Do you have a mentor?

Mar 142013
 

What is a mentor?

mentor“A mentor is an individual, usually older, always more experienced, who helps and guides another individual’s development. Mentoring is a process that always involves communication usually face to face for a prolonged period of time.”

I have a broader definition of a mentor which includes the above AND the fact that a mentor can be someone who you aspire to be like who is unreachable — for now. If you hold an intention and take action to meet them you will. I did. If you read my blog post then you’ll know that Jack Canfield was one of mine. In the 70s when I taught school I bought his book 100 Ways to Enhance Self Concept in the Classroom and used it — a lot. I met him in 1991, went to his seminar in 1992, had him speak in Toronto that same year and now he’s become a colleague who takes my calls :-)

Why do you need a mentor?

That’s easy. When you start a business besides taking courses and reading books about it, it’s good to have someone who’s “been there and done that”. In other words they’re someone with experience doing what you do – starting and running a business.

Difference between a mentor and a coach

A lot of businesses call what they do mentoring but what they do is actually consulting, coaching or training all of which are kinds of mentoring but don’t adhere to the definition above. A mentor doesn’t have formal training on how to be a mentor. S/he has experience and knowledge to share and a true desire for you to be successful and are willing to spend time with you over an extended period and answer any questions you have AND they don’t charge you for their time (okay you might buy them a coffee).

What is a business mentor?

They have a business and continue to run it. What they offer is their experience and expertise on how THEY run and grow their business.

They may not be in the same industry but they have a business whose needs and structure are close to yours. For example, when we had the computer dealership in the 80s my partner and I chose one of our customers. He owned a car dealership. He sold new cars – we sold new computers. He had a service department and we did too. And all we paid for his expertise was an occasional coffee. He gave us his time and experientIal knowledge for free.

Where and how do you find a mentor?

There are many ways and places to find them. Look around. Who do you interact with regularly? Some are organizations that match you up but the most important thing every entrepreneur knows is that you have to ask for what you want. The following are ways and places to find a mentor. They may be anywhere. Be creative :-)

  • formal businesses that are set up to do mentoring
  • networking
  • a client (as we did. See my example above.)
  • a neighbour
  • someone at your church or the parent of one of your children

It’s important to know these things when you meet someone who you think could become your mentor.

  • treat it like you do a first date
  • be sure you and your mentor “click”
  • be sure you’re comfortable sharing sensitive business information
  • know your time requirements and ask if they can meet them
  • ask “tough”questions now to be sure they can help you and your business

When I was writing this my friend Wenda Abel of bizbrilliant sent me a few. Here are two of them – one from Entrepreneur magazine and the other from The Financial Post Toronto. Check them out. Wenda knows a lot about mentoring and her company does only that – connects the right mentor with the right mentee.

Do you have a mentor? Do you want one? Did you have one? Tell us about your experience.

photo credit: Cristian Bernal | townhero via photopin cc

Meet Jody Steinhauer. She runs the Bargains Group AND helps the homeless

Mar 052013
 

Jody and I met several years ago while networking at the now defunct SOHO International run by Louisa Nedkov which met at a restaurant on Bayview Ave in Toronto.

Louisa held a Christmas event where you could rent a tabletop and display your wares. The Bargains Group which Jody runs had a table and being a shopper I bought several Christmas gifts there. Jody and I talked and got to know each other (as a good networker does). So when I emailed her about interviewing her she remembered me :-)

I’ve seen her on TV often over the years with her many charities (all of which are listed on the Bargains Group website) all of which started here in Toronto and now have gone across Canada. She she has shown that practicing corporate social responsibility is possible for even the smallest of companies.

Jody has won both humanitarian and entrepreneurial awards and most recently is listed in Profit magazine the 14th annual PROFIT W100 ranking of Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneurs.

Click below to hear our interview. If you want to save a version to listen to at a later time, click where you see “Download MP3″.


MP3 File

Jody can be reached via phone at 1-877-868-5655 or 416-785-5655 here in Toronto or email her at

Her website is www.bargainsgroup.com . You may ask her any questions about her products and charitable services that she and her staff provide. She’s very accessible and she or her staff will call or email back right away.

I interview these women business owners to demonstrate to you that YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!

Who would YOU recommend I interview? Who is an inspiration to you?

Is Sales a Part of Marketing?

Feb 242013
 

Recently I had a conversation with a friend about sales and marketing. He said they are separate and I said that sales is another part of marketing (like market research is).

I’d like to clarify my beliefs. If you draw a “marketing funnel” then every marketing activity you do to get prospects is at the top or widest part of the funnel.

As you proceed down the funnel it  gets narrower and you keep marketing.

Then you get to the narrow part of the funnel (see in my diagram I’ve drawn a line there). You’re now meeting the prospect face to face .. or these days by phone or skype or online … and when you “close the deal”, they become a client (at the bottom of the funnel).

Then you go back to the funnel and repeat your marketing activities.

I know that you don’t use the same activities to sell as you do to market. I agree that they should be taught as two topics – but I still believe that sales is in the marketing funnel.

 

That’s my opinion. Tell me yours

Customer Service: Do you walk the talk?

Feb 182013
 

We all feel good when someone uses our name when they speak to us. It raises our self esteem, doesn’t it. This past week I had a real life experience with a hospital clinic using my name. It actually made me feel less pain — and trust the person doing the procedure more.

If you’ve visited my About Me page on this website, you’ll know that I had a stroke in 2005 that means that I take blood thinners and have my blood tested bi-weekly. I had a very different experience of the blood test recently.

Usually I go to the blood clinic at Princess Margaret Hospital. There you show your card at registration, take a number and wait until they call you. They call you by number. No name.

Last week I went to the blood clinic at Sunnybrook Hospital. You use a paper clip to attach your hospital card to a numbered card which is nearby. Then you sit down to wait. The difference is that when they call you, they use your name NOT your number!

How did I feel? Well I was pleasantly surprised and felt like a human being AND that I would be treated like one. I wasn’t just a number.

Colleen was the person who “poked me” and I took some time afterwards to chat with her about my experience. She smiled and said that they called you by name for the reason I’d said – so you’d feel like a human being.

Now that is great customer service :-) If a hospital can do something so seemingly small like using your name then anyone can do something.

What do you do in your business for people who DON’T have to come back like I did?

photo credit: _Untitled-1 via photopin cc

6 Ways Offline and Online Marketing Are Different

Feb 062013
 

The world is always changing and we in business must keep up if we want to be successful (no matter how we define success for us).

Technology has REALLY changed. I remember (I’m 62 now in 2013) co-owning one of the first Apple computer dealerships in Toronto in the 1980s and a conference company in the 1990s where we held events for people who used what were then called hand-held computers (PDAs). I’ve always been at the “bleeding edge” of technology (just before the “leading edge” which means always being in the red and not making money but always the first to know about things).

We had/ were:

  • one of the first fax machines (in 1984 as big as a small photocopier but since very few others had one there were few  to send things to)
  • one of the first cell phones (in 1985 the battery for this was the size of a car battery and the handset like that of an “older” phone)
  • one of the first to use the internet to market with our “email blasts” in the conference business in1995 which were “fax blasts” using email addresses (some people had email addresses but most companies didn’t have websites yet)

Times continued to evolve and with this came what was in 1984 a revolution (we even produced a print booklet called A Revolution in the Making which in 1984 took 6 weeks to produce even though we had the latest desktop publishing software at that time) that caused all of us to transform ourselves and our thinking.

  In fact my nephew who is 22 now and studying at Ryerson University and producing art (by paint and on computer, films on his Macintosh and photos with his digital camera) is a great testament to this transformation. He is of the generation who grew up with and used all technology. He even had access to my brother’s Macintosh when he was a baby.  (From left to right: my brother Phil, his son Jake who I wrote about here and my other nephew Josh who’s 30 now and has been using computers since he was 4 and has been in the computer business since he was 17. He’s now 32!)

But I digress :-)

There are at least 6 ways in which online marketing is different from offline marketing.
One just needs a computer, a hookup to the Internet and a browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer.

  1. Speed  One can do EVERYTHING faster. Once you have set yourself up, just input some data and you can send it at the “touch of a finger”.
  2. Cost  EVERYTHING costs less or is free (do you know of the book   Free: The Future Of A Radical Price )   – audio and video production and even payment processing.
  3. Reach  One can connect (for free) with many contacts both locally and globally.
  4. Measurement & Tracking  One can easily get access to key metrics with ad trackers, newsletter openings, website analytics etc.
  5. Easy to do marketing   One can “do it yourself” (if you’re not a technophobe AND have the time).
  6. “Abundant”  information at your fingertips  With most search engines like google or Ask one can search for and find anything – anywhere in the world. (Remember that this info has the caveat of buyer beware as does any info you find online)

How has this blog post made you think – whether you use technology a lot or you’re a  “technophobe” who didn’t grow up with technology?

Here is access to the other post I wrote  14 Ways Offline and Online Marketing Are The Same

Compare the two and tell me what you think. I’m VERY interested in what everyone has to say!

How to use mindmapping to plan

Feb 012013
 

Mindmapping is a visual way to do a number of different things including planning what you want to accomplish in your business this year or what you have to do in a new website or to take notes.

I was first introduced to it by my friend and colleague Aletta de Wal “way back” in the late 1980s. She now runs  Artist Career Training . She uses it all the time and for everything including note taking on coaching calls with her clients. I’ve used it myself for planning and now that I can only use the computer in order to write, I use the Tony Buzan software.

As Aletta says “… Adapt your recordkeeping to the way that you think, instead of cramping your style. This visual note-taking and brainstorming method is a fun, easy way to get your thoughts out of your head and on paper.” She just interviewed Chris Welsh of Mastery of Learning who she introduced me to 20 years ago and they talked about “ideamapping” and how he uses it. You can find that interview here.

Tony Buzan is known as the originator of mindmapping and as such is world renowned and a respected authority on it.

Wikipedia lists some of the things you can use mindmapping to do.

  • problem solving
  • outline/framework design
  • structure/relationship representations
  • marriage of words and visuals
  • individual expression of creativity
  • condensing material into a concise and memorable format

Susan Gregory is a trainer and as a local Toronto person teaches productivity and thus mindmapping workshops and she adds to this list:

  • memory improvement
  • brainstorming
  • note tasking with clients or in meetings
  • organization of projects
  • writing blogs, articles and even books

Would you like to know how to use a visual method for your planning?  

Buzan suggests the following guidelines for creating mind maps:

  1. Start in the centre with one word and an image of the topic.
  2. Use multiple colors throughout the mind map for visual stimulation and to group things.
  3. Use images and symbols throughout your mind map.
  4. Use one keyword per line.
  5. Each word/image is best alone and sitting on its own line.
  6. The lines should be curved.
  7. The central lines are thicker from the centre and thinner as they radiate out.
  8. Make the lines the same length as the word/image they support.

If you’re looking for a non-linear approach to planning then mindmapping is for you.

How do YOU use mindmapping? Try it if you don’t yet and share your experience in a comment here. Remember to develop your own personal style.

14 Ways Offline and Online Marketing Are the Same

Jan 292013
 

In the early 1980s I was working on my doctorate in Special Education. A friend of mine was working on her Masters in Adult Education. We had discussions regarding how children and adults learned. She (who had no experience teaching kids) held the accepted (at the time) opinion that they learned differently. I said they learned the same way except adults have more experience and therefore have to “unlearn” some things.

At the time I co-owned an Apple computer dealership (one of the first in Toronto, Canada) and trained our customers in how to use computers. I had taught kids from 1972 to 1980 and those in special education from 1976 to 1980 so I had lots of “real life” experience.

It’s now 2013 and the belief now in Adult Education is that “adults and children learn the same way except adults have more experience and therefore have to “unlearn” some things.” Hmmmm.

What if online marketing which many believe to be different than offline marketing ends up being the same? Hmmm … interesting.

Here are fourteen ways offline and online marketing are the same.

  1. they both use advertisements
  2. they both use networking to get clients
  3. they both  use articles
  4. they both use newsletters
  5. they both use books or booklets that you sell or give away
  6. they both use strategic partnerships
  7. they both use “free reports”
  8. they both use follow-ups with prospects and clients
  9. they both use direct response
  10. they both use promotional videos and audio products to promote
  11. they both use radio
  12. they both use free seminars and demos
  13. they both use publicity
  14. they both use images/ pictures

Way back (ha! ha!) in 1984, Jay Conrad Levinson wrote a book that has become a bible for small business owners. It was called Guerilla Marketing. Secrets For Making Big Profits From Your Small Business. It’s on its fourth edition now and the term “Guerilla Marketing” spawned a whole series of books that he still rolls out. Everything in that book still holds true today. The only difference is that with the invention of the internet and the widespread ownership and use of computers it’s now easier and cheaper AND you can promote your business both locally and internationally.

So what’s changed? Not the marketing activities themselves. What’s different is just the method. Do you agree or disagree? Tell me.

Next time I’ll write about how offline and online marketing are different. Watch this blog for that!

Meet Shirley Ramundi. She’s the owner of a decor shop that sells things for home, garden, and gifts.

Jan 262013
 

I love to shop and so I’ve been in Shirley’s store on Queen Street East in Toronto and bought something every time. Shirley has always been helpful, friendly and most importantly remembers me even though I’ve only been in her shop three times.

I decided that I wanted to get to know her better so I invited her for coffee and the following interview.

Shirley and I did our interview at The Tulip Restaurant near her shop on Queen East so you’ll hear conversations and cups clinking in the background. I learned more about her personally and her background when we met. I feel that our relationship was strengthened by our meeting one on one.

Click below to hear our interview. If you want to save a version to listen to at a later time, click where you see “Download MP3″.


MP3 File

Shirley can be reached via phone at 416-850-7628 here in Toronto or email her at info@beaufortdecor.com
Her website is www.beaufortdecor.com . You may ask her any questions about her products or go to her store at 1584 Queen Street East near Coxwell in Toronto. She’s very accessible and will call or email back right away. And by the way she has great products at very reasonable prices.

I interview these women business owners to demonstrate to you that YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!

Who would YOU recommend I interview? Who is an inspiration to you?

Do Clients Feel A Strong Emotion When They Use Your Product or Service?

Jan 162013
 

Recently I went to see a movie alone. It wasn’t one I REALLY wanted to see but I wanted to get out of my place, be with people, have a coffee (there’s a cafe in my local theatre), and get “lost” for a couple of hours.

I had read the movie reviews of it and so thought I knew what I was going to see. It went along and I was enjoying myself but I wasn’t prepared for my feelings.

Near what I thought was the end there was a surprise. I felt sad at the time and happy at the very end. Happy AND sad — hmm – two very opposite emotions.

What I REALLY wasn’t prepared for was how strongly I felt each emotion. I stayed and watched the credits and thought about this and came up with this question — do people feel a “strong” emotion while using your product or experiencing your service? For example, we Apple computer users are often called “rabid fans”.

Do clients feel passionate about your product or service?

Marketing Tip: Ask your clients about their emotions when  using your product or service.

photo credit: craigCloutier via photopin cc
photo credit: craigCloutier via photopin cc

Marketing: What I learned at the bulk store

Jan 092013
 

For those who don’t go to a “bulk grocery store” you’d be surprised at what they sell there. They have the usual – nuts (did you know that here in Ontario if you buy the unsalted type there is no sales tax?), raisins, coffee beans, tea bags, flour, etc in bulk – but they have other groceries as well. Where I go they sell organic cereal and baking materials!

OK. My anecdote ….

Recently I got some things at the “Bulk Barn” – a chain in Toronto. I  had spent a bunch of money (as you do) and when I was at the checkout, the girl there gave me a gift certificate. I wasn’t expecting it and therefore didn’t spend/ buy accordingly – it was a surprise!

I knew it was to get me to come back (a type of marketing) but because I wasn’t expecting it, and the checkout person smiled as she gave it to me, it was a joy.

I smiled as I received it :-)

Do you give your customers gifts even if they have “strings” attached? This event made me think  about my own business and what I could give to my clients to get repeat business — or referrals — or even to  have clients remember me and talk about me.  HMMMM ….

What do you do to get your clients to keep coming back?

P.S. One Christmas my hairdresser gave me a gift certificate for a haircut at her shop. A very welcome surprise :-)

 photo credit: st_gleam via photopin cc

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