the best part is that you can download all of these products TODAY. I’ve already downloaded some pretty amazing ebooks on things like WordPress, Twitter, and Internet Marketing…things that I use and work with everyday. I’m a junkie when it comes to knowledge and I like to keep up with all the latest and greatest tips and techniques. I’ve also found many other great topics that sparked an interest in me that I can’t wait to read.

The organizers of the event are Stephanie Mulac, Rodger Hyatt and Gary Simpson.

Just briefly, this is Stephanie’s 4th Self Improvement Giveaway. Stephanie started this style of event in 2006. It’s in the form of a “Giveaway” which is sort of like a giant electronic trade fair where 100’s of experts offer their products free to the public.

Because it has become so popular, this year Stephanie has enlisted the services of Rodger Hyatt, a very experienced internet marketer, and Gary Simpson who has a copyrighting and self improvement background of some 20 years.

You only have to walk into any book store in any country to see how popular the subjects of self improvement, self awareness and personal development are. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry churning out hundreds of new books, audios, CD’s and other paraphernalia every year.

These can be very expensive but at Self Improvement Gifts you can pick this information up completely FREE.

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September Signature Specials Newsletter

Fall Branding Stimulus Package

sept-promoDoes your business image need a boost? Whether you’re just starting out or have a couple of years under your belt, if you’re not happy with your overall branding or never got one to begin with, then now is the time get your game on for our Fall Branding Stimulus Package.

How do you benefit from our Fall Branding Stimulus Package? Besides getting a completely custom, made-for you, business brand from Signature Worx, you’ll get it at a super stellar and hugely discounted price. If only you could get a new personal identity for that! But we don’t offer that service so you’ll have to focus on your business for now!

We also have another special this month that comes just in time for the holidays.

View this month’s Signature Specials in it’s entirety HERE.

Freebie Friday: A Flowchart on Making Flowcharts

I’m in a humorous mood today so thought I’d post something fun…again.

Have you ever made a flowchart? Well, here is the flowchart of all flowcharts…The flowchart of should you make a flowchart. Follow it to find out!

flowchart

Click to see the full size version.

Answer the Question Please – A Lesson in Customer Service

Businesses that employ a receptionist, or any other position with similar responsibilities, where that person is the first to be connected with your customers or potential clients, I ask YOU this question: Do you train this person on phone etiquette or are you throwing caution to the wind?

questionOne of my BIGGEST pet peeves is to call a business, ask the person who answers the phone a question that results in their immediately transferring me rather than…answering the question. Let me give you an example that just happened to me, yet again for the millionth time:

Them: (answering the phone) “ABC Fictional Company, how can I help you?” [great start]

Me: “Hi! Can you tell me if Dan is in the office today?” [note, this is a question]

Them: [no response at all, I just simply get put on hold, transferred, who knows]

Next thing I know, I am now listening to Dan’s voice mail, which of course is what I wanted to avoid. You see I left a voice mail for Dan 2 days ago needing some very time sensitive information emailed to me to meet a deadline for a client. If I wanted his voice mail, I would have just asked to be transferred to Dan.

Me: [pressing "0" to get back to the operator]

Them: “Can I help you?”

Me: “Yes, I asked if Dan was in the office today and was transferred to his voice mail. Can you tell me if he is actually in the office today?”

Them: “I’m sorry, Dan is out of the office today. Would you like his voice mail?”

I’ll stop the conversation there because it didn’t get any better. The point is that I run into this ALL the time. I ask if someone is in or I’ll call to ask who I would talk to about putting my widgets ad in their publication (this is made up of course). But instead of answer the question and giving me the name and possibly direct number to the person who is responsible for widget ads, they just transfer you and you have no idea whether or not you were transferred to the correct person or not. Trust me, I’ve had people call me back and tell me they are the janitor and have nothing to do with the widget ads. [Ok, I might be exaggerating a bit as I've never had a janitor call me back]

So I ask you. Are you training and monitoring your receptionist/operator to make sure they are not irritating your clients…all the way to your competition? Believe it or not, many employers think a receptionist position is very entry level and does not require any skills other than a voice. This is the very first person anyone contacting your business connects with. And believe me first impressions are everything.

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