Take a step back.

Take a deep breath. 

 Take stock of 

where you are.

If your business is your life, you are obviously not a corporate type or some government flunky. Only true entrepreneurs make their businesses their lives. And only true entrepreneurs need a crowbar to separate the two. This is good and bad. Good because your business will succeed. Bad because–in the process–you the person may not. 

You need a “HOW GOES IT?” meeting

with yourself, now, today, tonight, at sunrise!

You need to not make excuses for delaying it. At the rate government continues to ravage America’s 30 million small businesses, you cannot afford a delay past this coming weekend. I know, it’s a family deal coming; it’s your only chance to see Lady Gaga; it’s income taxes; it’s . . . STOP! Take some deep breaths.

This is not a half-baked suggestion to do some fancy inventory of your customers, branding program or finances, though it’s hard to do too much of that. This is an informal step-back-out-of-the-woods assessment point in time which healthy successful entrepreneurs make a habit of practicing every couple of months (at least quarterly).

• Start with a quiet place where you will not be interrupted for two hours by cell phones, radio or TV reception, machinery, other people or barking dogs. (Sunrises are great!) Walk on the beach, through the woods or in a quiet park . . . or just sit parked in your car. Bring a pen and notepad (no keyboards or keypads).

• Write down one single sentence that best describes where your business is right now. Follow that with another sentence that best describes where you are right now — physically, mentally, emotionally. Be honest. It’s just for your brain. No one else need ever see this piece of paper.

• Next , write one single sentence that best describes where you believe it’s possible to take your business within the next six months. Follow that sentence with one that best describes where you believe it’s possible to take your self (physically, mentally, emotionally) within the next six months.

• Spend the next hour studying these four sentences and diagramming how you think you can get from one to the other, and how you see them coming together or depending on one another. Then write down the three action steps you’re willing to take right now to get started moving from where you are to where you’re headed. Prioritize them.

_________________________        

Two hours out of your life that will positively improve your life (and your business) and you just saved all that business consultant and psychotherapy money.

You can be your own best shrink!

(Unless you choose to put off having a “HOW GOES IT” session with yourself —  in which case, the couple a hundred bucks an hour fees will probably be a worthy investment.)

_________________________ 

P.S. When you get good at this process, start introducing it in your “big picture” work with employees and key customers. Everybody loves having the opportunity to participate in doing positive attitude-focused diagnostic workups and developing treatment plans aimed at improving work options and customer service performance.  

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           302.933.0116   Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Your card must speak

for itself in 2 seconds!

     Do NOT underestimate or undermine the value of your business card. People will size you up and decide if they want to do business with you in the first 7-1o seconds that you meet. If your first impression isn’t crispy sharp AND warm and friendly at the same time, you lose.

     Your business card is as important as the genuineness of your eye contact, smile and handshake. A business card will often be a 2-second focus of attention out of that first 7-10 seconds! [Many similar characteristics accompany your email signature; be careful with what it says and how it’s used; it may sit in a file for years before being re-visited!] 

    Your business card is probably more important than any other factor in making a favorable first impression, because once your meeting, encounter or presentation is over, it’s your card that customers and prospects take away with them. It’s your card — and sometimes your email sign-off — that people will remember you by (or not).

     It’s your card that must stand on its own two feet and command acknowledgement over the trash basket. It will not succeed if it is bent, dog-eared, faded, coffee-stained, dirty, boring-looking, or failing to present as many contact options as possible. The all-time worst scenario (and you’d be amazed at how many business owners do this) is to have no cards available.

It should be sufficient to say that the only thing business cards sitting in a box will succeed in attracting is dust! 

     Take your cards everywhere all of the time. There are no boundaries for discussion openers or follow-ups that prevent you from discretely handing a card to someone at a wedding or funeral with just the suggestion to “please contact me here when you get a chance” instead of a sales pitch. Take them on vacation, on your honeymoon, to family gatherings. Laminate some for beach and gym visits. Timidity never made a sale.

     One standout tactic for using cards, by the way, that many successful salespeople practice, is to intentionally not print their cell phone number on the face of the card and to instead hand write it on the back.

     This practice gives the recipient a feeling of having an “insider” contact option; this is especially effective at a trade or professional show where time is at a premium for establishing a sense of confidence. And the extra couple of seconds to do it rewards the recipient with an iota more personal attention than 99% of your competitors and other exhibitors will bother with.

     Oh, one other thought: The famous theatre producer David Balasco always made a practice of requiring salespeople to write their “story” on the back of their business cards before he would consider seeing them (most reportedly failed at this task!).

     It has always seemed to me that this is a good practice for every business owner, manager, entrepreneur, and sales professional to do on a regular basis as a “brush-up” for themselves. It’s what some corporate gurus have called the “elevator speech” or one sentence explanation of “what your business is all about.” The exercise might surprise you! 

  # # #               

Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US or comment below.

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make today a GREAT Day for someone! 

IS THIS BLANK SPACE

YOUR LATEST

  BUSINESS MESSAGE?

INSTEAD OF LOSING SLEEP, torturing your friends and family, and spending money you don’t have… Instead of spending every waking minute trying to cope with one crisis after another …Instead of having no genuine, reliable plan to replace your investments or feeling like you’ll have to close your business, or (like many healthcare professionals) feeling pressured to merge with more securely-financed competitors — Don’t Jump!

EVEN IF YOU ARE FEELING DESPERATE, there’s much more that’s possible if you’ll just step back and clear all your “yes/but” thinking. Close your eyes for just one minute while you take some deep breaths and imagine a 2-year-old giggling toddler running into your arms . . . a child who thinks you are the greatest thing since milk, sunshine, mirrors and puppy licks.  Go ahead. Do it! Close your eyes. Take deep breaths. It only takes ONE MINUTE for you to rattle your own cage, regain control.  

NOW BEGIN SOME NEW THINKING with pen and paper (keyboards fail physiologically to prompt the same level of commitment) by drawing an upsidedown triangle. Draw two horizontal lines dividing the upsidedown triangle into thirds. Top third, label “OBJECTIVES.” Middle third, label “STRATEGIES.” Bottom third, label “TACTICS.” [Keep taking those deep breaths!]

The OBJECTIVES are the two or three realistic goals you would like to reach that you think possible if you can get your act together. The STRATEGIES are the avenues you take to reach your objectives [and deal with roadblocks that may suddenly pop up!]. The TACTICS are the methods/steps you need to take to activate the STRATEGIES to reach your goals [the OBJECTIVES].

IF YOU CAN DO THIS MUCH, YOU ARE WELL ON YOUR WAY out from under the suffering, the COVID-19 pandemic, the UNpeaceful demonstrations and rioting, the merciless political rampage that is more preoccupied with stirring up new problems than in solving existing ones . . . and, most importantly,YOU ARE WELL ON YOUR WAY TO: 

 . . . Revitalizing your own energy

. . . Refreshing your thinking  

. . . And taking firm action with steps forward on your own behalf and on behalf of your friends/ family/employees/customers/and community. 

Once you have a better grasp of where you want your business to go, and what you need to do to get there, just make it happen! Yes, you CAN do it!!

If this last step is difficult to digest, call me (Hal)

 at my desk (CT/M-Sat): 1.931.854.0474 and I’ll use

my experience (with helping to straighten out over 

600 businesses and professional practices) to see 

if I can suggest some next-step thinking for your

pursuits. If I’m not answering, leave callback

number, time zone, and best times to reach you.

(NO FEES ATTACHED TO THESE CALLS) 

GROW YOUR BUSINESS OR

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

N O W !

[And… keep your money, name, age, 

interests, address, email, SS, phone 

number, and dog’s name to yourself!]

Here’s a FREE no-strings weekly dose of success. Hear host Hal Alpiar’s proven business and practice development input based on 49+ years (and still ongoing) hands-on experience as a founder/partner/owner/manager/coach/ consultant, national book award author and management trainer of more than 50,000.

Hal’s FREE 23-minute podcasts are available 24/7 (via mobile phone). You can “listen in” on any 23-minute show (night-or-day) you choose (before, during, or after work… even while driving), and repeat portions (or entire broadcasts) at your leisure.

These podcasts are 100% about sharing problem/ success experience to help small businesses and professional practices grow NOW! No time limits. No need to identify yourself. Hal doesn’t chase you down.

You simply listen to any broadcast anytime that’s convenient. If you seek follow-up input to match your specific needs, simply email Hal@Businessworks.US (put “941” in subject line) or call 1.931.854.0474 (NO sales calls accepted) and set up a personal no-charge talk time.

YOU GET:

• Examples of what others have learned the hard way so you can avoid wasting time, money and effort.

• Stimulating, practical “how-to” ideas, input, advice, cautions, and encouragement, with a special emphasis on Partnerships and Family Business Development and ways to raise and nurture Family Support.

• The latest and best approaches to Branding, Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Sales, Hiring, Firing, Risk-Taking, Management Methods and Employee Training.

• New perspectives on small business Time and Money investments, Building New Revenue Streams, Startups, Revitalizations, Goal-Setting, your Mission and Vision.

• Ways to improve Staff and Customer Relations, Communications Skills, Stress and Time Management, Leadership/Teamwork Development Skills, and More.

• Diverse approaches to success from Hal Alpiar and his guests, who share their firsthand failure and success experiences with practically every type of business and professional practice imaginable.

The Guests are people who have single-handedly or teamed up to grow Family Businesses, Medical Practices, Retail, Service and manufacturing  entities, Nonprofit and Creative Projects.

Learn why on-the-job training often beats classroom theories (and this coming from your host who was twice honored as “Professor-of-the-Year” once at a major university and once at a small community college!)

GO NOW TO

 www.NewsTalk941.com/Podcasts 

(Scroll down 14 topic boxes to “BUSINESSWORKS”

Click on any Subject! (Many more behind the most

recent; scroll down thin gray righthand border)

DOES YOUR BUSINESS

  GO BEYOND “BUSINESS”?

Is it time to take a breather in your creative business quest? “NEVER!” is what most entrepreneurs would respond. 

In fact, I would go so far as to say that

“MANY TIMES NEVER” is what those who are truly creative entrepreneurs would actually think!

This week brings one of those rare-breed individuals I’m describing: Valerie Connelly. She has come to the point of taking a breather long enough to present 35 years worth of dedicated creative focus on refining and building one single product to the point of readiness — delivering genuine women’s empowerment!

This experience includes: writing/producing/acting in three original stage musicals, creating CD albums and hundreds of original songs, backed by 16 years of publishing/editing/ designing 225 books of every genre for both US and foreign authors (plus six of her own!). . . add 17 years of classical piano training, 2 years in the Peace Corps in West Africa, 25 years of teaching high school French and (often on the same days) entertaining in Chicago nightclubs, being an award-winning painter, acclaimed block-art artist, patented inventor, and a “dog whisperer” . . . all while raising two life-success daughters and inspiring her two grandchildren.

Thursday night, the Watkins Theater at the Watkins College of Art in Nashville, Tennessee, is hosting Valerie and many of her supporters to a long-awaited professional actors’ “Live Readers Theater Performance” of her totally-original, full-length, pre-production musical film: “LOVE IS…” 

Click HERE to see the sizzle reel!

The live narrated script-reading presentation includes big-screen video representations that accompany each of the film’s 16 original songs

The planned movie, with a view toward 2020 production, has been endorsed by world-famous-and-respected  performer, Kelsey Grammer through his production company (Grammnet Productions) crediting LOVE IS… script, music, story, and plans as follows:

“A truly inspirational

 

and touching journey

of life, love and laughter,

with a timeless message.

Delightful!”

NEWLY “ATTACHED” TO LOVE IS…

— As Film Music Composer and Selective Music Arranger, GEOFF KOCH brings 22 years of high profile music composing expertise to LOVE IS… He is President, Nashville Composers Association, and President of SCORE-COM, working in tandem with FILM-COM. Geoff is at the forefront of composing for productions in all genres that take place in planetarium domes worldwide . . .

— As Music Supervisor, ANDY HILL is a 9-time Academy Award-winner in film music. He led the “Disney Renaissance Decade” as VP of Music Production for Walt Disney Studios, including direct music supervision of The Lion King, Beauty and The Beast, and Sister Act, and subsequently for his own firm: Message In A Bottle, Ed Wood, James and the Giant Peach, and Happy Feet… before winning a Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children for Elmo in Grouchland.

We wish Valerie and her team

great success in their pursuit

to “go beyond” and “rise above”

in their quest to prove that

BUSINESS WORKS.

Big Business. Small Business. Your Own Business.

WHAT’S  YOUR  FOCUS?

IF YOU’RE WORKING FOR

A BIG ORGANIZATION . . .

. . . and flirting with someone down the hall or in another department (married or not), “Don’t fish off company docks!” is the best advice I can offer because edgy socializing undermines your business focus, and your stature in the organization. Others do not want to understand. Odds are you and your job will dissolve away before you know it… or collapse overnight!

Unfortunately, the only ones who don’t believe this are blindsided by their own pursuits. They simply don’t believe that a “stolen” kiss, or pat on the butt, or slightly too-long handshake could possibly interfere with a bonus or promotion. But “Aha!” They do. Work flirtations are never hidden. They dislodge your focus on getting your job done and exceeding management expectations.

Think for just a minute about being the boss and having expectations of those you’ve hired to “give their all” and be 100% focused on doing their jobs. What’s YOUR focus?

The secret? It’s all about balance.

IF YOU’RE WORKING FOR A SMALL BUSINESS OR A PROFESSIONAL GROUP PRACTICE . . .

. . . it’s your job and it should be your focus to do whatever you can to help grow the small business that has shown good faith in you. Your focus needs to be to do whatever it takes to make things work better, and to do whatever it takes to make customers/clients/patients as happy as possible every day!

None of that happens if you’re constantly preoccupied counting the minutes  left in the workday, the workweek, until a holiday or the weekend or a vacation. None of it happens either if you show up for work with your backpack or briefcase or pockets filled with upsets you’ve left at home, or with a relationship, or social commitment. A distorted focus can quickly and quietly distort your ability to think clearly, and focus.

Teamwork

The secret? It’s all about balance.

IF YOU’RE WORKING FOR YOUR OWN BUSINESS OR YOUR OWN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE . . .

. . . Bless you! But the trade-off here is even more pronounced. You are the business and the business is you. Not everyone can succeed as an entrepreneur, but keeping your energy and attention focused as much of the time as possible on how to launch and feed and grow your own business or professional practice will take you a long way.

The bottom line, though is that you simply cannot be 100% focused on where you want to be headed all the time. You got where you are because you wanted more freedom, so take more freedom. Working your brains out doesn’t grow your business. Making the most of your “freedom” by channeling it in directions that are as productive for you, and your self, as they are for the business creates a focus that’s balanced.

Balance is the secret.

And ONLY YOU know

how to balance your SELF!

YOUR BUSINESS STAR…

FILM INDUSTRY LESSONS

Just brought my “think out of the box” business life and teachings back from the Cannes Film Festival.

The experience opened doors. New insights planted themselves in the middle of my pursuit path. The surroundings of this venture, highlighted by a breath-taking daylong drive from Geneva through the Alps to the French Riviera, were amplified by the seemingly endless clamber of the 12,000+ Festival participants who each in their own way sought the spotlights and camera lenses… often, while pretending not to.

The experience literally seemed to stun-gun my mind. What did I learn that might be good food for thought for every business and professional practice owner and manager?

Working smarter, not harder is no better than working harder not smarter.

Business success come only through a strong sense of balance.

A good place to start improving your business balance is to take inventory of your commitment to never cease searching for ways to improve your product, your service, your attitude, your story, your people, and the lives of your customers, clients and patients.

Serving as a makeshift Executive Producer for an emerging  (pre-production) original feature musical film (LOVE IS… Click on logo above for the less-than-2-minute “Sizzle Reel”) has been a major chunk of my life since helping to launch the forerunner stage version three years ago.

I’ve learned –sometimes the hard way–  that with every tiny aspect of a film –from words, music, and sound effects, to direction, production, gestures, budgets, lighting, cameras, film-editing, marketing, branding, promotion, legalities, you name it:

Everything changes every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year.

It is changing me as I write this and will no doubt continue to as long as I keep open-minded enough to accept that. It will change even as the movie is being filmed and recorded and edited and even after it’s done in the ways that it is branded and promoted.

WOW!, you might say, that sounds nerve-wracking!

Well guess what else I learned? Every business has the same dynamics. We have simply come to accept that many of the businesses and practices we own and manage never change. We often just accept that our businesses follow specific rules and that those rules limit change.

BALONEY!

Each of us changes every minute of every day in some way. We simply turn ourselves off to being receptive to that thought because it somehow threatens our existences.

Rising above that “being stuck in the mud” mindset is key to achieving record growth with our business pursuits and ourselves.

Think about all that next time you watch a movie… maybe even before that? It’s called renewing your own sense of self-awareness. What have you got to lose besides a false sense of self-security?

Want more?

Text 1.302.752.8505 or phone 1.931.854.0474 or write: 370 S. Lowe Ave. A-148, Cookeville, TN 38501 or free weekly podcast: www.newstalk941.com/podcasts (scroll down program sections to BUSINESSWORKS and click on any of 60 business topics. Feedback always welcome!

Economy Surge Boosts Business

(but not yours or the Post Office?)

YOUR BUSINESS IS NOT DELIVERING ALL

THAT YOU WANT OR NEED FOR IT TO BE?

Are you seeking some magic to re-ignite your business to take advantage of the booming US economy… or are you standing there, totally befuddled, sucking your thumb and wondering how YOU MISSED THE BOAT??… this post is for you!

DELIVERING 

BASED ON CAPABILITY ALONE

IS DIFFICULT AT BEST

… EVEN FOR THE BEST.

The United States Postal Service has had a zillion opportunities to succeed over a zillion years of big-time budgets and noteworthy big-time leadership of politically-based government organization people, who appear to have never earnestly sought real-world business input.

USPS has failed to act on endless business  growth opportunities Priority-Mailed to itself on a golden platter because those in charge thought they had and continue to think they have all the answers. (When was the last USPS Customer Survey you received?)

That belief alone spells disaster for any business or organization, or even professional practice. The lifetime of failure spawned (and actually nurtured) smarter competition.

How do I know all this?

First, because I grew up with my father being (for 25 years) a USPS Special Delivery Messenger –the first 7-days a week version of overnight delivery service– and watched Special Delivery Mail dissolve away to open a floodgate of business for FedEx, UPS, Amazon, and a long list of others.

Second, because I’ve had the good fortune to have had many proven and experienced business teachers and trainers in my life share many business development basics, like: No one ever has all the answers. Open Minds Open Doors. Leadership is about listening first and acting second.

And I have been able to apply successfully what I’ve learned to teach others— as a professor, business and healthcare practice coach/consultant, published author, management trainer, and now as a “business how-to” podcast and radio host.

With that as background, I attempted numerous times over the years to communicate with USPS executives in some of the same ways I succeeded at communicating with private business enterprise owners and managers… with ideas and proposals… but they were never responded to except by form letter thank-you-but-no-thank-you notes.

IF YOU ARE TRYING TO

RUN YOUR BUSINESS WITH

A CLOSED-DOOR USPS MINDSET,

NOTHING — not even a booming economy — can save you!

STOP HERE. Take a deep breath.

Has your business run away from you? Are you trying too hard to force it into a direction that simply doesn’t fit?

Do you shut down whenever someone floats a business-growth idea past you because you think they couldn’t possibly understand what you’re facing or what you’ve done to get where you are?

Or maybe just because you don’t trust that person’s face or age or lack of hard-nosed experience, or what you imagine to be her/his sense of reality?

HOW RECEPTIVE ARE YOU, REALLY?

If your answer is “VERY,” Congratulations! Now open your eyes, your arms and your mind and get ready to turn things around. You’ve just taken the first step to put yourself on track to being the business winner you’ve always been capable of being. Reach out for input from other business owners, from employees, from customers. Consider and sort out and weigh the options… THEN (without betting the farm), Take Action!

P.S. In case you haven’t heard, President Trump is “taking action” with the formation of a USPS Task Force to address some of the kinds of issues raised here, as well as how to get a better deal with other delivery services. Hoping for the best for USPS… and, of course, for YOU!

BusinessWORKS.US

GROWING BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES NOW

Hal Alpiar & Johnny Stites Weekly Radio Show/24-7 Podcasts

Creating Record Business Growth Impact with 100 Years of Experience

     Go back 20, 50, 100 years! Surprise! The names and locations change, but the stories are mostly the same. It will be like missing a week of C-SPAN or THE BIOGRAPHY CHANNEL. Nothing Earth-shatteringly new goes on.