A trap many big companies fall into is losing touch with their customers.  Many executives never talk to customers directly, only learning through statistics and demographics.  As a result, they often make decisions to treat their customers like numbers, not human beings.  Customers dread calling into these sorts of companies, like AOL.

Small businesses have the advantage that the owners and decision-makers are often forced to be on the front lines dealing with customers.  This helps in gaining a deep understanding of what customers want.  In fact, I often prefer buying from small businesses because they usually have a more personal touch.  Ironically, as the business prospers, the folks in charge often throw away this connection with customers by hiring poorly-paid customer service people.

It doesn’t have to be like this.  Some big companies, like Nordstrom, are famous for their customer service.  The key is growing your company intelligently.

Make sure all the decision makers in your company spend at least some time keeping in touch directly with customers by doing customer service, taking orders, or making some calls.  This will help them understand how your offerings can be improved.  They’ll get to hear problems and suggestions right from the customers.  Or if customers are confused, they can think about how to tweak the product or information to clarify.  It’s also an incredible motivational boost when they know exactly whom their work will help.

It may be humbling, and you might hear some complaints that they don’t have time for it, but you can’t afford to let the business be run by people who don’t know your customers inside out.

If you’ve ever sat at your office feeling too tired to get anything done, this article is for you.

When you’re working on creative tasks, people often lack the energy they need to be effective more than the time.  We all have those times when we’re feeling lackluster and those times where we’re ready to kick butt; I know I can be ten times more productive when I’m hyped than when I feel a little drowsy.  If you have the flexibility of choosing when you want to work, you should think about taking advantage of these energy cycles.

For example, I’m not a morning person.  I’m usually most energetic in the mid-afternoon.  I generally try to set up my day to take advantage of this.  In the morning, I’ll take care of easier tasks like writing emails or running errands.  Then when I’m at my most productive, in the mid-afternoon, I’ll set aside a block of time to work on problems that take more concentration.  This is a lot easier if you’ve been able to organize things so that you can choose when you want to work.

Planning your work around your energy is one thing, but there are also things you you can do to increase your energy levels.  Many people rely on caffeine to wake them up.  I find this helps me in doing repetitive tasks, but it makes it harder for me to think creatively.  Doing some exercise is a great way to get the blood flowing through the body and brain.  Eating a light, nutritious lunch is also great.  See what works for you by experimenting.

We’re an odd group.  A collection of small business people, non-profit volunteers, and motivated employees going beyond the call of duty.  We’re scattered all around the world, young and old.  Most of us have never met, maybe only shared a few words by email.  And yet, we share the bond of all being sculptors of change.  We aren’t content to take the easy route and just settle into our place in the world.  We pose one burning question: Can we overcome all the obstacles and hardships that will block our way towards carving out the change we need?

To our friends who bravely work on rebuilding Afghanistan while fighting still rages on:  yes we can.

To the quiet but resolute young lady who abandoned her safety net to write a novel and seek out how to have a greater impact:  yes we can.

To all the entrepreneurs whose loved ones accuse them, “You’re crazy.  You can’t make a living doing this.”  Tell them:  yes we can.

To the multi-talented dreamer who won’t let the mounting chains of debt stop him from finding the path towards change:  yes we can.

To the artisan who continued crafting delightful soaps while fighting misguided legislation that could sweep it all away:  yes we can.

To the volunteers who turn away material rewards so that they can provide crayons for hospitalized children or shelter to the sexually abused:  yes we can.

To my closest friend whose battle with depression took him inches from death, but couldn’t stop him from making his vision a reality:  yes we can.

We may all be carving out change in different areas, but we share the strength of the human spirit as our chisel.

When you’re making decisions on different marketing or advertising channels, a big question is how much can you afford to pay for each visitor or sales lead.  This can help you make informed and profitable decisions.  All it takes is gathering the right information and some simple math.

If you’re selling things online, you can use an online tool to track how many visitors you’re getting.  Say on average you get 5000 different people visiting each per month.  From your sales statistics, you had 250 customers last month with an average profit of $15.  Then you can estimate that 5% of your visitors turn into customers, so each visitor will contribute on average 5% of $15, or $0.75 to your sales.  This is just a quick estimate - it doesn’t account for things like repeat purchases or the chance that they’ll tell their friends - but it’ll serve as a starting point.

So now you can use this as a quick test to figure out whether you should use certain forms of advertising.  If you pay 50 cents per click for a sponsored search result on Google Adwords, you’re still earning an average profit of 25 cents each time someone clicks, so you should do as much of this as you can.  On the other hand, if you’re paying $200 a month for a banner ad that brings in 100 visitors, you’re paying $2 per visitor, which probably means you’re losing money, unless visitors from that banner are particularly likely to buy.

You can use a similar analysis to find out how much a retail window shopper or sales lead is worth to you.  But after you make your marketing decisions, go back to treating your visitors as human beings, not dollar signs.  This’ll be both more enjoyable and profitable in the long run.

I just finished reading Steve Pavlina’s new book called Personal Development for Smart People.  It boils down the teachings of hundreds of self-help books into one framework based on the idea that an individual should consciously strive to live with the three core principles of truth, love, and power.  The book is full of practical, down-to-earth ideas about how to develop and apply these principles.

There’s no question that in any small business, the personal effectiveness of its core members is hugely important.  However, I find that thinking of an organization like a separate individual can produce helpful insights.  Let’s take a look at how thinking of the principles of truth, love, and power as applied to a small business can give you ideas to improve.

Truth:
- What external sources can you learn from?  e.g. advisors, blogs, books, similar businesses
- Do all the important people in your company regularly talk directly with customers?
- Do you have easy access to the numbers on the trends for your sales and expenses?
- Do you have easy access to find out how much inventory you have and where?
- Do you have checks and balances in place for your decision-making processes?

Love:
- Do your company’s workspace and culture provide a positive working environment?
- Do your employees feel valued and work together well?
- Does your company build a strong enough bond with its customers to make them want to talk about it?
- How can you further build your company’s reputation and exposure to your target market?
- Is your company socially and environmentally responsible?  What contributions can you make in the community?

Power:
- How quickly can you perform common tasks like invoicing customers?
- How is the financial health of your organization?
- Do you have sufficient cash or credit to invest in new initiatives?
- Do your employees have the right tools and skills to be fully productive?
- How powerfully are you able to respond to change from your customers or competitors?

This multi-dimensional way of thinking can help you identify often neglected aspects of your business that could be improved.

Last time, we talked about what is a brand and how it relates your customers to your business. In this post, we will discuss some general guidelines on building your brand.

1) Own One Word
What do you think when you hear Volvo? Safety. How about Toyota? Reliable. How about Mercedes-Benz? Prestige. Even though all three companies build safe cars, use reliable engines, and have more prestigious expensive models, one word stands out for each of them. For your brand, you will want to own one word that sticks in the mind of your customers. If you try to get too many words to stick, then chances are none of them will stick and the identity of your brand will get diluted. Focus is the key.

2) Be Authentic
How many of you came across an internet company claiming their internet service is fast, but the actual speed is slow as snail? How about a car dealership claiming they have the lowest price, but you find another one that gives an even lower price? Whatever the branding image or ideas you are going for, you have to make sure it’s authentic, reflecting what you can deliver. Volvo never claims they make the fastest cars in the world, and Toyota will never try to sell you on the prestigious side of their cars.

3) Own One Color
What color do you think of when you hear about Coca-cola? Red. How about Pepsi? Blue. How about Mountain Dew? Green. Owning one color allows your customers to associate the color with your brand, and differentiate you from your competitors. Pick one that closely relates to what your brand offers, and that it separates you from your competitors.

4) Be Consistent
A brand is never built overnight. If you want your customers to remember your brand, you will need to consistently apply the same theme over and over again for a long time. You need to apply it on everything your customers see, which includes your website, your brochure, your product packaging, your retail store design, and so on. Repeated exposure to the same theme is the key to getting your brand to stick in the minds of your customers.

If you want to learn more on what makes a good branding strategy, read this book.

A lot of small business owners might not give much thought to branding. It seems like an abstract concept that’s only applicable to widely distributed products backed by big marketing budgets from large corporations. But if you want to grow your business over the long term, then you should start seeding your brand into your customers’ minds even when you are still small.

Where should you start? Before we explore ways to build your brand, let’s start by looking at the question, “what is a brand, anyway?”

From Wikipedia, “A brand is a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer; more specifically, it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme that convey the essence of a company, product or service.” This might be a really good textbook answer, but chances are you won’t remember it in a week.

In essence, a brand is the images and ideas that people remember you by. The images are visual, like your logo, color scheme, mascot, etc. For example, you might remember Nike’s “swoosh” logo. For Fedex, you might remember the purple/orange/white color scheme. The ideas can be as simple as a single word. What do you think when you hear Wal-mart? Cheap! How about a Volvo car? Safety!

If you are able to get those images and ideas into your customers’ heads, everytime they see the images or think about those ideas, they will automatically think about your company and your products. Next time, we’ll look at some general guidelines on building your brand.

Last time, we talked about how you need to relax to solve difficult problems.  This is part 2 of 2, discussing how can improve your memory and skill by being sure to get a good night’s sleep.

Sleep isn’t just resting, your brain is working on processing your experiences so that when you wake up, you’ll remember things better, pick up new skills faster, and maybe even acquire some new insights.  This is all backed up by studies showing how people performing a variety of tasks (ranging across memory, coordination, and math) do better if they’re allowed to sleep between practise sessions, instead of just relaxing while awake.  Read more.

In fact, you get this benefits not just from nighttime sleep, but also from daytime naps.  Since there’s a natural tendency to be tired in the mid-afternoon, this is a great time to take a nap, also known as a siesta in places where this is the norm.

If working smarter and increased productivity aren’t enough to convince you to get a good night’s sleep and encourage napping at your workplace, keep in mind that well-rested people have better moods, making it easier to work productively with others.

A high-stress, deadline-driven culture in your organization might pump out more mundane work for little while.  But a proper appreciation for rest and relaxation can help you work smarter, developing more game-changing insights and skills.  And it’ll make your organization a much better place to work, helping you to attract and keep great people to work with.