Wow I am so humbled by this –50,000 views

So I’m quite amazed and appreciative that I have gotten over Fifty Thousand view on this blog with very little promotion.
I have been working on two side projects lately that’s why I haven’t had many updates. The first is a book about how to use Apples primary philosophy about creating an exceptional user experience to help grow your business. The second is a audiobook about the bad side of Groupon – ways in which Groupon could actually kill your business and ideas you can use to grow your profit margins with Groupon coupons.
In appreciation of this milestone I going to give one of them away free to you guys before I put it on the market to sell it. This is very limited time offer because I really feel the topic – Groupon is so hot right now. So if your interested please email me -Tom4change@gmail.com or leave your info in comments below and I’ll make sure you get a copy when it’s completed in a about a week if you want the cd hard copy I can get you that too

You can take away my heroes can you take away my pain?

The loss that the world took about two weeks ago with the death of Steven P Jobs has deeply affected me is every way possible. I have been a fanboy of Apple for several years and a follower of Steve Jobs since 1997.I will never forgot that moment when I read on my Iphone that he was gone I was in disbelief until I clicked on the link from MDN to Apples website standing in my girlfriends dining room right after diner. I was a wreck crying and sobbing at this loss my world was shattered. Later I shared with her the Stanford Commencement speech from 2005 which I might add is something I think that EVERYBODY needs to do. She began to see that this person was so much more that the Iphone that we depend on so heavily every day. Steve in death is teaching me so much more about myself and why he was so important to me. I had forgotten about how important I was until reviewed that speech and the think different commercial that Apple released. I have started pushing peoples buttons more because I care so much about their success. With this pain I have a new drive and and actually pissing people off AGAIN because I want the most that people can get out of life and I’ve been pushing them again to go get it. I stopped accepting other peoples limits and amazing things are happening in my life. So please stop being comfortable and start being great in your life regardless of what  you have to sacrifice to get there.

 

 

How come nobody has mentioned this in a Steve Jobs tribute yet?

The greatest thing is my opinion that Steve Jobs did is he took every industry he touched and took it from very complex to so simple we don’t even need instructions. Before Apple was reborn in 1997 I read instructions for every electronic device in my life . Remember the day where you got a computer, cellphone, digital camera , walkman, software and you had to learn how to get this piece of technology to adapt to your life. Imagine that Steve Jobs and his drive for the Simplest design also made it the easiest to use ever. Before Steve came along I had to do thing like buy batteries, find out where to insert them , find the on button to test if I put them in right etc etc etc. Steve took ALL the excess of physical and MENTAL designs in a product and eliminated them. I remember my first Ipod it had NO specific directions I had to read 1st to understand it. There where so few buttons on the devices if I couldn’t figure out the product intuitively I was and idiot. That first Ipod may have been the first device that DIDN’T label the ON button. Think about that it is huge!!!! I no longer had to figure the device out. The simplistic design created a product on all levels that in many ways adapted to me. Once I learned the interface I  literally had to stop thinking because all my I-devices worked exactly the same way. There was never this new latest and greatest model that when it was released I had to learn the new feature, figure out how to turn it on.

A great example in point is cellphones with new latest and greatest I had to completely the RELEARN the whole device. For example when cellphones went from monochrome displays to color displays in the early 2000′s ABSOLUTELY NO manufacturer I can think of made the upgrade easy. The belief was if you want color then you won’t mind the trade of not just the money and you have to completely throw away all your previous knowledge because it doesn’t apply anymore. My mono to color Ipod I utilized ALL my knowledge from the previous device. I had to learn positively nothing new and for the first time in my life this technology is making my life easier and not more complex. Since Apple revolutioned my ideas about ease of use I can’t stand having to adapt to my products because Apple keeps teaching my that I don’t need to give up my peace and serenity to get hundreds of new features no just one (ala OSX verses Windows). This is why other tech companies don’t have a clue because they HP, Dell, Sony, Samsung, RIMM, Microsoft etc and still creating products that they think I will take the time relearn and adapt to and I won’t because Steve Jobs taught me that I don’t have to. This exactly why Apple never creates a product in which they lose customers like the others and they have the most loyal following of any company in the world. So note to all technology companies that will try and market to us we no longer want more , better, faster or bigger we want SIMPLIER, ,Completely Adaptable and Seemless across all products. But I think you can’t create a product and easier that what Apple gives me so good luck in getting my attention.

A great profit question

What challenges are your customers currently having that you have or could create a new solution to? this week listen to your customers challenges closer and ask yourself –“What solution could I create for them if I really wanted to?”

Pull me Under — Dream Theater

“Every breath brings me one less too my last.” Great point in perspective,

“Every step brings me closer my last”

Stephen Covey –Begin with the end in mind— Habit #2

These two lines from one of my favorite songs really help me to maintain focus when I get overwhelmed or lose sight of what i’m really trying to accomplish. Many times looking at the big picture and stepping back from the day to day procedures of running your business and asking yourself “In the end what do I want? What do I want those around me to feel or see ? How do I want to be remembered? What do I want to say I did for my community with this business? How do i see the end of this business (selling it, retiring and closing or passing it on to the family or friends I cherish most?)

These questions aren’t easy but the are substantial in stature for your life and your business. Begin with the end in mind making problem solving easy because you don’t get wrapped up in the trivial parts of a problem like blame for instance –(when does that really help anyway?). Instead you have the ability to see beyond the challenges and focus on why we want to solve the problem. The answers of how will come much easier.

 

To many resources vs too little when fear hits

One of those topics business owners don’t consider often enough is their mindset or comfort level when a crisis hits and how many resources they have and how to best utilize them. The problem is FEAR. Fear triggers us to think in terms of scarcity instead of over abundance. We have to learn to plan for these situations BEFORE they occur. Inventory at busy times is great example –what is your plan when you run out of your best seller while you have a line?

Thank you to all the people who believed in me I am expanding this blog

When I started this blog a few years ago the only thing I wanted it for was a place to store my business ideas so I could use them later. I did absolutely no promotion hell I didn’t even tell my own family it existed until I got to 10,000 hits. I found out that people are really looking for the business ideas that I had in always kept to myself. It’s been a humbling experience to say the least but now going to go out and live my dream of taking these ideas which I have gotten make emails and comments about in the global world instead of just my local one. The number one request that I have gotten in an email message from the readers of this site has been this “how do I apply your ideas to my business? ” I have given limited answers but I want to give more so I have started Impact Business Consultants (website announcement soon) which will allow me to take all my time and energy and focus it on your business. So before I could send you resources I thought would be best but because I didn’t have time to research your industry, business model, or sales and marketing efforts, etc I didn’t get to involved like I do with my local clients because they are paying the bills. I really never offered you my paid services because I was used to meeting my clients in person. However with the attention this blog has gotten very overwhelming. Now over 43,000 views have hit this blog something I never even dreamed of or really focused on. I offering you the same service and some even better than I do now but their will be a cost involved and I will be taking on just a few clients and no competitors in your industry– first come only one served. If you are interested in getting more of a hands on approach where I can guarantee my results please call me immediately at 302-757-0210 or email me at tom4change@gmail.com. I am going to offer my service at a reduced rate because I am looking for the tele or web-based business referrals.

Again I Humbly thank you .You believed in me and have pushed me to believe in myself . I am eternally grateful. 

 

P.S. I’ll be posting now more often so please keep being open and honest with these ideas the success of this blog depends on it

The Social web– how to use Facebook Twtter or MySpace to grow or KILL your business?

1st you NEED to realize that your business is complete different and should be treated as such then your personal pages. People put up profiles on social websites for a few reasons– get new friends, keep in touch with old friends or have a place to voice your thoughts and opinions among people they like and or trust. HOWEVER– Your business should only be on Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace for  ONE pure Goal– To make money !!!!

This is extremely important because many business owners are  running their personal and business profile the same way and it can ruin your business forever!

and you work this utilizing these methods

3  REASONS–and only 3– 1)To get people to spend more money when they buy (if they buy $10 use it for promos to get them to spend $12 next time) and  2) How to get them to buy what you have more often (if they buy once a month to get them to buy once every two or three weeks ) and lastly 3) how to get one customer to bring in more customers (what is going to cause one person to tell the people they trust or trust them that you exist and they support your business as well — growing a customers circle of influence to benefit you)

For you business realize this what you put on on the web is permanent one and you can NEVER retract it. It is called Caching of a webpage in which your browser saves every version of a website to see this use achive.org the home of Googles Wayback machine.  And what your thing as a funny , cool or neat idea or opinion your OTHER visitors might not  agree with and THEREFORE my chose to NOT use your business because they read such things even though you do. This is a HUGE point for those people that have never used your business in the past and are searching the web to determine IF they are going to use your business today. Think about how often you use review sites to purchase a product to see generally how people feel about it. Its great because they are people you don’t know and there for are mostly just speaking pure about their experience. PEOPLE ARE DOING THE EXACT SAME THING WITH YOUR BUSINESS .

HERE IS THE KILLER OF BUSINESS ON THE WEB YOU WILL never FIND OUT WHO OR WHAT IS CAUSING PEOPLE TO DECIDE NOT TO USE YOUR BUSINESS . SO LOOK AT YOUR REVIEWS, FEEDBACK AND POSTS VERY CAREFULLY EVERYDAY BECAUSE THEY ARE DICTATING THE REAL OPINIONS .

 

IF YOU WANT POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS TO CHOOSE YOUR BUSINESS OVER YOUR COMPETITION email me at tom4change@gmail.com and will show you how exactly drive the web, social media and review sites in your favor .

Growing fast is not nearly as important as growing strong

People always ask me for ideas that can grow their sales fast which is very easy for me. The problem is they get annoyed when I tell them to slow down and build great systems underneath the business before I build or while I build the sales. Here’s the thing everybody doesn’t realize to many sales can kill you your business faster than low sales because if the systems/ methods /structure you have in place can’t handle the growth. It will crush you and your customers will be very upset and probably leave . So I ask my clients “Do you  want to be here in five years or do you just want me to double your sales now?” If you interest in working with me be prepared with an answer I’m going to ask you as well.

Believing in your Dream– the Story of the new Willy’s Philly’s in Maynard Ma

 

 

Imagine working as and electrical engineer  and being successful but giving it all up to go live you passion– creating food people want. When the new owner of Willy’ Philly’s in Maynard Ma shared his story with me I was amazed. The amount of courage that he has to follow his dream when everybody around him was telling him that he was nuts is amazing in itself. As Chris tells it though After September 11 2001 the work became harder to find in his field and he looked inside and asked the question we all need to which is “What do I really love to do?”. He remembered way back to his childhood when one day after school he decide completely unsupervised to create his own food. Now at the ripe old age or 7 or 8 he could have burnt down the house or created an edible food. Lucky for myself and the people that come out to visit Willy’s Philly’s in Maynard Ma he didn’t burn the house down. He along side his girlfriend Jo decided to invest in a trailer and build a menu with clientele of what Chris figured people would like because he liked it. He was right the trailer took off to the point when the opportunity presented itself for Willy’s Philly’s in Maynard Ma a closed cheesesteak place he had a really tough decision. He was struggling with with the decision because he knew he did not want to let down his existing customers but this was a great chance to take a unique idea– Cheesesteaks and put his mark on it.

I decide to try Willy’s Philly’s months beforehand to go and try and prove them wrong. As my reader now I’m from Philadelphia I know Philly Cheesesteaks (Pat, Gino’s Jim’s, Tony Luke’s, or Delasandros). And being from Philly you have this attitude that says Philly only does cheesesteaks right nobody else will get it. The original owner went to Philly and taste all the steaks and created the blend of all and I got to say I he created a damn good Philly steak. I noticed they had closed a few months back right after being featured on the Phantom Gourmet and then I really stated craving one. So when they opened back up I was so glad. A few friends of mine went over from work and it was great. Chris and Jo the new owners were so happy to see us like they known us forever (like Cheers’) and it was a great family feeling. Over the last few weeks and testing on new things on the menu we have developed a friendship and when I heard the story I knew my readers would appreciate it because I’m sure many of you have had to make similar choices to follow your heart and open your businesses. So get out there and tell you story its something to be proud of!!!

The Secret to True Success in life and Business

“Learn to fail faster than anybody else and do it again”–ME

Everybody know that success will never bring more success so I’ve mastered the art of failure. I’m not kidding I fail faster than anybody I know and then I learn from what went wrong. I can analyze my failure faster than anyone I study them intently because its like trying to find the missing puzzle piece that always eludes you.  I know exactly what i’m looking for the piece that isn’t working. But this isn’t for the weak I’m alway tearing myself  apart(or at least the things that I do ) and demanding more of myself than others ever will. But my failure brings me astounding success and its almost uncanny  how consistently it happens.  The key is to separate who you are from what you are trying to do. Don’t take things personally your trying to accomplish a result thats it.

Believe me if you tear down your failure fast you’ll be miles ahead of everybody else

How to get you customers to want to call you back

One of the things that I been working on lately is doing some coaching and training for sales professionals and since I thought some of the lessons I’m teaching them you guys could benefit from ……

Let me ask you this what is the ONLY reason you leave a voicemail? Its to get you customers to stop what they are doing and call you back as soon as possible … It is NOT to introduce yourself, help them to remember that you are still there or give them your phone number so they can call when they get around to it.

First is the voicemail is a great sales tool which many people don’t know how to use to get the most from impact from.I’m going to show you what people do wrong, why and the simple way to design a voicemail that invokes the action that you want.  The very first mistake business owners make is that they assume that you can leave voicemails that are like you are calling a family  member and that once they hear you voice they will just call back but you customers are busy and they need a great reason to return your call. So an example of the above  would be “Hi this is ________ from _______ please give me a call when you have the chance at ___________ ” The reason this doesn’t work is there is no reason “why” they should AND your making the assumption that they know exactly who you are which they might not remember you.

You have to give a great reason to call you sometimes it can be something they really want  but even better is triggering a pain point and telling them that you can solve it. The second reason you have to meet is to create action there is no way I know beside screaming “FIRE” to invoke action is to ask a really compelling, evoking and powerful question.

So heres a general example  Hi this is Tom from ____________ and I many customers tell me they struggle with _________   I’m calling to see if looking to overcome this challenge  in the next 30 days, If so give me a call at _____________ or email me ___________. I look forward to hearing from you if this would benefit you. Now thats I a rough and straight to the point but the it gets people to call me back.

Remember this I talk about giving lots of customer value and that what you have to think about when leaving a voicemail — What is the real value the customer is going to get by calling you back? And start with that idea. If you are looking for help in this area I’d be happy to design a voicemail for you that will get a good response and I guarantee the results (contact me at tom4change@gmail.com for rate information)

13 Great reasons why Apple WILL be announcing the Verizon Iphone on Friday

What this company is doing to every industry is phenomenal and you will never see something this amazing again. I will be the happiest person on Friday because I will finally know when I getting my Verizon Iphone  after 3 VERY long years.  Why am I so sure? Apple history will teach you that at least since 2000 this company follows an really solid pattern and we are about be amazed again.

1. Apple has NEVER and will never hold a press conference to fix something they hold press conferences to astound your life. Apple is not Lebron James, Toyota or BP has everybody completely forgotten that when they invite the press it is to somehow figure out to positively alter the quality of your life when it comes to computers. Steve Jobs would never hold a press conference to fix issues there is no value there. So stop assuming this event is for an Antennea or any other issue. Apple have not stated what this is about at all which is really neat to me.

2. When have Apple given literally one day to announce and hold a press conference? I don’t think ever. They love the hype of people trying to guess at what they are going to do so this is against their character to hold it so fast and on a Friday not Tuesday (but thats further down the list) They doing it fast so there is no time for things to slip out.

3. There was a email sent to stores saying “its coming” and  ”its going to be really big” and I think that email and this event are definitely connected and they didn’t have time to send out paper invites so that to me is the teaser. “Its” has only been the number one request all employees have  been getting at the store whicj is Verizon Iphone and “Really big” is giving 96 million or more  people access to your best selling product. I used to work in retail and we used the terms to describe Xmas “Really busy”or  ”Really Big” means all vacation time is blacked out and there is lots of OT to be had. So it could mean all employees need to prepare for the massive influx of business. Estimates are over 3 million in a weekend which it double what brought all ATT and Apple servers to a halt a few weeks ago for preorders on the Iphone 4.

4. That email part two– Do you realize that the Apple stores have never been given a heads up before an event? I know these might not be connected but just stay with me on this one. Why? They don’t want anybody to say something to soon. Some retail employee announcing before Steve Jobs would definitely kill all the clout they have but they need to give them a warning without telling them the what and that has to be why the email showed up. Again they know that email would be scrutinized but they can’t pull this off without major support from the stores. My guess they will offer it through their own retail first this time (remember the fiasco of ATT’s approval process with the first Iphone) this is if he announces and releases immediately which is  a long shot

5. Do you realize that if you go back just two years in Apple history and overlapped the announcements with 2008 and 2010 the timeframes are almost identical.

6. There have been ONLY two announcements in July (not June) in recent Apple history this is the 2nd.  What was the first? July 11 2008 –the App store you know that little thing that has over 1 Billion transactions in just 2 years was the first.

7.Why is this so Fast? PART 2 because verizon Management is under a gag order from Steve Jobs and they are not about to make the same mistake twice so they can’t tell their employees until Steve’s announcement. Remember the less people that know the better

8. How did Steve get these agreement(s) in place without anybody figuring it out? He used the Ipad and meetings with media companies mixed with telecom too. Remember how it was rumored that they were meeting with Verizon  and Sprint for the Ipad but then they announced ATT to everybody’s dismay and anger? That was the plan all along.

9 Why the heck did they chose Friday and not the normal Tuesday? Instant Gratification, speed and sales.  What if they did a announcement with an available immediately people would be standing in line immediately. I will. Weekend are the best time to release the product people shop most. Again they have to do this fast before somebody like me pieces the whole thing together

10 How they will use Friday to get Tuesday? Again go back 2 years July 2008 and Steve used the Earnings release as a way to highlight the brand new  revolutionary app store 10 million apps downloaded in 4 days and 1 million 3g Iphones sold  first weekend Believe you me when I say if Apple can do something to announce a brand new product or category for tuesdays call he will even though its not in the previous quarter but in the current one

11. Breaking the exclusivity –How did both sides break up and nobody heard about it ? Steve traded the Ipad exclusivity for time. The Ipad was never a part of the original agreement  and Steve gave it to ATT not because of the rates but 3 reasons–1 He gave them  IPAD first  them in exchange to amend the original agreement without penalty by say I’ll give you this for income if we agree to shorten the term    2 Always test a new product on what you know if has issues there are less variables 3 It works in Apple’s favor to have one way to get a new release and not 4 networks that way he builds desire among those who won’t or can’t get it. He probably tier the IPAD 3 g and WIFI for two dates not for manufacturing as much as being able to separate profitability for each company easier. Why was it in the middle of two huge releases? Does you “exclusive partner” change their DATA rates drastically for the Ipad and iphone and in the same week raise their early termination fee. It’s little like they took those intial Ipad customers and screwed everybody after them  over. You can ague the Iphone 4 release was the reason why but losing exclusivity has a much bigger impact on your bottom line (ask Sprint and Samsung)

12 Why would ATT give up the exclusivity before the term is up? They can’t handle the bandwidth, Steve already insured existing customers don’t run for the exits by getting probrably over 2 million of them back to ATT for the next two years by announce Iphone 4 on the existing network before opening it up to other vendors(Apple needs this as well cause it reduces Churn)

13 Steve loves being able to shock people into what they LEAST expect or don’t expect at all. That radically grow the companies market share Examples moving to Intel chips, the iphone announcement, the app store and developer models, I ad and finally the Non ATT Iphone. Rememer when everybody expected the original iphone to be 3 different devices NOBODY thought it would be one and Now everybodys expecting a minor hardware fix and they are going to get a MAJOR dose of Freedom.

PS Don’t worry he will fix the antenna issue but will be small time compared to what he has in store

Another great question to build customer appreciation

How can I use this problem to build customer loyalty ? Mike Bausch– the sales and marketing executive that helped build fedex.

Have you taken this sales tool for granted lately?

Your website–you know that thing that sells for you when your sleeping or off doing other things. Most people feel that they can just put it out there and thats it. NO!!! You have to check on it everyday . Look at it from an outside perspective– like your a customer not the owner– Do all the links work and are still relevant? If you have a store front change the format pictures, layout a little or even figure out way to make the ordering process even easier for your customers (think Apple App easy). Just remember your website only  works as hard as you do to keep it quick, fast, relevant to keep it going your business. Remember –It’s not a static object even though it may feel that way when you are doing the backend work to it.