It wasn't convenient

I was running a little low on cash on my way home last night so I dug out a hand full of quarters, dimes and nickels from the stash I keep in the glove box. I wanted a soda and a hotdog.

The gas station was clean giving me the feeling it would be an alright place to shop. To cut the story short...the lady behind the counter grimaced, rolled her eyes and said "don't you have any cash"?

I explained to her the quarters, dimes, and nickels were cash. I picked up my change and walked out.

The loose change was inconvenient to her. The owner of the store surely wanted my money and the profit that came with it.

How do your employees treat your customer when it is inconvenient to smile and be helpful?

No Marketing Budget?

Car salesmen are famous for asking what’s in your budget when you buy a car. Hospitals ask what is in your budget when they want to know about your health insurance. Budgets are important not for what they include but for what they don’t.

My business is primarily online and offline marketing for SMBs. I have chosen this line of work because it is so needed. All of my clients know this or they wouldn’t be my clients.

When I interview a potential client, one of my first questions is “what amount or percentage of sales have you designated to increase sales”. All too often I get a blank stare. When they finally do come up with a number, I ask my second question. “How often can you dedicate that amount to increasing sales”.

Those two questions tell me everything I need to know.

· Is it worth going any further with this meeting?

· Do you look at marketing as an expense or an investment?

· Have you built a marketing budget into your selling price?

If I receive an answer such as: I am big into networking, then they have created more questions for me.

Do you network because you want to keep your operation local? (This is understandable for many businesses like hair salons and insurance companies.)

If the answer is no, I ask: Is it because you love that hour or two away from the office when you can meet people and socialize? (The answer is always yes)

My last question is: Would you still network if your business doubled or tripled?

The answer to the last question tells me their real intent in networking.

Networking has its merits. It is a wonderful institution for anyone who has determined their address on easy street. It is the address where satisfaction has been achieved and dreams are no longer needed.

By setting a marketing budget and investing in your company you will never have to settle for any particular address. You will always be on the move.

Galen

I will tweet and Retweet to my 70,000 followers for $5 at Fiverr.com

galenbennett: I will tweet and Retweet to my 70,000 followers for $5

I was knocked subconscious

I love to watch commercials on TV. I like to read the small print and decipher what isn't obvious. It is subliminal marketing. and I like it. Television commercials as well as movies need props. Maybe it is Budweiser or the books behind the 60 minutes reporter, but there is always something there.

Start having fun when commercials air by seeing the subtle influences in the background.

This post is for people who can't afford a DVR.

Lower Your Expectations

How many of you have lowered your expectations? Everyone I have ever met had huge expectations for their children, but expectations are more of a dream than a belief aren’t they? American newspapers are full of stories about the unemployed who have lost hope and parents who have had all of their hopes dashed when their child becomes addicted to prescription drugs.

At some point in our life and sometimes several times we lower our expectations. It happens in business and our personal lives. It is an unpleasant but necessary coping mechanism for the majority. (Who expects to be a Walmart Greeter?)

I fight everyday not to lower mine, do you?

A Time Saver | Obviously Brilliant

A Time Saver | Obviously Brilliant

They call me Dr.Dookie

I was making my 40^th trip to the toilet after a bout of food poisoning thanks to the three day old Chinese carryout, when it struck me. What if my superpower was the ability to make people poop their pants? I could call myself “Dr. Dookie” and I would rule the world!

When a police officer stops me for speeding I would wait until he was half way to my window and… “BAM” his shorts would fill with “a stinky”. No policeman would take the time to write me a ticket with their pants full of yesterday’s burritos even if I was going 100MPH in a school zone as school let out.

As the Jehovah Witnesses approached my front door…BAM, when a McDonald’s worker gives me French Fries instead of a Quarter Pounder at the drive thru…BAM, If Congress doesn’t get a grip on this economy…BAM. The world would be quaking in their boots.

The Al Qaeda would be too busy squatting on a sand dune to cause any trouble and wars would end because every soldier would be fighting for a seat at the Latrine. I would also target the bankers who screwed America and then asked for bailout. I would make every politician who promised me change when they were running for office, poop their pants when they didn’t keep their campaign promises.

I can just hear it; “Did you shit your pants?”

“Yeah, I gave Dr. Dookie the wrong change.”

OOPS…I could go on and on, but I have to visit the bathroom. Take a minute to think what you would do with this awesome super power.

P.S. I know the Chinese fellow around the corner already has this super power, but it only works on his customers.