Archive for October, 2009
28
Oct
Posted by Mark Allen Roberts in business triage, buying process, CEO, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Best Practices, flight plan, focused passion, Founder, goals, growth, Hippo, increase value, leadership, market leader, Market leadership, market loser, Marketing, marketing tools, right customer, right solution, right time, road block, road map, ROI, Sales, sales enablement, sales tools, sales velocity, strategy. Tagged: add value, customer voice, Entrepreneur Best Practices, entreprenuer, focus, grow sales, Launch, leadership, Market leadership, market problems, marketing and sales, Product launch, sales growth, sales process, strategy. 7 Comments
When I wrote my EBook: 50 Ugly Truths About Owning and Running Your Own Business…and 5 reasons why you should do it anyway I was responding to a number of misperceptions I was hearing from entrepreneurs.
Historically, at any given time six out of ten US adults is thinking about starting their own business. A number of new entrepreneurs are emerging that I refer to as “necessity-preneurs “who were downsized and can not find new employment, are deciding to launch their own businesses as they want a much more active role in the security of their careers. The last group are cashing in their 401k and or borrowing from friends or family to buy an existing business and in a short amount of time realize they really just bought a job and they are quickly running out of cash.
Continue reading »
26
Oct
Posted by Mark Allen Roberts in business triage, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Best Practices, focused passion, Founder, goals, leadership, market leader, Market leadership, market loser, Marketing, new product, problems, shareholder value, spiritual gifts, strategy. Tagged: Entrepreneur Best Practices, entreprenuer, focus, goals, grow sales, leadership, Market leadership, market problems, marketing and sales, Product launch, sales growth, spiritual gifts, strategy. Leave a Comment
As the entrepreneurial leader you have natural gifts. Market leading entrepreneurs understand a key principle; you have the power of choice…chose to exercise your power of choice in choosing the role you will play on YOUR team. Market losers focus on what they are not, and try to become experts in all the areas of business and thus dilute their personal giftedness and ultimately their contribution to the team’s bottom line. Market leaders know what they know as well as what they don’t know.
Continue reading »
22
Oct
Posted by Mark Allen Roberts in business triage, CEO, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Best Practices, flight plan, Founder, goals, growth, gut instinct and intuition, increase value, leadership, market leader, Market leadership, market loser, Marketing, problems, road block, road map, strategy. Tagged: back to basics, customer exit interview, employee exit interview, Entrepreneur Best Practices, entreprenuer, focus, Market leadership, road block, road map, strategy. 1 Comment
Market leading entrepreneurs value data and feedback. They seek and are constantly sensing the changing needs of their internal and external customers. When an account or employee exits your team, make the time for an exit interview with the mission of identifying roadblocks that are standing in the way of your team’s performance execution and success.
Continue reading »
18
Oct
Posted by Mark Allen Roberts in buying process, design and launch new products, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Best Practices, growth, leadership, market leader, Market leadership, Marketing, new product, problems, right solution, sales velocity, strategy. Tagged: buyer problems, buying process, customer voice, Entrepreneur Best Practices, entreprenuer, grow sales, Market leadership, market problems, Marketing, marketing and sales, new product launch, sales growth. Leave a Comment
For as long as I can remember I have heard “your customer is always right”. The spirit behind this statement was to make sure market leading organizations do not try to “overcome customer objections” and listen…as failing to listen is the #1 reason buyers do not buy from a salesperson.
However you will receive the best tips to grow your business from prospects who do not buy.
Continue reading »
16
Oct
Posted by Mark Allen Roberts in buying process, customer relations, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Best Practices, flight plan, integrated marketing, leadership, market leader, Market leadership, market loser, Marketing, performance improvement, road map, ROI, shareholder value, strategy. Tagged: buying process, customer experience, Entrepreneur Best Practices, entreprenuer, focus, goals, leadership, Market leadership, sales growth, strategy. 1 Comment
There is an old Native American saying; “the wolf you feed is the one that grows”. Simply put, the behaviors we reward are those that are repeated. With that understanding it is critical market leaders intentionally reward customer behaviors they want and make customers pay for those that are not in alignment with your overall flight plan.
Continue reading »
14
Oct
Posted by Mark Allen Roberts in christian business, core values, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Best Practices, flight plan, focused passion, Founder, goals, growth, leadership, market leader, Market leadership, Marketing, strategy. Tagged: Entrepreneur Best Practices, entreprenuer, leadership, make a wish, Market leadership, passion, Product launch, strategy. Leave a Comment
One common trait all market leaders have is passion. When you speak with a market leader they do not discuss their “job” but instead it is more of a quest. Entrepreneurial market leaders have learned how to focus their passion to drive unprecedented results regardless of economic condition and competition. In this post I will share how one entrepreneurs question led to one of the most successful charities for children with focused passion.
Continue reading »
10
Oct
Posted by Mark Allen Roberts in branding, buying process, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Best Practices, goals, growth, increase value, integrated marketing, leadership, market leader, Market leadership, Marketing, marketing tools, problems, ROI, Sales, sales enablement, sales velocity, strategy, TRUST. Tagged: Entrepreneur Best Practices, entreprenuer, goals, grow sales, leadership, Market leadership, marketing and sales, passion, smore, smores, social marketing, social media, social media whore, strategy. 13 Comments
As I meet with entrepreneurs I am amazed at the number of people professing to be experts that are preying upon entrepreneurs struggling to grow their businesses. I discussed “marketing tools “in my previous post; who they are and how to quickly spot one so you don’t get burned. A new entrepreneurial predator has emerged that is referred to as “smores” or social media whores. In this post I plan to share how social media, social marketing, is a key component of any businesses overall integrated marketing, and how to quickly spot the smores so you do not get burned.
Continue reading »
5
Oct
Posted by Mark Allen Roberts in bootstrapping, branding, business triage, buying process, CEO, core values, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Best Practices, gut instinct and intuition, leadership, loss, Marketing, performance improvement, problems, qualify early, right customer, Sales, strategy. Tagged: back to basics, customers who do not pay, Entrepreneur Best Practices, entreprenuer, leadership. 1 Comment
The majority of customers are honest hard working people, like you, looking for someone to help them solve their problems. They do not have a problem paying for the value exchange they receive from you. There are however those low life’s out there who will engage with you and have no intention of paying you. I included this in my eBook: 50 ugly truths about starting your own business…and why you should do it anyway, as it often shocks and infuriates new entrepreneurs. Although these low life’s will attempt to stiff you, you don’t have to let them burn you.
Continue reading »
4
Oct
Posted by Mark Allen Roberts in Ad firm, advertising, bootstrapping, business triage, buyer profile, buying process, email marketing, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Best Practices, flight plan, goals, growth, increase value, integrated marketing, Launch, leadership, market leader, Market leadership, Marketing, marketing tools, performance improvement, problems, qualify early, ROI, Sales, scale business, strategy. Tagged: back to basics, direct mail, email marketing, Entrepreneur Best Practices, entreprenuer, integrated marketing, Market leadership, Marketing, marketing and sales, marketing tool, marketing tools, media buy, search engine optimization, strategy, tool acadamy, web site. 7 Comments
As an entrepreneur you will have a number of people approach you to “help you grow” your company. Far too often these local “experts” are really “marketing tools” who are like the terrible boy friends on the popular show Tool Academy focused on themselves and not aligning to your objectives and are not trying to solve your problems. So how do you know if you are dealing with a strategic partner or a tool? In this post I will share how to discern the “marketing tools” from strategic partners.
Continue reading »
2
Oct
Posted by Mark Allen Roberts in buying process, CEO, design and launch new products, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Best Practices, Founder, goals, growth, Hippo, Launch, leadership, market leader, market loser, Marketing, new product, problems, qualify early, right customer, right solution, right time, road map, Sales, sales velocity, strategy. Tagged: buying process, Entrepreneur Best Practices, entreprenuer, ideas are not products, Launch, Market leadership, market problems, Marketing, new product launch, Product launch, sales growth. 5 Comments
At any given time 6 out of 10 US adults are thinking about starting their own business. Half of those will attempt to launch their own business. As I discuss in my eBook; 50 Ugly truths about starting your own business …and why you should do it anyway, they often enter into their own business with a false set of expectations. One of these false expectations is their “idea” is a product and even more disturbing is when they start investing to support their idea as a business. Recognizing the majority of those who launch a new business will fail within 18 months, one of the common contributors to their demise is not asking the right questions.
Continue reading »
Recent Comments