Collaborating - Part One - Why Pay Twice - Getting Started

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The easiest form of collaboration comes in being able to share assets and ongoing resources.  What makes this easiest is that it requires the least level of trust with your collaborator.  You and your collaborator provide different services to different customers - the collaboration is on the back end; a shared office, a shared receptionist, even a shared lunch room or gym in the case of business with several employees.  The best example I ever saw of this was a shared kitchen between two totally different restaurants owned by two different restauranteurs; a high-end American Cuisine and a high-end Oriental Cuisine.

There have always been businesses organizing, managing and being made on this concept:  Executive Suites has always allowed for shared traditional business resources and common office areas.  "The Cloud" is probably the latest version or organized collaboration made into a business.

There are several stages to collaboration depending on what stage your business is in.  A start-up wants to conserve cash thus looks for shared assets and resources.  A more mature business may have empty office space, excess Internet/Telephony bandwidth or a receptionist they can share.  This form of collaboration is all about cost awareness and in many cases the first step in forming relationships that can go beyond cost awareness.

The key thing here is to remember that you should not go looking for these opportunities, as this is not what your business is nor is it what will make it successful (even though it will make it more successful), just have your eyes open and know they exist everywhere - and then take advantage of them when the occur - which they do all on their own.

The Time4 and LightsOn businesses are great examples of this as they have shared knowledge, assets and resources between the different companies - one of the reason we each can be so price competitive in the advertising, printing and technology businesses.  I believe this is actually the future of these businesses as the "McPrint" players can collaborate within themselves.  The Time4 and LightsOn offices match and beat the pricing of the "McPrint" players and more importantly, provide an expertise that benefits the buyer.  This is cost collaboration in its finest form.


Collaborating Part Two will be something I consider much more fun - about making more money by creating collaborative relationships that create more sales opportunities and sales.

 Back to "Collaboration and Collaborating; You Should Be" .

Stay Tuned for Collaboration through Collaborative Relationships.

B

Business Cards That Tell a Story – But the Story First - Then a Lenticular Look

Business Cards used to be, very simply, a calling card identifying who you were, who you represented and how to get in touch with you.  They may have had a standard logotype which may have been something as simple as a generic line picture of something related to the holders business; something as simple as a hammer, a horse shoe or even a set of teeth as seen here.  This card was printed, most likely with hand set type on a relief letterpress.

Old Business Card

Through the 80s and 90s Lithographic printing became more and more cost effective and we saw small card printing move from relief letterpress to lithography.  This transition greatly enhanced, arguably, the overall quality and increased the capability to print more intricate images.

Full Color Business Card

In the late 90s and early 00s, a mass of technology brought both short run and color to within everyone’s budget.  Today the two most common methods of business product printing are digital, for short run quantities less than 500, and offset lithography for quantities over 500.  Color turned the business card from a leave behind identifier to a product/business identifier.  Digital influence has brought the cost down for extremely short run.

Today we see very intricate products that may include holograms or lenticular printing; the costs of such have come down so much that today’s business card can tell a short story about a product or service.  Business cards printed with these technologies and features are as much a promotional item as a business card.  As a business card, they are somewhat expensive; as a promotional item, they are inexpensive; as a story teller they are priceless.

Since these Business Cards tell a story, a picture will not do.  This video demonstrates a Lenticular Business Card by LightsOn Graphics, used by a real estate agent to demonstrate what they deliver.

Sell, Sell, Sell – Part Two – It's a Game of Numbers

Non salespeople have the hardest time believing this one, but selling is simply a game of numbers.  Talk to X number of people and Y number will buy from you.  The bigger X, the bigger Y.  Yes there are techniques that will increase Y, but the biggest factor in making sales is talking to as many people as you can about what you do/sell..

Develop a strategy, a technique, a spiel – then go do it, don't rethink it until you have done it a few hundred times.  New sales people rethink their strategy with every person they talk to – don't - it slows you down – maybe that person just did not need what you were selling today.  Think about it – If I can close 1 out of 20 people I talk to – BAMM – I am a happy camper.  That is 19 rejections (as perceived in YOUR head).  In reality, those 19 rejections are notifications of the business you are in – remember, they just may not need a plumber today.!.!   It’s a process we call "Filling the Pipeline".  Leave business cards, magnets cards, sticker cards - again - over and over.

Watch the habits of great sales people and/or sales companies; watch how telemarketing firms operate – they are selling factories.

Great sales people are always selling – selling is socializing.  That plumber we mentioned earlier should be socializing and networking as much as possible – no one needs a plumber until they NEED one – the plumber's name should be in the customer's head when need strikes – who wants to flip through the phone book when the pipes burst - I wanna call a friend.

I know two very successful landscapers, one in Florida and one in California – both are "involved" - a fancy way of saying "well connected" through a variety of networks and their networking efforts (Parties, Chambers, Mixers, etc..).

So let's start getting rejected - You will be amazed how little you care on your way to the bank!!!!

Stay tuned for Part Three – Sell, Sell, Sell – Technique.

Go back and Read Part One - Sell, Sell, Sell – Business Does Not Occur Until Transactions Occur.

Bob

Collaboration and Collaborating; You Should Be.

I need to go back into my early professional career to find my collaboration roots and knowledge source.  Large companies and smart people have been collaborating and training collaboration with their peers for as far back as my past brings me – even though they may not have called it such.  Collaboration is not a technical skill, it’s a mindset and attitude that can be used to more effectively achieve objectives.

Collaboration could be:

• Sharing business tools with a non-competing business; like a lawyer and accountant.  Benefit being half the capital needs.
• Sharing office space and costs with a non-competing business; like a lawyer and accountant.  Benefit being half the recurring cash needs.
• Sharing marketing and sales expenses with a non-competing business; like a lawyer and accountant.  .  Benefit being half the exposure and risk.
• Referring businesses based on their needs and your knowledge.  This makes you social and “in the know” by giving you the ability to talk to a prospect (not yours yet) about their needs and someone else’s expertise/service.  This goes to the point that people do business with people they like.
• Sharing clients and referring clients to collaborative partners.  This being possibly the most difficult form of collaboration, but also the one with the greatest potential return.

I will expand on each of these different forms of collaboration over the next week or two as I roll out my newest/latest business venture(s) whose objectives may not be apparent by “just looking”.

read Next: Collaborating - Part One - Why Pay Twice - Getting Started

B

Sell, Sell, Sell - Part One - Business Does Not Occur Until Transactions Occur

I used to do volunteer counseling and training work for an organization called SCORE, the "Counselors to America's Small Business".  I primarily talked to start-up businesses about the ideas.

What amazed me about many budding entrepreneurs is that they make "going into business" more complex than it needs to be.  Going into business is not about finding a good accountant, not about having a lawyer nor is it about finding the right computer, right sign or right office location.  It is about selling and selling and selling some more.  I don’t need a plan but I need an idea and a set of business cards. Then what are we going to do – sell, sell, sell that idea! I make only one assumption here, that if you are planning on going into business, say the chocolate business, you know something about chocolate.  If you are lucky enough to be successful at selling, it then becomes time to think (while you are selling more) about those other things you need to do when you are in business - a plan.

So then, I should tell you more about selling.  Yes I will do so will in the very near future.  The thing to remember is selling is a Game of Numbers much more than technique.

Read my blog post Sell, Sell, Sell – Part Two – It's a Game of Numbers 

Happy Selling.

Bob


About SCORE
SCORE is a nonprofit association consisting primarily of retired executives and business owners (almost all volunteer) dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small business start, grow and succeed nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

Starting a Business Again

Even though I have not started a business for myself in years, the excitement and thrill is so there.  It’s not that I have been out of it for long, or even at all, but it has always been for someone else.  Over the last 4 years, I have done technical consulting; advertising consulting and volunteer consulting though SCORE as well as assisted my kids with their businesses when they let me.  Oh yea, I have had a little fun too; a few cross country motorcycle trips, summers in Maine and Saratoga, autumns in New England and springs in Austin.  Did I mention 5 grandchildren?

LightsOn is nothing new, the business is really the same as our Time4 operations (Time4Printing.com in Maine, Time4Texas.com in Austin, LightsOnAdvertising.com in SoFla and www,Time4Sacramento.com in, well, it’s obvious); local products and services utilizing the Internet, rather than, in spite of the Internet.  We all provide the highest level of service and knowledge for our customer because that is what they are really buying from all of us; they are buying our knowledge and talents in helping them increase their business.

LightsOn Graphics has, what I believe is the most advanced, technically thorough and complete website for local printers there is.  We have considered selling it, but realized that the price would be higher than any local printer could afford (including us if we had not had the technical know-how in-house).

We don’t provide online design tools like some of our competition – this is choice, not the level of sophistication.  We believe in “touch” and today’s business person needs help at costs that will make them more money and waste less time; we don’t make anything from a template, we make YOU for REAL.

We believe in things like, BNI, LeTip, everyCircle, Successful Thinkers, and chambers as YOUR network makes YOU money.

Here I am, no traffic, no readers, no followers and no Likes - See you all soon.

Bob

Quotes I Have Used in My Own Business Career / History.- Permission Given to use and Steal (with credit :) ) ~rel

Quotes I attribute to myself in my own business career / history.

If you find any that belong to someone else, let me know so I can correct the credit

SELLING

Career Path: It is always better to sell into your customer's sales side of their equation ~rel

Selling is Like Planting Grass Seed - Days End - No Results - Keep Planting - After a Month of Seeding You Will be Mowing ~rel

The Selling side of the business needs to lead with content and relationship / engagement building ~rel

It so rarely happens (like never) that someone you are selling to knows more about you, your product or your service than YOU. ~rel

Engagement has as much to do with timing as does quality content. Just like Life

"Great #Selling - Give the prospect all the #answers and then help them in asking the #questions" ~rel

"Top-Of-Mind" - #Key to selling anything - Personal Branding - When someone hears your product, they think your name” ~rel

MEDIA

"The media opportunities have not been taken over by one, they have been given up by many" ~rel

MARKETING

The Power of a Brand - How well you know (hear) the brand without anything more than the visual of the products ~rel

Advertising by itself isn't Collaborative. Collaboration requires common cause where conflict is minimal & reward potential is high ~rel

"Knowing why we do something is what allows us to adapt" ~rel. Understanding #Advertising: People that used the Yellow Pages or use #Google today know what they are looking for - they are #buyers" ~rel

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

"Who can" is an easy question to answer. "Who Will" takes an Entrepreneur ~rel

"The Biggest Obstacle to Wealth is a Job" ~rel - Be an entrepreneur

A true Entrepreneur thinks of business as a sport and competes like an athlete - Everyone else is in the stands ~rel

"An True #Entrepreneur does not think they can, they just don't know why they can't" ~rel 

#Entrepreneur Thinking - I shall not listen to past reason - I make new reason -rel

The 'whole' objective is made up of lots of little objectives ~rel

What makes the Biggest Difference in ones chance of success - Doing It  ~rel

An Opportunist is Now - An Entrepreneur is forever ~rel

Think of being an entrepreneur as being the Tip-of-the-Sword ~rel

Always Question Authority - Always Question Success - Always Challenge ! This what an entrepreneur does ~rel

An Entrepreneurs biggest StartUp need is Cash flow - Cash flow through their Wallet ~rel

"It's not teaching someone how to be an #entrepreneur - it's teaching them what they need to know after they realize they are one" ~rel

"Getting laid off from that #job and starting your own #business equates to being pushed into the deep end of the entrepreneurs pool" ~rel

"It is the few that action their ideas - we call them Entrepreneurs" ~rel "Just Do It -you don't need a #game plan to practice" ~rel "There are two types of entrepreneurs in the world . . Those who have nothing to lose and those who have everything to gain" ~rel "Procrastination is the highest hurdle in that business track meet" ~rel

BUSINESS / TECHNOLOGY

If it weren't for Disruptive Technology, we would likely be using improved Selectrics & a faster Horse & Buggy ~rel

Startup planning needs to include a "cost of money" target. Raising money costs more than you think ~rel

Glass Ceilings exist in Job Titles - not in business.

"You must compete to know you have a competitive advantage" ~rel

Is a Share Economy a fad or real (the Future)?  It Depends on Social Media tools - Yes?

Costs in Marketing should NEVER be about cost; it IS about diminishing returns on the next marketing dollar spent ~rel

Remember when Domain Names was a competitive biz? Registrars fought for our patronage. Today they got us by the URLs and they're squeezing ~rel

An impulse click will lose over 80% of it's users if a 2nd click is required. Take them to what they want to see – Deep Link always.

Why do I Love Twitter - It’s the ultimate testing environment - Test Everything from Elevator Pitches to Pickup lines ~rel

Genius Nike Sports and Business Terms - JustDoIt NoFear ~rel 

Great Decisions will remain a MANUAL process...  There is no AI yet to automate judgement. ~rel

Definition: " Technical " How to use a tool. " Vision " What you can do with it ~rel

PRINT

Print comes from THE MOST renewable resource ~rel

HUMAN INTEREST

Boomers need to learn from Millennials - A Share Economy is in the future - embrace it. (IMHO) ~rel

"As we age, time accelerates, with each increment becoming a smaller percentage of what we have lived". ~rel  Think about it in real-time.

There is a Big Difference Between Teaching Your Children Not-To-Do the Wrong Things and Teaching Them To Do the Right Things  ~rel

"Empowerment is given - Power is taken or grasped.  To Empower, once given, is contagious" ~rel

"Breakfast is your way of making tomorrow feel good" ~rel "You know you have gone over the crest when you talk more about yesterday than tomorrow" ~rel

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social Media did not kill Privacy, it only proved we never wanted it in the first place ~rel

We are in a new era of sharing our ideas & thoughts - the outcome, IMHO, will be a new level of learning ~rel

Today's social selling tools and approaches are like wearing Better Glasses - They give you better Vision ~rel

Social Selling involves engagement and content - with honor - honesty and sincerity... Don't just shout - be there to help out ~rel

Twitter can open doors - so when engaged - engage. - no simpler formula for success - There is no older business process ~rel

"Social Media is simply a tool - You do not measure the quality of carpentry by the hammer a carpenter uses" ~rel

"Understanding the differences between Internet and social advertising options requires you to understand the options first" ~rel

"Top-Of-Mind" - Key to selling anything - Personal Branding - When one hears your product, they think your name ~rel

SPEAKING

Public Speaking Practice Practice Practice. Being a Cubmaster is what made me good at it ~rel

"Part of being a good speaker requires that your mouth remember the words even when your brain can't" ~rel

Grammar is secondary to the message ~rel

LIFE

Google owns everything data about us - Does that mean they own us? ~rel

The less you Live - the less you Live -rel

"You know you have reached the end of the trail - when they stop talking about you" ~rel 

Why is it that most people think they are underpaid and the remainder of the people think they are overpaying? ~rel

Analogous Situations are unprecedented -- I get it now - Historical knowledge does prevent making the same errors two+ times ~rel

"If They are Talking About You, You are Making a Difference" ~rel 

If you do not know what the questions are, how do you expect to get the right Answers ~rel

Hiding in the Weeds Only Works if You are a Weed ~rel privacy

Embellishment - The act of communicating that we 'want to be little more' ~rel

"There are people who don’t care if something is true or not. So long as it supports their position, they’re going to spread it" ~rel

People who describe things, as they want them, and as they want to be seen - Embellishers ~rel

There is a Big Difference Here - Teaching Ur Children not to do the Wrong Things vs Teaching Them To Do the Right Things ~rel

I have never been able to hide my mood - my different temperaments bubble through my skin without my mouth moving ~rel

"Never good enough" vs "there is always room to grow" ~perspective

No religion should dictate over people and no people should dictate #religion; the #government body overseeing such should be #Family ~rel "Knowing why we do something is what allows us to adapt" ~rel "Someone who is 'always' innocent is usually guilty" ~rel "You know you have gone over the crest when you talk more about #yesterday than tomorrow" ~rel

HUMOR

Why do people send Faxes anymore? Do they? Do Faxes even send faxes to each other anymore? ~rel

I wish my body could still run as fast my brain thinks it can ~rel

"Have you ever opened a refrigerator's door and slammed it quick from fear of it walking away on its own?" ~rel

When you are young (40s) you ask woman, "Do you Like Older Men?"  When you are older (late 50s) you ask "Do you APPRECIATE Older Men?" ~rel

Serendipity's Definition - " Oops :) " ~rel

Yesterday I said to myself, "self, you must stop acting 1/2 your age." Luckily, today, I could not remember what I was supposed to do. ~rel

Just an FYI - My tweets are an eclectic cornucopia of ideas and actions - sometimes a bit eccentric ~rel

"Waiting for life to come to you is just so wrong" ~rel

LOCAL

Identify yourself as, more than Local, but as a neighbor

Seeing Everyone’s Marketing Ideas Locally Makes That Person a Local Marketing Expert - Buy From Your Neighborhood Printer.

Is a Share Economy a fad or real (the Future)? It Depends on Social Media tools - Yes?

MOTIVATION

"When you encounter a first, don't consider the task, consider it as a first - you have done 100s before" ~rel

When you take the time to Think and Dream, even just a little, JustDoIt, Magic Happens ~rel

Sometimes we commit ourselves verbally to others, as a challenge to ourselves, at risk of failure ~rel

Success comes quicker to people who work Differently Better than people who do it the right way all the time ~rel

The difficulty in making a decision is directly proportionate to the number of choices available - a contrarian fact ~rel

"It is not ours to make the choice, it is only ours to provide the opportunity" ~rel

Henry Ford had it right: "... That model comes in only Black sir..." Genius

The Definition of Vision: "Having answers to questions that have not been asked yet" ~rel

"It's not our job to tell them what to do, but to give them the tools so they can determine what to do themselves" ~rel

"You possess the seeds of personality that will bloom in any soil"  ~modified from a Louisa May Alcott quote

"What is the one thing most of us already have enough of? Regret". ~Borrowed  "Try, even if you only try once (more)". ~rel

"I am a professional athlete; I play the contact sport of business" ~rel  "Just Do It -you don't need a game plan to #practice" ~rel