G-Force
  • Solutions
    • solutions.it
  • Software
    • Software.it
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Business Owner Q&A
    • Cool Resources >
      • Fun Stats
      • Prezi Favs
      • Video Favs
      • Infographic Favs
    • Special Project - iPray
    • Contact Us
  • Interns
    • Interns.it
Picture

The Blog

Why Your SOP Isn't Working

5/19/2014

29 Comments

 
Picture
Customer Quote of the Week                       

“Standard Operating Procedures?  We have ‘em but just don’t follow them and we pay for it daily.

Could your Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) be better described as Hopeful Operating Procedures Never Complied With (HOP-NCW)?  

Most of us understand that systems and processes are necessary to be efficient.   A business coach I work with (Gary Furr) claims you don’t have a business if you don’t have organized systems and processes.   Why then do so many companies have their SOP (Standard Operating Procedures collecting dust on a shelf?

One of the first things that I ask new clients is to give me an overview of their Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).  If you have a process / checklist oriented mindset, with embedded automation and controls (DIGITIZE IT!), a business owner can immediately  realize incredible returns on investment.  Too often, I find that companies started with some form of specific procedures for carrying out routine operations but they became lost in the rush and inconsistencies of daily business.



Read More
29 Comments

#whereisthemoney in Social Media

3/31/2014

75 Comments

 
Picture
Customer Quote of the Week

Social Media ... "Where is the money?"

This is a great question.   First, stay away from marketing people in trying to answer it.

I was asked to review a proposal a client received from a marketing professional to do "social media" marketing for them.    Below is my response.   

****

Hi Susan,

Thanks for asking for my advice.   I think you can tell that I think more like a business owner than a marketing person.    In this light, as you explore hiring a marketing person to "do social media" I would recommend quantifying the outcomes you want to see and investing in a few inexpensive tools that can help them achieve those outcomes.   The proposal you have received, has no target outcomes, and you easily could pay for months of busy work with no outcomes.   There is no shortage of channels and good ideas to waste money on.   Fortunately you have Infusionsoft, a powerful marketing automation solution that can help you verify your channel return on investment.


“The pressures on marketers today keep getting greater and greater as there are more channels to market in, more types of marketing programs to manage, more data available for intelligent buyer segmentation and higher expectations for personalized communication among your buyers and prospects. As a result, there’s an increasing need for a marketing automation solution that can help manage these challenges,” David Raab, owner of Raab Associates, Inc.   http://www.softwareadvice.com/

Read More
75 Comments

The Business In Your Business You Are Missing

2/19/2014

20 Comments

 
Picture


Questionable Quote of the Week

"I need new business."

Ok.   From where?

Marketing / Life Lesson 101   
Remember, you can usually count on the people closest to you.

After filtering out those you can't trust, you might be surprised how much "business within your business" that has been otherwise hidden from you.    

The thumbnail on the left represents a new infographic that we are proud of,  showing just one case study of the "business within your business".   These results were achieved with Infusionsoft marketing automation and our sharp G-Force apprentices.          

The full size infographic and some tabular results of 6 similar campaigns are below.


Read More
20 Comments

Superbowl Training for Small Business?

2/1/2014

 
Picture
Questionable Quote of the Week

"I wish I could have some superbowl level coaching and live training to help my business".

You can.

Have you ever participated in an event that inspired you so much you wanted to share it with everyone?   What if unlike many events, after attending, your inspiration and confidence didn't fade but grew?

This was my experience when I attended last year's Infusioncon (this year its called ICON14).    

In my opinion, ICON is the best "superbowl level" coaching and training conference for small business leaders. 
  
Two goals for this blog:

First, practically speaking, the price of this year's ICON14 goes up February 7th from $399 to $499.  If you are remotely interested in attending, I recommend checking it out and making a decision this week.   FYI - Since I am now a Certified Partner of Infusionsoft, you can use promo code NEWSOME10 and you can get 10% off.   Pretty darn incredible event value for $350.  

Second, there are things we can learn as business leaders as well as individuals from principally the Infusionsoft culture behind their ICON event.    

Are you like me and had your fill of conferences chock full of big ego talking heads who give inspiration without implementation help?   Have you noticed how there is no shortage of good ideas but there is always a gross shortage of help in implementing those ideas?   This is what made ICON stand out for me last year.  


Read More

The purpose of business is to make a profit...right?

12/14/2013

15 Comments

 
Picture
The questionable quote of the week

"The purpose of business is to make a profit...right?"

Wrong.

A dear friend, a nuclear scientist, while working for a software company helped me understand a few years back that what is simple and intuitive is not always right.    

We live in an age of sound bites and a pop culture that reinforces that our purpose individually or as business is fame and fortune.   This entitled focus is cancerous and is lethal to long term success individually and in organizations.   Last week I spent some time with a super fast growing organization where the CEO's number one metric WAS NOT profitability.   

****


Read More
15 Comments

Not an Entrepreneur? You might rethink that.

11/17/2013

16 Comments

 
Picture

Customer Quote of the Week

Entrepreneurship Is Not for Everyone

Or is it?  

Many view entrepreneurs as that radical and constantly broke inventor or that friend that thinks business is an "extreme" sport, taking risk where no one else will.     

What if entrepreneurship is at the heart of our longevity in each of us as working members of society?    On this Thanksgiving holiday, I am thankful for our forefathers' entrepreneurship but also our future entrepreneurs.  

What if you could find more satisfaction with your work if you viewed yourself more as an entrepreneur?    What if we could cultivate the same enthusiasm for a new future as our forefathers?    I think we can.



Read More
16 Comments

Quit Improving?

10/13/2013

14 Comments

 

Customer Quote of the Week


"Quit Improving?!"

Some improvements only help hide bad habits.

Picture

What's obvious to improve is not always what is best to improve.   Making a bigger and better sandcastle, with a bad habit of building it too close to the sea ... is well... predictable.  

Do we really need another "improved" diet program?   Maybe we just need to stick with the last one we started and find a practical way to address our bad habits (eat less, exercise more, and do it consistently).   

Maybe we should take a break from "new" improvements, "new" ideas, "new" causes, "new" education, and stop avoiding or reinforcing our bad habits. 

Another pointed example?    Being "busy" and involved in "good works" are great for covering up bad habits.    Consider church, volunteer organizations, or political causes.     These are great places to get excited (and distracted) with the "bigger cause" and avoid our own bad habit gremlins.  
  


Read More
14 Comments

I shouldn't get a loan?

9/23/2013

60 Comments

 

Customer Quote of the Week

"I shouldn't get a loan?"

Loans are dangerous as they can reinforce bad habits with tragic consequences.

Picture
This logic applies to our business owner / business leader audience as well as our apprentice age audience.    If you have bad habits, and you can admit what they are (if you can't identify any, just ask a colleague or family member...), be sure to ask yourself if that loan you are considering will further enable those habits.   

Business Owners / Leaders:   If you do not systematically engage and interact with your ENTIRE network, fueling word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing, a loan will simply compensate for your indiscipline.  Word-of-mouth sales would have averted your need for a loan in the first place!   Read more for some solutions.

Young Folks:   If you get a loan for cash you otherwise could have earned but didn't because of a lack of self-discipline and hard work, you are making your future work that much harder.    Perhaps being sure that you know how to work hard, smart, and earn money, even if it is digging ditches, should be the first form of higher education that you invest in.    


Read More
60 Comments

I remain skeptical about cloud based software.

9/6/2013

57 Comments

 

Customer Quote of the Week


" I remain skeptical about cloud based software "

Maybe you should be more skeptical of standard convention?   

Picture
Ponder this quote by motivational speaker Tama Kieves "The worship of convention will never lead to astonishment".   Skepticism in moderation and with the right motive is healthy.   However, skepticism driven from a reluctance to leave our comfort zones in my opinion is equivalent to self-imprisonment or intentional delusion.          

I am pretty comfortable challenging convention (yes, sometimes to a fault).  In the past few weeks it has paid off.    In this blog I will share my latest "astonishment" in regard to how "cloud computing" is especially valuable to small business.    Some of the "cloud computing" based apps that are exploding around us to integrate completely different "cloud based" software platforms and databases with no programming skill required is simply awesome.  



Read More
57 Comments

My New Employee is Failing Me

8/19/2013

17 Comments

 

G-Force Customer Quote of the Week

"My New Employee Is Failing Me".

Or are you failing your employee?      

Just like politicians, too often we throw money at or hire individuals as a magic pill for fixing things.    Do we really own the problem and do we really have the knowledge to fix or even hire the solution for that problem area?  

Sales, marketing, and general administration are a few favorite and easy places to misappropriate funds, talent, and unrealistic expectations; especially as the digital market place continues to become more complex.   

Here are a few classic examples:
Picture

1)  When we hire a salesperson valuing the size and quality of their rolodex more than the quality and competitiveness of the company's offering and customer service (what we are selling).  

2)  When we hire a do-it-all marketing person to do PR, graphic design, manage PPC ads, do SEO, maintain the website, grow social media engagement, coordinate events, manage print collateral, build and place ads, conduct market research, build market forecasts, etc. 

3)  When we hire the do-it-all admin who mainly picks up all the pieces for where the owner or other staff drop the ball, plus of course answers the phone when no one else will.
   
These type of hires hurt the employee and business.    Like a slow growing cancer, the initial impact is intangible yet can become enormous.   When the impact is finally felt, sometimes it is too late to correct.   

Without a clear strategy and clear execution processes, or hiring a proven strategist in the field to determine those fundamentals, throwing money or people at problems simply perpetuates bad habits and empty hopes.    The complexity of the digital age is compounding this problem.    The digital age is our greatest opportunity but also our greatest threat.    This link provides several infographics that exposes the depth of this complexity that we take for granted and is burying many of us.    A recent 2013 Gartner Report highlighted how "companies are outsourcing up to 50% of all digital marketing activities ...[as] the technological complexity of digital marketing has created a need for a new type of marketing leader, the Chief Marketing Technologist"  See the article here. 

It is our opinion that it is important to hire proven strategists for functions outside your expertise.  Strategists that are personally proud of their own individual competitiveness in the market, are well connected in their field, and who apply the latest technology to maintain their edge.    Their strength is not their own.   Their strength is in their ability to call up when needed the right talent, the right technology, at the right time, and at the right (best) price.   

I encourage you to dig deep as to why you like having a "captured" employee at your beck and call more than a "free agent", pay-for-performance, independent contractor.   Do you have employees that happily perpetuate your bad habits to keep their jobs or do you have strategists (employee or independent contractors) empowered and compensated to clearly improve your business, including even eliminating their own position?    What incentives are you giving your overhead consuming employees to eliminate some of their job functions with some of the latest, super cool, cloud based business automation software (have a cool blog on the topic coming up soon)?

In closing, for your sake and your future employees, be slower to hire.   Also, don't be afraid of what you don't know.   If you have not yet engaged any virtual contract support, do some research on the topic and try some out.   From virtual chief executives and executive business coaches to virtual assistants or apprentices, they can be a great value for the money.    However, just like any employee or contractor, there are no magic pills for solving your problems.   Everyone who works for you must be appropriate for the task, given SMART objectives (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely) and regularly followed up with (managed).  

“Entrepreneurs have long seen outsourcing as a strategy reserved for big business, but technology has made it a more accessible tool for small businesses--and for some small firms, outsourcing has made a powerful impact on their growth, productivity and bottom lines.”   http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/204652

Association of Corporate Counsel talking about the growth of virtual corporate legal counsel here.

Global Accounting Alliance talking about the growth of virtual CFOs here.   One more reference here.

Maybe one day someone will write about G-Force leading the charge for virtual marketing support?  

17 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    Giancarlo Newsome is the founder of G-Force Accelerated Marketing.    

    Giancarlo, backed by a team of super pro marketing specialists and a team of young apprentices represent the most cost effective virtual marketing department on the planet.    This team has a simple mission to increase sales and / or reduce effort for all clients.    G-Force does this affordably by employing some really cool and simple business automation software and getting apprentices to do the bulk of the implementation work.    In a nutshell, a small business leader gets super marketing pro work at intern / apprentice rates.    Our apprentices in turn make a buck while gaining priceless experience working along side business / organizational leaders.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    Bad Habits
    Business Innovation
    Business Process Management
    Cloud Software
    Content Marketing
    Crm Social Media
    E Mail Marketing
    E-Mail Marketing
    Entrepreneurship
    Follow-Up
    Independent Contractor
    List Management
    Mail Chimp Review
    Marketing Discipline
    Mobile
    Mobile Payments
    Online Directory
    Open Api
    Project Management Software
    Saas
    Seo
    Small Business Marketing
    Small Business Marketing Automation
    Small Business Project Management
    Software As A Service
    Software Selection
    Super Pages
    Technology Overload
    Telephone Book Advertising
    User Experience
    Ux
    Virtual Assistant
    Virtual Cfo
    Web Based Software
    Web Development
    Website Design
    Website Frustration
    White Pages
    Word Of Mouth
    Word-of-mouth
    Yellow Pages

    RSS Feed

Copyright 2014 G-Force
  • Solutions
    • solutions.it
  • Software
    • Software.it
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Business Owner Q&A
    • Cool Resources >
      • Fun Stats
      • Prezi Favs
      • Video Favs
      • Infographic Favs
    • Special Project - iPray
    • Contact Us
  • Interns
    • Interns.it
✕