March 03

Complaints Are Gifts



One of the benefits of owning two companies, one of which is an online retail company of high-end art, is that I'm still immersed in the world my marketing service clients deal with every day. That's to say that when you come to me for advice on how to promote your business, I offer that advice not just from past experience and education, but from my own ongoing challenges as a fellow small business owner. I practice what I preach.

This morning I opened the equine art company's email to find a complaint. It was a really nicely worded complaint. The customer was very polite, factual and nice about it, but the fact of the matter is - she had a complaint, and she wanted me to know she wasn't happy with something.

You can read lots of advice on many blogs and websites on how to handle customer complaints. I won't belabor the point. You know what you're supposed to do, right? Handle the complaint quickly and professionally. Resolve it, right? Make the customer happy.

My post today isn't so much about how to communicate with your customer to resolve the complaint. No, instead I want to talk to you today about your overall approach to complaints. Period.

I just helped an entrepreneur create her first information product, an E Book and video. She was very excited to launch her new products. Book are like children or pets - you work so many hours on them, pouring blood, sweat and tears into them, that once they're out the door you expect trumpet fanfares and ticker tape parades. Instead, sales trickle in.

My entrepreneur had a similar experience. As she worked on her promotional strategy, sales did increase and she met her goals, which made her very happy indeed. Yet once of the very first emails she received was a complaint.

"Dear [name redcated]: I bought your E Book and was very disappointed." And so on.

She called me, furious. "I can't believe this!" she said. "I mean, come on, what kind of complaint is that?"

"A valid one," I said quietly.

I let my entrepreneur rant and rave for a few minutes, including a few swear words thrown at me for what she thought was dereliction of duty - that I should have foreseen this complaint. Instead, I just listened a bit, and then said, "You know, your book won't be right for every reader. This reader took the time to share her feedback with you. She wasn't nasty. She actually gave you some valuable advice."  And together we dissected the complaint.

Instead of focusing on being hurt and angry, we focused on the positives - what could we learn from the experience? How could we improve the product?

In my own case, the email I received from a customer made me more aware than ever to be very specific on the product pages for our artwork. Sometimes I list the artwork scale and I need to do that more often, not just the scale but state the height in inches and perhaps centimeters for my European customers. Like model trains, model horses have a scale which is known to collectors but pretty much a mystery to anyone new to the hobby or someone shopping for a gift. 

The customer's email to me contained great feedback. I could have gotten upset by it. Instead, I sent her a thank you note. She didn't want me to resolve her complaint (she wasn't looking for a refund, for example), but I wanted to acknowledge her courage, kindness and feedback for what it was - a gift to me.

Often we look at criticism as a negative. Choose to look at complaints from customers as gifts, and receive the benefits of putting those comments into action!


6:33 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

March 02

Before Spending Another Dime Read This


Before spending another dime on your marketing projects, be sure to read this. Are you using every single marketing channel effectively?

Many people contact me looking for new and innovative ways to promote their products and services. They bemoan their lack of 'marketing', or the lack of promotional activities. Yet when I review their plans and talk to them, what I uncover is just the opposite. Usually it's such a jumble of marketing tactics it's the equivalent of looking at a sink full of dirty dishes; you don't know where to start to get the kitchen clean.

If you have a marketing plan that you follow, pull it out now. Read through the list of tactics. What are you doing? Ask yourself...

1. Am I really using this plan? Or did I start one thing, then jump to another? Often it takes time for any marketing activity to catch fire in the marketplace. You may need to go back and continue with one activity before jumping onto the next.
2. Did I really do all I can in this activity? Did you keep up your social networking, maintain your blog, hire a good graphic designer to finish your website? If not, why not? What can you do to move forward?
3. Are you using the feedback from your marketing activities to improve them? Do you check your website metrics, email metrics, direct mail response rates? You may not need to do anything dramatically different. By thoughtfully reviewing the analytics (data) from each channel, you may uncover clues to help you figure out what to do better or differently next time.

Instead of layering on new activities, how about maximizing what you're already doing?


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February 22

How I Vanquished the Energy Vampire


I tend to be someone with more creative ideas than I know what to do with. My notebook is filled with ideas for books, articles, courses, things I want to accomplish, people I want to network with. My file cabinet overflows with manuscripts. Are you like this too? If you're an entrepreneur, small business or writer, chances are - yes.

Sometimes we need a moment of grace to wake us up to what's really going on. I thought that all these creative ideas I had floating around were manifesting something great in my life. If that was the case though, why was I feeling so...freaking TIRED all the time? Why wasn't I happy? I felt like I had an energy vampire sucking the life right out of me day in and day out.

One of my clients called me last week ostensibly to talk about a large writing project she just hired me for, but the conversation got around to the work of life coach Cheryl Richardson. You may be familiar with her "Life Makeovers" series on Oprah and her many New York Times best selling books. When my client mentioned Cheryl's books, my eyes immediately went to a green and blue note card on my desk. You see, when I started my consulting business, I used Cheryl's book, "Stand Up for Your Life!" to create my mission statement. I love my mission statement. It sums up the heart of my business and I value the exercises I completed in Cheryl's book. It gets to the heart of who I am and what I offer my customers.

On a hunch that the universe was sending me my own personal grace note through my client, I bought a few of Cheryl's books over the weekend, knowing I'd find something of value. In her book "The Unmistakable Touch of Grace" I found it.

I read the book cover to cover this weekend and devoured another book. I realized the following things were going on. I had fallen into the very same trap I warn all my clients who are entrepreneurs not to fall into. It's a big deal for me to admit this, but here I go:

• Spreading myself too thin: I was trying to be all things to all people, instead of following my core business.  My core business is sparkling, original writing for print and web and low cost, high results online marketing.  I'd thrown too many other services into the mix and instead of expanding, I diluted what I was doing. It was time to prune away branches from Seven Oaks that weren't helping the tree grow from its core but were instead twisting it this way and that.
• Putting myself last: I was not taking care of myself: I scold my clients all the time to take care of themselves, but what was I doing? Not taking time to exercise, to take care of my physical needs, to do simple things like clean my office. I spent the weekend scrubbing out my office. Mentally, it sends a signal to the universe: "I am making a fresh start!"
• Trying to do everything too fast.  Businesses are indeed like acorns; they need time, and they take time, to grow into mighty oak trees. It is better to treat your business like a bonsai sometimes and let it grow slowly, rather than douse it with Miracle-Gro fertilizer to get it to shoot up quickly. If you're a gardener like me, you may have noticed that plants doused with nitrogen and chemical fertilizers grow really well...but they tend to attract lots of pests. Many get diseases faster than organic plants. Why? Because insects are attracted to then nitrogen, eat the leaves, and tell all their friends about it. I don't want a business like that. I'd rather have a slowly growing business with clients I enjoy working with, work I love, and my reputation intact than a business shooting up really fast by taking in all sorts of work that doesn't fit my core business profile.
  

This morning I made the decision to cancel two workshop projects I'd started and put aside some other energy drainers. I wrote up affirmations to affirm my new desire and openness to receive the blessings from the universe, and then I put my hard work into the process.

Time to prune away the branches. The energy vampire needed to be vanquished. That was what was draining my energy dry - not too much work, but too many of the wrong types of clients and the wrong work that didn't satisfy my soul or fit my core mission and value statement.

Are you spreading yourself too thin? Going this way and that chasing business? Not taking time for yourself, your family, and your personal needs?

These energy vampires can indeed suck the life out of you. Get out your garlic and your cross and chase them back to Transylvania where they belong!



7:33 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

February 13

What Cattle Taught Me About Marketing This Week
I find inspiration in everything, and this week is no exception. My daily walk with my dog takes me past an enormous cattle operation across the road from our property. I have no idea how many acres it is, but it's huge. The owners raise beef cattle, black Angus and Angus cross, for the most part. Here in Virginia, we've had several snow storms, so the fields are covered in white.  The farmer brought huge rolls of hay out into the fields to feed the animals. As I walked Shadow past the rolling hills all covered with white, I noticed brown paths through the white. The paths were fairly straight. They led from the sheltered hollow where there's a wind break of pines and other evergreens and a pond for water back up and directly to the rolls of hay.

I didn't know what to make of this at first. Remember, I'm New York City born and raised. I worked at horse barns, but never with cattle.

Then I realized what I was seeing. The cattle walk the same path, every day. They never deviate from it.

Now horses will trample all over the place. They churn up the snow and investigate things. They're curious.  Goats will do the same.

But not cattle. 

And in the summertime, they walk the same paths too. I've seen the grass all trampled down in almost the exact same neat paths through the pasture where I see their paths in the snow.

I began to think about this in relation to business and marketing. Many of the entrepreneurs and small business owners who call me are like the cattle, trampling the same path, day in and day out. They call me hoping I can get them off that cattle path.

The cattle path starts like this: You start a business and you're all fired up with excitement and enthusiasm. As time goes by, your hard work pays off. Projects start rolling in.  Suddenly, however, you have no time for marketing. Heck, do you really even need it? The work rolls in...then stops, or slacks off. You realize you need to promote your business. You do the same activities again.

These entrepreneurs either get the same results, or no results, because the groove that they've worn doesn't move them outside of their original orbit. If you keep advertising in the same newspaper or on the same website, day in and day out, not much will change.

You must be willing to explore, take a risk, branch out. It is only by trying new things and walking off that beaten path that you discover new ways to attract business.

So what do you need to do to take a step off that groove you've created?

• Reach out today to 3 random people who look interesting on your social networking sites and invite them to connect. Then send a personal email to get to know them. Who knows what it can lead to?
• Get a book out of the library or read a business book on something that interests you.
• Get a book out of the library on something totally unrelated to business that piques your curiosity!
• Google a term related to your industry and read a new blog or website...maybe it will spark interest.
• Do something different. Move your phone to the other side of the desk. Clean out a file drawer. Dust your computer. Clean out the cobwebs and get some fresh activity going.

Like you, I too fall into the rut of plodding along the same path. Like the cattle, I create grooves.  Every once in a while though, I'm grateful when something as simple as farm animals in a field reminds me to get out of that groove and risk, create, try, soar.

Let's do it together!



6:47 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

February 05

Affirmations for Success

How to Turn Limp Affirmations Into Mantras for Success! by Jack Canfield (guest post on today's Acorns Blog for Seven Oaks Consulting)

To affirm something is simply to declare that it is true. So, creating and using affirmations should be a breeze, right?

Actually, the true art of the affirmation is both subtle and profound. Despite the popularity of this technique, some people use affirmations that are bland and perhaps even self-defeating.

When creating your affirmation, remember that even minor variations in wording can make a huge difference in the results you get. Since your words literally have the power to create your circumstances, invest a few minutes now to take your affirmation skills to a higher level.

Consider the following statement:

I will quit smoking with ease and joy, remembering the effects on my physical and mental health and preparing to live a longer life.

By using the guidelines found below, you can transform limp affirmations like that into mantras for manifesting a huge change in your life!

The following points are key:

FIVE GUIDELINES TO FOLLOW

1) Enter the “now”
Start your affirmation by entering the present tense. Take the condition you desire and declare it to be already true.

2) Be positive
Our sample affirmation keeps the focus on smoking—the condition that you do not want. Instead, shine a light on what you do want—to be smoke-free.

A related reminder: Our subconscious mind skips the word not. So, delete this word from your affirmations. “I am not afraid of public speaking” gives us the message that you are afraid. Use, “I feel at ease as I speak in public.” 

3) Be concise
Shorter is better. Affirmations with fewer words are often easier to recall, especially in situations when you feel some stress. Rhyming makes your affirmations even more memorable. For example, “I am feeling alive at 185.”

4) Include action
Whenever possible, affirm yourself as a person who takes action. For example: “I am gratefully driving my new Porsche along an open highway.” Action engages the Law of Attraction, creating new results in our lives and opening us to further inspiration.

5.) Include a feeling word  
Powerful affirmations include content and emotion. Content describes the specific outcome that you desire. Emotion gets to the heart of how you feel about that outcome. For a more potent affirmation, add both elements.

Consider this affirmation:

"I am supporting my children to fully come forward into the world."

The content of this statement is clear. Yet it lacks an emotional charge. Breathe life into this affirmation by adding an active expression of feeling:

"I am lovingly supporting my children and encourage them to fully express their unique talents and gifts."

You will know that you have a powerful affirmation when you feel a surge of emotional energy. The force of feeling jumpstarts you into action.

AN AFFIRMATION MAKEOVER  

Now get some direct experience with “affirmation transformation.” Return to the first example mentioned in this article:

"I will quit smoking with ease and joy, remembering the effects on my physical and mental health and preparing to live a longer life."

Playing with the guidelines listed serves up some more exciting options, such as:

"I am breathing effortlessly with lungs that are pure and clean."

"I am celebrating how easily I breathe through strong, healthy lungs."

Also consider the following affirmations on a variety of topics:

"I am joyfully celebrating my graduation from college with a master’s degree."

"I am effectively delivering my first talk to an audience of over 1,000 people who affirm my message with a standing ovation."

"I am confidently checking the balance of my bank account as I make a deposit of $1,000,000."

"I am walking up on stage to receive my first Emmy award and receiving a roar of applause."

When you’re satisfied with the wording of your affirmation, start using it right away.

Repeat your affirmations at least three times daily—first thing in the morning, midday, and just before you go to sleep. Regular repetition will gently return your focus to manifesting the life of your dreams.

© 2010 Jack Canfield

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Are you "stuck" in this area?
If you'd like me to personally help you clarify your vision for the year, align your goals with your purpose, and develop a detailed action plan to turn your dream into reality, you can meet with me in Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle or Boston.

www.TheSuccessPrinciplesWorkshop.com

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Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

6:16 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)