Sep
30
The last segment in the series of Fearless Selling: How to Energize Your Marketing Strategies and Build Business Relationships.
When I launch a new product such as a card deck of 52 Ways to Have Fun at Work, then I send my clients a sample of my new product as a thank you gift for choosing to partner with me in business. When I see an article in a trade magazine that I think would be valuable to a client, I will send them a copy whether it is about my, written by me, or just on a topic that would be of interest that is sent along with a note that I’m thinking about them.
I always send a thank you gift to a client along with a hand-written note after every presentation in appreciation for collaborating on a program for their members or employees. I keep a stock of a variety of items on hand that represent the image I want to project for my business. I have had items customized for me, I’ve found items in catalogs and malls that had just the right flair and I pick up a bulk order of them, or I have made ceramic plaques with the phrases I use in my programs to give as gifts. I change items every year or two to keep it fresh and I keep track of what I have sent to whom so I don’t give a repeat gift.
Another way I’ve found to keep in touch by adding value is to offer clients or their customers a free tele-class as a premium. Clients can either offer the tele-class to their team members or they can offer it to their customers and use me as their thank-you to their customers. Bridge lines are inexpensive to rent and it gives me a chance to offer more information and services to my customers.
The best way I have found to keep in touch and to keep building on relationships is to add value to people’s lives and to save them time, money, effort, or energy, or at least give them information or products that will do the same for them. When I make contact, I make sure it will be welcomed.
What kinds of things are you doing to energize your marketing strategies and build better business relationships. Remember, you don’t necessarily do business with another business. You do business with people. I can’t say enough about the neatest product I’ve found to build business and personal relationships through www.BizBuilderCards.com. Kody Batemen and his team have developed the slickest way yet to keep in touch with people using a click of a mouse to send real-life paper cards that are customized by you and that end up in their mailbox. The response from my clients and friends has been overwhelming to get something other than junk mail or from Ed McMahon in their mailbox. The coolest part about it is that the company is a pay-it-forward kind of company that promotes gratitude, acknowledgement, appreciation, and a celebration and honoring of somebody else’s life. I am happy to set up a free gift account for you to try it on for size and see how easy it is to touch somebody’s life through a customized greeting card. I will even pay for the postage. Give me a call to set up a 10-15-minute session so you can start sending out cards.
To Your FUNomenal Success!
Gail
Sep
18
Manifest Your Life Dreams - A Gift to My Community
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As I do programs on acknowledgement and appreciation across the county, I meet some very neat people with amazing ideas. I wanted to show my appreciation to members of my clientele, audiences, readers, subscribers and other people in the Fun*cilitators, Biz Builder Cards, Your Energy Expert community for being awesome supporters of the cause for energizing individuals and organizations.
One of the neat people I’ve met recently is Debra Kahnen, RN, ND, a Life Plan and Breakthrough Specialist who is committed to your health, wealth and happiness. Through her personal health coaching business she has graciously offered her gift valued at $95 for everybody in my community with our complements to help them reach their goals. Here is a link to her e-book, Power of Clarity at http://lifedreamsmanifest.com/bonus.html. Clarity is one of those gifts we give ourselves and Debra’s powerful tool just helps make that a whole lot easier.
Debra and I hope you enjoy manifesting your life dreams with the help of her inspiring and information-packed e-book.
To Your FUNomenal Success!
Gail
Sep
15
Starting Your own Seminar Business - Energize Your Entrepreneur
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This just in…I just received my personal copy of Entrepreneur Magazines Small Biz Book series book on How to Start a Seminar Production Business. I was fortunate enough to be one of a handful of people interviewed for the book. If you’ve ever wanted to be a professional speaker or travel the world talking, here’s the book for you.
Here’s a snippet
Alternative Careers
This doesn’t mean that only ad agency executives or pocket-protector-bearing efficiency experts need apply. Seminar professionals come from all avenues of life. The ones we interviewed for this book encompassed a variety of alternative careers: clinical psychologist, electrical contractor, recreation professional, physician, and sales and marketing professional.
The tip here is that all these entrepreneurs figured out how to make their backgrounds and their interests work for them in their new careers. They’ve taken the skills and enthusiasm they’ve already acquired and applied them to the seminar business.
Paid To Play
Gail Hahn turned her knowledge of how to have fun into a successful seminar business, Fun*cilitators. “I’ve been a recreation professional for over 20 years,” she says, “getting paid to play and energize people’s lives and help them attain self-actualization through leisure education. From 1986 to 1996, I was the outdoor recreation director in Germany for the Department of Defense. We ran a tennis center, a ropes course, a rental center, and trips throughout Europe and Asia for soldiers and civilians connected with the military.
“Coming back to America in 1996 after blowing out my knee skiing,” the Reston, Virginia, resident explains, “I had several months to think about the business plan and my escape from the federal service. I had been planning and plotting for about two years prior with a mastermind group/success team while in Germany. I built my house with a home office to urge me to get the business going and then started the business in January 1997. I kept my day job for about a year and a half to keep the cash flow going.
“The more I got into it, the more committed I became, and the more I found that there was indeed a market of really stressed-out people who needed to be shown how to practice safe stress and mix effectiveness with fun—to get energized and learn how to become playful professionals in order to balance their lives—especially around the DC area.”
Click on the link listed at the bottom of the suggested links list to save $10 on your book. The site has this and other business start-up guides to energize your inner entrepreneur.
Sep
15
Next in our continuing series of fearless selling and how to attract, retain and recognize your customers or clients, we have some more practical pointers.
I send out customized postcards several times per year with photographs of me doing adventurous activities or another unique photograph I have taken on my world travels. There is usually a blurb on the back of the postcard with information on a new program or other beneficial service. I usually write a note on each postcard.
My clients get a new year’s card thanking them for their business. I choose new years since I am usually swamped over the holidays and could never get a holiday card out on time and I don’t want my card to get lost in the avalanche of holiday cards that arrive in December.
There’s a growing subscribership to my free, priceless monthly e-zine called Live Wire which has been building the business and building exposure since 1998. Keeping in touch through the ezine helps continue the relationships I’ve built over the years and it also introduces my business to others who are new subscribers. I’ve started another ezine with my business partners just for women called Footnotes at http://www.gutsgraceandgusto.com/ as well as my blog http://www.energize-me.blogspot.com/ to continually give value, service and information about improving your life and your workplace.
Your next installment will be coming soon… if you have ideas of how you attract clients, add value to their business and grow your own, send your comments for publication.
To Your FUNominal Success!
Gail
Sep
13
I often get lots of questions about how I build my businesses when I work from home. I’ve created a list if ideas of things I do to attract and energize my business and create great relationships with my clients, audience members and members of the community. It’s all about people and serving them to the best of your ability and making the time to keep in touch with them as well as bringing them more value to their lives. Nobody likes spam. Here is the first in a series of posts that will have you building relationships and building your business, and energizing your sales and marketing strategies no matter what kind of business it is.
As an entrepreneur, professional speaker, and writer working alone; it’s critical to build strong relationships amongst clients as well as colleagues in order to grow your business and help others in the growth of their potential as well. Genuinely keeping in touch with your advocates and those you hope will become your advocates keeps business streaming through your door and keeps you connected with peers and prospects alike.
I’ve found that having a system for most things makes it easier to accomplish more in less time. When I keep to my schedule and system, then keeping connected to the outside world becomes a good habit. I have always been one to be leery of bugging people and not wanting to seem to shameless in my sales pitch, but rather to be of service and to bring value and needed benefits to my clients and potential clients. I use the theory of giving to get when I make business contacts through email, snail mail, voice mail, or in person. When I send something out of the office it is usually filled with valuable information, a fun new product, a notice of something of benefit to them in the future, or something tasty to eat.
Putting surprises in packages for my clients as a token of appreciation gives me great pleasure. I have found through experience that people love to get treats, especially chocolate. For client appreciation, I often send my customized gourmet chocolate bar that has my trademark tagline printed on the front “You’re Funominal! ™” along with a notecard thanking them for their business. ….
Stay tuned for more tips to add success and significance to your life and the lives of others….
Your Chief Energizing Officer -
Gail
Sep
10
Energize Your Youth Program, Kid’s Birthday Party or Community Event
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Have you ever been in charge of coordinating a children’s birthday party or did you just find yourself hosting a house full of neighborhood kids for the evening with nothing for them do to? Or are you a Youth Services Director, Camp Counselor, or just in charge of doing a special event for your community and don’t know what to do with the children? Hold onto your hat, we’ve got just the ticket for you with our newly revised: Pennypincher Playbook of Activities: 350 Events & Ideas For Adults & Children - Fresh Ideas For Leisure Programs That Don’t Break The Bank
I’ve expanded it and revised it with even more ideas. When you order online at www.Funcilitators.com/parafunalia, within the next 10 days, I will send you a bonus report compiled from practitioners who are community special events coordinators. You get extra ideas for monthly programs complete with what equipment it takes, how long, for how many people and other details for putting on a special event in your community…all at no charge to you as your special bonus….priceless!
The download of the Pennypincher book contains over 350 ideas for low-cost and no-cost interactive exercises, games, & ideas for social activities. Some with detailed activity descriptions and some one-liner ideas for events. This book is compiled from over 25 years working in the leisure and recreation fields - oodles of ideas to jumpstart your kid’s programs.
You know…. even though these programs and activities are meant for kids, I have successfully used them with executives during retreats and with military officers during workshops. Let your inner child come out and play and use these ideas for corporate training too!
To Your FUNomenal Success!
Gail
Sep
8
Here you go, the final installment of how to torment your team members. Be sure you read this in the mirror so you know that if you do everything backwards that this article says, then you should be successful at creating a motivating and meaningful environment for yourself and your team.
41. Have all the answers ready for them so they don’t waste their time and brain power figuring it out themselves. They can be more efficient if they aren’t testing new solutions and just do it the way you said it should be done and trust that your answer is the only right answer.
42. Don’t compliment their work. It can only lead to over-inflated egos and you certainly don’t want another peacock strutting around fluffing their feathers thinking they’re better than anybody else. That’s why you’re there- to show them that none of them are heads above the rest.
43. Take care of your own career and reputation before those of your colleagues. Be the one to kiss up to all those above you, emulate them and talk trash about your teammates so you look better in the eyes of your boss.
44. Act more privileged than your employees, after all, you’re a manager that is above them- you’ve earned it. Come in late, leave early and take your fair share of longer lunch breaks. Show them your importance by letting them know you’ve got other things to do and people to see.
45. Let it be known just how busy you are by constantly checking your cell phone or Blackberry during meetings, interviews or over lunch. Show others that you can multi-task with the best of them- there’s no need to lose productivity by focusing on just one person at a time.
46. Hire insecure people so you can easily manage by intimidation and through your tone of voice and snide comments. They will just be grateful to have a job at all- remind them that their paycheck is their reward.
47. Just for fun, use all the industry acronyms you can think of during the first days of orientation. Play practical jokes on the new hire for your version of disorientation just to see how their sense of humor will fare in your work environment.
48. Proceed to tell the new recruits the background stories, gossip and history of everybody on your team to get them up to speed on their co-workers. You will save them the hassle of getting to know people and making their own informed decisions.
49. If you need to discipline a co-worker, do it in front of the whole team. That way, it will give everybody an idea of what you don’t want and will save you the effort of disciplining others who may have been thinking of doing the same thing. Getting everything in the open shows a sense of family.
50. Have a suggestion box, use comment cards, solicit input and feedback, then do nothing to carry out the comments and pay no attention to complaints.
51. Employ the one strike and you’re out mentality. It lets them know you mean business. No second chances for first impressions. Do it right the first time or don’t do it at all. No sense in encouraging experimentation, we’ve been doing it one way for years and it hasn’t been half bad.
So there you have it: fifty-one ways to ditch your X (or your Y) generations in the workplace. Fifty-one because you should always give a little more than expected and over-deliver what you promised you would provide. If you implement these fiftyone items, you will certainly be dubbed a tormentor who infects the workplace rather than a mentor who affects the workplace.
Being mindful of how not to manage can be just as affective as being aware of how to manage. If you should hear the words “micromanager” being uttered as you walk by, know that it is not a term of endearment and take heed. Read through this list again and see if any of these nifty fifty (one) items sound familiar. Then do what you must to turn it around, or else you will watch your new recruits turn around and head out the door. One last sobering thought, if you think you can just replace those who do walk… it costs one to three times an average salary to replace an employee, not to mention the downtime, stress and team development curve. Pay attention to your people and it will pay off.
To Your FUNominal Success!
Gail
Sep
7
How to Drive Your Team Out the Door
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Here you go, yet another installment of how to irritae, aggitate and finally drive mad, or at least drive away your Generation X and Y employees. Heck, this behavior may even drive away the Baby Boomers or the Traditionalists to boot. Employ these tactics and don’t be shocked if you have no employees after a while.
31. Only approve in-house professional development if absolutely necessary. Choose all courses for them. No need to worry them about all those choices. Don’t bother them with the hassles of packing and traveling to training or conferences in desirable locations.
32. Develop a serious all-business work environment. There’s no room at work for a sense of humor or fun when people are trying to be productive.
33. Ensure employees work in isolation with very little personal contact. Working as a team creates too much trust, open communication and understanding. After all, they may discuss what’s really going on in your organization and gang up on you with quality suggestions after a collaboration session.
34. Avoid getting personal with colleagues at all costs. Draw a thick line between personal and professional and don’t allow anybody to cross that delicate line.
35. Demonstrate strictness and strong disciplinarian tendencies. Avoid any pretense of being relaxed, approachable, casual and people-oriented.
36. Keep employees in the dark about how they contribute and make a difference. They needn’t be bothered with such distracting details.
37. Offer only one benefit plan for all staff regardless of their personal situations. A menu of options can be too time consuming and confusing.
38. Only promote externally to keep new blood flowing into the system with a continuous flow of new ideas and methodologies. Demonstrate to your team that if they want to move up, they’ve got to move out.
39. Don’t tell your team what you expect from them. Keep them on their toes by keeping them guessing. They will be exercising their imaginations and creative thinking by trying to figure out what is expected of them.
40. Eliminate anybody who isn’t 100% behind you. Show them you reward blind loyalty by not even entertaining a hint of conflict or confrontation with your ideas. They will enjoy only needing to learn one company policy: “My way or the highway.” They needn’t jumble their minds with ambiguity…..
To be continued with the last segment of 50 Ways to Ditch Your X (and Y) Employees by being a tormentor rather than a mentor to them.
What are you doing to create a meaningful workplace filled with empowered employees?
Gail
Sep
6
Surefire Ways to Chase Employees Away
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In our continuing series of how to ditch your X (and Y) generation team members, here’s your next installment of how to be a tormentor rather than a mentor. These are surefire ways to chase away your top talent….even your middle of the road talent.
21. There’s nothing like the use of hype to capture their attention. They’ve been exposed to over-inflated marketing claims all their lives from all media outlets. Why stop over-promising and under-delivering now?
22. Keep up the pretentious attitudes. After all, you’re older and have been there and done that. Never mind that they’ve virtually done that and been many other there’s through cyberspace.
23. Keep changing your incentive programs. After all, you’ve heard that these new generations are adept at handling change. They would probably like a flavor-of-the-month program to keep them guessing.
24. Say one thing and then demonstrate the exact opposite with your behaviors. Throw that role model notion out the window.
25. Be extremely judgmental about the new generations in the workforce. Keep a closed mind about how and why they do things differently than you.
26. Don’t worry about handing out rewards and forget the phrase “What gets rewarded gets repeated.” A paycheck is all they need.
27. Invent new policies often to cover behavior demonstrated by one person. Give inconsistent treatment or ignore inappropriate behavior by one person. Either end of this continuum will cement your role as tormentor.
28. Enforce inflexibility in the work schedule and demand all employees report to work at one time and leave on schedule without any interference from life outside work.
29. Arrange to be flexible about quitting time only when it benefits the organization and overtime hours are needed to finish a project, but for heaven’s sake, don’t compensate them for putting in the extra effort and missing a personal appointment. Chalk it up to paying their dues and being a team player.
30. Ignore personal development for your staff- they can get that on their own time.
If you want more ideas on better ways to really motivate your team - check out some of the articles on my resource page at http://www.funcilitators.com/resources.htm or subscribe to Live Wire ezine while you’re there for regular infusions of fun and effectiveness at work.
Until next time…..remember that mentors affect teams positively and tormentors infect teams with negativity. What are you doing to be a mentor or a tormentor?
To Your FUNominal Success!
Gail
Sep
5
Unmotivating Your Workforce & Creating Disgruntled Employees
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In the second of a series of how to be a tormentor and not win the boss of the year award; here are tips to make sure you keep your turnover high and your employees disgruntled.
11. Give group thank you’s, never be specific or personal and by all means be insincere and late with your praise.
12. Throw your front line to the wolves without proper prior qualifications, training or orientation into the culture of your organization. No need to waste time learning the job when they can practice on the job training and be creating an image of your company to the public.
13. Don’t waste time cleaning up the workplace, especially the back area and bathrooms. Why bother with these things that are outside of your job description? They’re just going to get dirty again anyway.
14. Ignore opinions and ideas from new staff. They’re too young and inexperienced to have fresh suggestions. Forget that they’ve been day-trading stock online, managing a credit card, and designing websites for their soccer and debate teams for several years.
15. Be in their face and on top of their every move to second guess their decisions. There’s nothing like micromanagement and hand holding for new recruits.
16. Depend on the annual performance appraisal with the numeric grading scale to suffice for management/employee relations. Forget that Generations X and Y are used to constant communication and feedback every sixty seconds on computer games to know how they are performing so they can change course if necessary.
17. Limit career growth and divide the labor responsibilities up into miniscule tasks so there is no way to guess how it fits in with the big picture. To have such a tiny job in the organization ensures limited professional growth in a dead-end job.
18. Keep the pay low for entry level positions and avoid promotions. No need to get them excited about advancement and delusions of making a living wage.
19. Don’t turn them soft by giving them too much recognition and acknowledgment. They may get too big for their britches and think they can actually take on more challenge.
20. Create a high-stress environment especially from understaffing to prepare them for the work environments they will encounter the rest of their lives…..
If your aim is to created gruntled employees, then don’t do any of these tips. Until the next installment of 50 Ways to Ditch Your X (and Y) Employees…..have a great gruntled day!
Gail