Inspired Promotions Blog

Did you survive??????????????

The other day was Friday, the 13th.  When I was growing up, our kitchen caught on fire on Friday, the 13th.  Luckily, my cousin and I were outside playing in the backyard and my cat just happened to be sitting in the breakfast room window and moved the closed curtains just enough for me to see that there were flames in the kitchen.  I ran inside, yelled fire, and everyone got out safely and the fire department arrived.  Fortunately, the only damage was in the kitchen.

Now, you would think with that traumatic event, that I would be a total,

Paraskavedekatriaphobia.

Well, I was, but I got over my phobia of Friday, the 13th.

Phobias, are a state of mind, and with anything that you are fearful of, you need to work at overcoming those fears.  Fears creep up in business also.  You need to keep pushing past those fears to succeed.  If you are scared of speaking in public, join a networking group and slowly learn how to speak in front of people.  If you are scared to make sales calls, ask a friend or associate if you can practice on them.  If you are stuck in a rut, get a few trusted friends or advisers and start a weekly Mastermind Group.

Don't let black cats, walking under ladders, or opening umbrellas inside, scare you.  They are all just superstitions.  If you don't believe me, try tackling one of these fears, and than start tackling your business fears. 

And just so you're prepared, there is another Friday the 13th next month.

 

What are the odds......

Not too long ago, I was at the big promotional products convention in Las Vegas.  As you might guess, there were lots of pens, calendars, notebooks, coffee mugs, t-shirts and every other possible item that you could put your name or logo on.  More importantly though, was what was represented by being in Las Vegas.

 

When you think of Las Vegas, you think of gambling.  With gambling, it all has to do with probability, "the odds of...".

OK, what does all this have to do with marketing and promoting yourself?  Well, you need to make sure that you have the odds in your favor to succeed in your endeavors.  You can accomplish this by doing some of the basics in your business.  One of these might involve:

CUSTOMER SERVICE - Are you being proactive or reactive with your existing clients?  After you sell your product or service, do you do the "Wait and Pray" routine of hoping that the phone doesn't ring because of a problem?  Or are you proactive and calling your client to say, "I just saw that your --- was delivered yesterday and I wanted to make sure that they were to your expectation."  I used to hide behind the "Wait and Pray" routine and if I hadn't heard anything in a couple of weeks, I was pretty sure that the products came out ok.  After talking to a number of clients, I realized that if there was a problem, I was going to hear about it anyways, so why not make the initial call.   This tells the client that I'm keeping track of their order, making sure that it is received when promised, and that I am making sure that they like it.  Don't play the waiting game!!!!!