You have to check out Seth Godin's new book. It is pure genius. You know how it goes, often new project (or jobs, or hobbys, or companies) start out exciting and fun. Then get harder and less fun, until it hits a low point-really hard, and not much fun at all. And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe you're in a Dip-a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it's really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try. What really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.
Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt-until they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons. In fact, winners seek out the Dip. Check it out at The Dip

Labels: attraction marketing, Deth Godin, Don't GIve Up, Give up Now, The Dip

Most salespeople refuse to do the hard work that makes selling easy, They do the easy stuf0f, which makes selling HARD! How do you let them buy? Ask more, talk less, be friendly, use tasteful humor, know your client’s motives, talk mostly about their desired OUTCOMES, not your company, product features or service benefits. create attraction by writing about timely relevant stuff, maintain a current Internet/social presence, Be a valuable resource to your clients and prospects. When you do this you will find you don’t have to resort to selling because you will be attracting qualified buyers. Yea, selling requires work because we are not really selling... we’re LETTING THEM BUY!

Mark Deo, President of the SBA Network was quoted today in an article on factoring in Bloomberg Businessweek.  Unfortunately, many small businesses are forced into this method of funding when more traditional funding is made unavailable by the banks that their tax dollars have propped up.

You can read Mark's quote below, and the full article is available here.

Mark Deo, Torrance (Calif.)-based executive director of the consulting firm Small Business Advisory Network, says many entrepreneurs he consults with have turned to factoring, not only because they lack access to credit but also because they are having problems getting new business. “Factors are oftentimes the only source of funding for desperately needed cash, but it is very sad that business owners who have worked for years to build their businesses are entertaining factoring just to fund new purchases, equipment, or improvements,” he says.

Mark recently interviewed Steve Strauss, author of Get Your Business Funded about alternatives to traditional funding sources on his radio show. Listen online here to learn more about funding your business.

Labels: banks, factoring, funding

President Obama recently gave his address on jobs to congress, and it seems the solutions he's presenting are more of the same that we've seen from the Bush and Obama administrations.  What the president and congress seem to not understand is that funding, regulations, and taxes are not the biggest problems for small businesses, a lack of customers is! 

It's not surprising, considering the fact that the president’s council on job creation is helmed by CEOs and board members of fortune 100 companies, with a token member who runs one of the largest labor unions in the country.  There is ZERO representation from small businesses.

Large businesses have essentially created zero net new jobs over the past decade- almost all new jobs in this country are being created by small businesses, so why aren't the president and congress listening to those who actually know something about job creation?

If they say that it's too hard to find small businesses that are qualified to be representatives, that's a problem that has a solution.  Every year the SBA gives out awards to honor the best run small businesses in America- there are regional, state, and national winners for these awards (and in 2003 I was named Small Business Journalist of the Year for California.)  Why not tap these business owners as a resource to give input on how the federal government can help small businesses?

While I don't claim to have the answers to the problems our economy faces, I do know what the problem is.  Let's end the focus on tax cuts, regulations, and funding, and focus on the real issue- getting more business!

I am sick and tired of hearing about how we need to stimulate funding for small businesses. As if that will have any impact whatsoever! The last thing a small business needs is more debt! On the contrary they are attempting to pay off the debt that they currently have.

The problem for small business is NOT lack of funding, scarcity of loans or an inability to participate in the global economy. It is lack of demand. The plain, simple fact is that these businesses just don’t have ENOUGH CUSTOMERS because their customers just don’t have the disposal income that they once had.

I am not at all surprised that politicians and economists have misconstrued this for so many years. At first I thought they were just “dim” and unaware of the real challenges facing small businesses. Then I began to realize that I was dim! Of course they are aware of this. After all they are Summa Cum Laude Harvard graduates who spend much of their time sailing, playing golf and attending dinners with bankers, corporate lobbyists and foreign financiers. They could care less about small business. In fact small business just amounts to the fruit fly in their Mouton Rothschild!

Don’t you think it’s odd that in order to “save our economy” we used taxpayer’s money to rescue the banks and mega-corporations who were the very villains that brought about the real estate/mortgage debacle that tanked our economy?

OK, so now we face the national reported unemployment rate of 9.5% percent. Right?

WRONG!

Today many experts believe that the true unemployment rate is more like 25% or more! We need to include those people who are looking for work, underemployed, or who have given up looking.  We all know that the government cooks the books to make it look far rosier than it is.

There are 28 million small businesses in the U.S. employing 83% of all non-government employees. Of these approximately 600,000 business owners employ 63% of the workforce. Can you imagine what would happen if they united? Can you imagine what would happen if politicians started listening to them? Can you imagine what would happen if we created laws, tax breaks and incentives for these, the real leaders of the free world?

I could. It would mean the end of the good days for the political, financial corporate big wigs that got us into this mess and the beginning of prosperity for hard working Americans.