The fastest way to grow your business

June 25th, 2010. Filed Under: Business, Success Stories. Tags: build your business, Business, Fort Collins, Wally

It’s getting nice and hot here in Fort Collins, and my friends and I have been getting out on the mountain bike trails quite a bit lately.

Getting out there is always a great opportunity to listen to your body and mind, and see if the universe around you can teach you a lesson or two.

For instance, a few months ago, I was riding along, and it just seemed to be really hard to get going up the hills.  I was sweating and breathing heavy, and my legs felt like they just wouldn’t get me going.

But I persisted, and geared down, and kept on cranking away.

Eventually I reached a clearing where there was a nice mellow downhill.  And I have to say, it was really great to be flowing along effortlessly at that point.

Wind to the back, pedaling along, but by then it felt like somebody else was doing the work – and I was just along for the ride.

It didn’t come easy, but eventually I got there.

It’s the same thing when you’re growing a business.

Some days, or even months, feel like you’re just slogging your way up hill.

You’re cranking and pumping and sweating, and the place you’re trying to reach never gets any closer.

And then suddenly, one day, you get to the top, the terrain changes, and all the work you’ve been doing starts paying dividends like crazy.  The wind is at your back, and it feels like people are just magnetically attracting themselves to you and what you’re offering.

The fastest way to get moving from the long, slow uphill…and get yourself on the fast track with the wind at your back is to use good old fashioned word of mouth advertising.  That’s right, the good old referral system is still number one after all these years.

Here’s the trick though.

You can ramp it up 1000s of times, if you’re doing it right.

Here’s how it works.

You build your email list, or your Facebook following, or your blog following.  Or maybe you do all three.

Then you do a joint venture promotion with one of your trusted allies, and send some people in their direction.  And then they send some people from their list in your direction in return.

It’s a win-win, and it happens all the time in the offline world.

But there’s only one of you.  And that’s a problem.  You can only be in one place at once.  You can only be on a single phone call at once.

Yet with a website sales system in place, you can be in front of thousands of people at once, all over the world, and use the tried and true method of word of mouth advertising to build your business by triple and quadruple digits – in months, instead of years.

It works for you even while you’re sleeping, and it builds your business automatically.

That’s how you get over the hump and the wind at your back.

Keep on cranking,
-Wally

PS – So let’s say you are an accountant, and you want to double your business next year.  It’s easier than you think.  But you have to know which path to take.  Here’s how to begin on the path to double your business.

PS – Let’s say you’re a plumber, or an auto repair shop, or any service business at all.  The path to double your business is waiting for you here.

Today’s Megatrends of the Web

June 15th, 2010. Filed Under: Business, Internet Marketing. Tags: Business, High Tech, High Touch, trends

A few years ago I was visiting a friend’s house and over on their book case I saw a rainbow colored book on the shelf, collecting dust.

It was the 1982 classic Megatrends, by John Naisbitt.

I immediately picked it up and began reading.  Before long, I was asking my friend if I could take the book home with me, and I never gave it back.

The book was great, and I really wished that I had read this thing back in 1982, because if you had understood everything that was in it – you would have been well positioned for the next 20 years of your business life.

The most important part of the book was a chapter called “High Tech, High Touch”.  If you’ve never picked up this book, I suggest reading it for this chapter alone.

Here’s the basic premise:  High Tech is the machine, and it feels like a machine.  High Touch is what we crave as humans, because it makes us feel like a real human being.

If you’re able to combine high technology with high touch, human interaction – even if it’s delivered through that very same technology – then you have a winner.

Consider Facebook on this point.  You have amazing technology that is basically transparent to you, feeding you information about your friends and colleagues.  In fact, it usually can tell you who else should be your “friend” because the technology behind it is so advanced.  Yet, it feels like a giant community.

The combination of high tech, high touch is what makes this such a success.

When it comes to trends, the trend is your friend as long as you know where it’s taking you.

There are 3 Megatrends on the web right now, and they all revolve around high tech, high touch – and using the technology that we have to deliver YOUR message to the RIGHT people.

The first megatrend is the mobile web.  The web is now with you, wherever you are.  And that means that your customer is looking for you at any time, whenever they need you.  If you can’t be found, and you don’t have a presence, you’re in trouble.

The second megatrend is the social web.  You have to “be real” when you’re developing a marketing message online.  Those who are real and are interacting with their customers on a regular basis are gaining loyalty, and recommending their friends.  Those who aren’t in the game, or are playing it wrong, are losing ground…fast.

Finally, the third megatrend is the real time web.  This one began with Google news and Google alerts a few years ago, and now is hitting it hard with Twitter and Facebook updates.  When something big happens, it’s all over the Twitterverse in a matter of minutes.

There’s a number of ways to take advantage of these megatrends, and as we move into the next decade, the evolution of these spaces is going to speed up significantly.  We’ll see new devices that take advantage of these trends (the iPad is the best example) and we’ll see new ways of interacting with our customers.

At the end of the day, you’ll need to make sure that the marketing machine you have behind it is built to get your message delivered to the right people.  Those entrepreneurs who are taking advantage of mobile, social and real time, are the ones who are creating the future before our very eyes.

It all starts with your traffic driving strategy.  Position yourself directly in front of qualified, willing, ready to buy customers.

Here’s to creating the future,
-Wally

P.S. – It’s a fact.  The fastest way to grow your business is to increase qualified visitors to your website.

P.P.S. – With 42 Million iPhone customers and counting, the mobile web is just getting started.  Here’s how you can guarantee your success.