October 2014

Breathe2Grow

You probably answer "busy" when asked that all too familiar question; "how is work going?"

It's the most common response to the question regularly asked by friends, family, and associates. So much so, your reply just spills out before you even know it.

Less of us are in the work force, yet more work is being required - or that's at least how it seems. Add in the ever present smart phones and the needs our co-workers, bosses, and clients have for immediate information and you have a recipe for some extremely busy days.

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An experienced palate will note the hint of looming deadlines.

Here's the thing --- busyness doesn't equal business.

Examine4Change

You can scurry from task to task - even cross off the plentiful items on your "To Do" list - but that doesn't mean you are successfully navigating your day or the priorities that come with genuine business. Perhaps you've heard me discuss the tyranny of the urgent. Maybe you've paid big bucks for time management classes or systems. Sometimes you could be in servitude to your email inbox.

Those are the very things that keep us busy. They aren't necessarily the things of business.

It's time to focus our efforts on the real facets that make others want to do business with us, the genuine connection that builds lasting relationships.

Last month I had some unusual feelings about how things were going with a few of my key clients. Instead of firing off a series of emails or clicking through my ever-present "To Do" list, I decided to specifically reach out to each of them, meet them where they were, and ask how they thought things were going. Getting honest feedback isn't always fun, but it is a great way to see how you are doing and determine how you can get better.

So get busy with the important part of business.

September 2014

Brand4Business

Tell people who you are and explain what you do.

It seems pretty easy on the surface but many companies struggle to define themselves and do so in a way that others understand. Over the past several months, B2C Enterprises has had the fortune of helping several companies do just that. By creating a name as well as defining their brand, B2C helps companies expand and grow their product or service lines. We use our proprietary Brand2Capture process to walk our clients through the elements that help define them, the look that aligns with who they are, and language that captures what they do.

While the process may be the same, the results never are. They can't be - because no two situations or businesses are exactly alike. What seems to get most people stuck is defining exactly what they do.

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Sometimes it is easier than others.

What2Do

A while back I saw the familiar look of a Chicago Police cruiser. It was the same as I'd seen in movies like the Blues Brothers or Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It remained just like it was on ER and all the other shows throughout the years. I'd seen it hundreds of times - or maybe more. This time, however, something different caught my attention.

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On every cruiser is the phrase, "we serve and protect". A very strategic move from a police department rooted in a not-so-appealing past. To overcome this perception, the Chicago Police Department emphasizes and defines their roll to first "serve" the community and then "protect" it. A daily reminder about what those men and women are called to do.

Simple and direct.

How about you? What does your business, medical practice or organization intend to do?

August 2014

Time4Reflection

When did advertising become a naughty word?

Most of us skip ads on TV, complain about them in the newspaper, fuss about them on billboards while driving down the highway, change channels when they come on the radio, and get irritated when they pop up on a favorite web site. That isn't even to mention the ones that are displayed in magazines, pulled behind airplanes at football games (starting this weekend), shown on the stalls at the neighborhood restaurant bathrooms, and we're just getting started.

People hate ads.

That's why it's so fun to be in advertising. It's a competition. A game.

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GAME ON!

How2Play the Game

Can we get your attention and interrupt you? Or will you stay on track and avoid our message?

People actually appreciate the good advertisements. Really. A well placed billboard for a restaurant at an exit when you are hungry is just right. An ad for that perfect pair of shoes on the web site you visited a few weeks back may be just the ticket. A radio spot that uses the "theatre of the mind" or the early February TV commercials that keep getting interrupted by that silly football game are both examples of the appreciation the American public has for advertising.

I've been told I'm weird before so you won't hurt my feelings, but I love advertising. There I said it. I love when a message is clear, clean, and makes me think. I love when someone tells a story or catches me off guard. I am thankful when I am on the highway running too low on gas and the sign up ahead tells me how much it costs.

Admit it - when it's good, you like advertising too. When it's good that is.

So embrace advertising - don't call everything marketing or communications. Advertise. It's good for business - when it is done right, well, and smartly.

July 2014

Another Help Thought2Share

Our advertising and marketing agency is located in scenic Downtown Roanoke (www.visitroanokeva.com). With our on street entrance, we have the pleasure of watching people parallel park. There are a lot of different ways to tackle this often challenging task. (My dad taught me the right way, so message me if you want some tips.)

I find humor in watching people determined to get their car into a spot even though they are too far away from the curb or too near another vehicle. Sometimes drivers will see an open spot, but they just can't get their cars to do what they want them to. Squeeze. Turn. Squeeze. Turn. It's just not going to work.

The best course of action with parallel parking when you have a bad approach is to pull out of the space and start all over.

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Editor's Note: While this is a genuine example of Bruce's fine parallel parking skills, there was no witness to how many tries it took him to get it right.

Use This Idea4Problem Solving

If you've started your parking approach with a bad angle or a missed mark, stop right there. Be bold. Go back to the beginning and take a new line (even if people are watching you or the person in the passenger seat is giving you a hard time).

It's the same with a creative challenge, an issue with one of your clients or a problem you have to solve. Before you get locked into an absolute plan, consider if it wouldn't be wiser to back out from the bad angle and start anew. Often I find a new look on a perplexing situation gives me the inspiration to find the right solution or the perfect fit.

That's a principle that holds true whether it is in my "Imported from Detroit" Chrysler or with a work predicament that has our team stumped.

June 2014

Another Help Thought2Share

Have you ever tried to help someone who didn't think they needed it? How did that work out for you?

Generally speaking, as we go about our days trying to pay it forward, we are greeted with appreciation and sometimes even acknowledgement. That feels good and it's one of the reasons (if we are honest) many of us help others. Helping others just feels good.

Help4Your Business

So often the principles that guide us through life translate simply into developing a business and establishing a professional reputation or brand. Here's something that has taken me years to learn. It's a lesson I must remind myself on a (more than I'd like to publicly admit) regular basis.

You can only genuinely help organizations that want your help.

No matter how good your recipe is, how skilled you craft that piece of furniture, how clean you make your store, or how much training you've received to practice your medical procedure, if your recipient isn't ready to accept your help or insights, there is no reason to offer it.

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"I'm the best tooth cleaner this side of the swamp.Is that a... feather?"

Through the years I have made the mistake of putting concepts, creative ideas, best practices and new measures in front of scores of people when they were not ready to hear them. Being early is great when it is a 2pm appointment. Being early with guidance and help is not such a good course of action in business.

It's important to be available and willing to help. It's even more important to know when to offer it. Oh, and try not to take it personally when they decide not to ask - that may be the toughest lesson in this month's issue...

May 2014

When they Ask4Help

Sometimes it's a phone call or an email. Every once in a while someone will text me or stop me on the street.

Usually it starts with, "Hey Bruce, do you know someone who...?"

With a little thought and some memory triggers, I am able to suggest a person who can help with insurance, a great woman who does event planning, a scavenger who can find a hard to track down object, a guy who is amazing at making puppets or murals or whatever else it is.

Generally it takes just a little thought for others to build your library of helpers. Do that first and as you connect resources to the people who need them, you'll get some indirect benefit as well.

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Connect2Grow

When you connect people to others you help both parties. Yes, that's a simple concept. If you want to grow your business, one of the best first steps you can take is selflessly and purposefully linking others. You don't do it to directly build sales. That becomes a bi-product of your development as a resource to others in need.

It's rather transparent if you're in it for yourself. Trust me - that rarely works.

Building your library of trusted helpers and making those connections and introductions is a smart way to bring value to your relationships - in and out of the work place.