Bob Phillips On Helping You Take Control of Growing Your Business

Replica Printing San Diego: Growing and On The Move

I had the pleasure recently of sitting down with Ryan Stevens, President and Owner of Replica Printing. Ryan talked about their second location, the services Replica offers and his plans for the business for 2012. For more information on Replica Printing visit http://www.replicaprinting.com.

Don't Panic

Well, the first month of the year is quickly drawing to a close. I'm sure you had a game plan going into 2012 and you should be 1/12 of your way to hitting your objectives.

If your are...congratualtions! Great start, don't get complacent, keep doing what's working for you, just do more of it to get ahead of the curve.

If you're not at objective don't lose heart. If you had a good plan and you work hard, and smart, you'll make it to the finish line as planned. Legendary Pittsburgh Steelers and NFL Hall of Fame footbal coach Chuck Noll said, "Leaving the game plan is a sign of panic, and panic is not in our game plan."  Print that out, tape it to your office wall (I'd frame it) and heed those wise words...daily.

You'll Know In 90 Days

The small business owner paces back and forth wondering if that new salesperson that he just hired and that he could barely afford is going to be an asset or a liability? When will the sales start coming in?

The big company's marketing department designs a new set of "Performance Guidelines" or a performance matrix to determine if the new rep. survives, also know as "The Wheel of Death." Don't hit the numbers in 4-6 months and you're gone.

Wanna know if you're new sales rep. is going to make it? If you should keep them or fire them and cut your losses? You can know in 90 days or less if they're keepers. Here's what to watch:

• Are they early for work every day?
• Do they leave later than you do?
• Are they making calls, makng calls, and making more calls...every day? Not just on "calling day", but every day.
• Can they tell  you the name of a book on sales they're currently reading?
• Are they constantly doing personal emails or texts on their smartphones?
• Did they get a new account in their first 15-30 days?

Stop kidding yourself. You know instinctively after 2-4 weeks if you've got the right person. Of course they looked great during the interview, but after a couple of weeks the true work ethic and committment to succeed appears.

You hired a winner...congratulations! You hired a payroll vampire...what are you going to do about it? Don't let the payroll get drained. Do what's best for you, your company and the other employees that depend on you. Get out the silver bullet and take care of business.

A Crack In The Wall

In the online version of Success Magazine the person many consider to be America's thought leader, Seth Godin (pictured above) writes, "Social media is either a time-wasting, woolgathering, yak-shaving waste of effort, or perhaps, just maybe, it’s a crack in the wall between you and the rest of the world. It’s a choice that’s up to you."

Read the whole article. It's worth the time. It's at http://bit.ly/fMkQPb.

Every 60 Seconds...

From the latest ReachLocal social media programs blog, ReachCast:

"...every 60 seconds, over 60 new blogs are launched, more than 600 videos are posted online, and Google is searched nearly 700,000 times. Every single second." So when the phone book rep. visits you for a renewal think that's the place to spend your marketing money? Hopefully not...those days are about over.

Read the full ReachCast blog titled, "Why Web Presence Matters: A Look at Every Minute On the Internet.

Read everything you can on Internet marketing. It's your future. It's not telemarketing, it's not brochures, it's not trade shows. It's the Internet. E-mail me and I'll give you the names of 2-3 excellent books on how you can start to implement a solid strategy, or just call me. Happy to help you get started. No charge.