Wine not Whine – selling by word of mouth

I’m tired of hearing about how bad the economy is…”my business isn’t doing well, things are so bad!”  I ask the same questions, “are you connecting with people who can help sing your praises, are you attending networking events, do you have a strategic partnership with anyone?  In every instance, they are not connecting, they are not attending and they have no partnerships – don’t want to share the wealth.  No wonder business is so bad!   Last week I went to a wine tasting at The Wine Reserve and met Joseph Carr, Proprietor of Joseph Carr Wine.  Before I sampled his great selection I asked him how he markets his wine. (Joseph Carr is a fine wine producer from Napa Valley California, I was talking to him in New York State (hint hint)) He shared that he does most of his business from word of mouth—someone tried his wine and told the next person. He took his wine to fine restaurants and introduced it to people he knew who would sing his praises and then, tell all of their friends. He got out from behind the “barrel” and went to fine wine stores and met the “client”. He didn’t rely on the client coming to him – he brought the product - a real nice wine- to the client.  Along the way, he made some great choices which partnered his wine with some well known restaurants.  Magazines picked up on the story, tv covered the product and now – he is branching out to the overseas market.  Not because he sat back and waited for success to come to him, but because he went out and made connections, networked and developed partnerships.  Sure the economy is bad if you are always selling to the same people, never leaving your business and doing the same old thing! It’s like wearing the same old sock, day after day – eventually it is going to wear old, look dingy and rot! Your choice—-make connections with current clients actively ask them about referrals, is anything new with them, what organizations do they belong to, how do they feel about your business; go out and network, attend a chamber event, an organization meeting, a town board meeting, a not-for-profit event; find other businesses who have the same type of client you have and get to know them, ask if you can cross promote and refer them to your clients.  Get out from behind the “whoa is me” and participate in your own success.  Think Wine not Whine! 

Joesph Carr makes a fabulous Chardonnay. Not too “oakie” or too fruity.  For more information go to www.josephcarrwine.com   He also have a few reds and another line – Josh.  Very reasonable bottle of wine and a great gift to bring when you visit someone.

Talk to the Hand or Is it something else now….

March has been a busy month with meetings, events, networking, friends and family.  In the 90’s it was all about “talk to the hand”, but I firmly believe that the 2000’s will be all about talk to the cleavage!  Could it be that I am no longer “hip” and missed the message about cleavage?  Did my cool card expire and I was not notified? Or could it be that I grew up in a different century and a cold climate where we kept our clothes on to stay warm.  Whatever it is, I am at a loss for all the cleavage surrounding me.   When I was in the 7th grade, I had a Latin teacher who threw a classmate out of class because he had a what is now called “a wife beater shirt” on instead of a  real shirt.  She demanded he leave and not come back until he was dressed.  At the time, I was impressed with his courage to come to her class so scantly dress. Yes, to be honest, those bare sleeves sent a spark of desire right to my loins.  If I had to look at that all class, I would not have conjucated any of my verbs correctly! She was right demanding he leave the room. (just thinking about it today I feel that little spark)  I feel like my Latin teacher, I want to tell all the cleavage to go home and change, put on some clothes, come back dressed respectively. Is it because I am female that I don’t find the cleavage attractive or is it because I spent summers on my grandfather’s farm looking at the milk cows with their “cleavage” hanging out for all to see.  Whatever the reason, I am sick of cleavage. The sad part is, it is not just young girls who are thrilled to show off their growth hormome bodies, grown women are hanging out of their clothes!  I’m sure you know the difference between the inside and outside voice – well it’s the same with cleavage – it’s an inside package!  Tuck them in, buy a bgger shirt, a better bra, a sweater, a coat, duct tape – I don’t care what you use but put those things away!!  Women have been fighting for years to gain respect in the business community. Now we find that bringing the “girls” to a meeting or event and showing them off  is  considered normal.  If you need to put the “girls” on exhibit to spark conversation or be interesting then you need to learn networking skills not cleavage-working skills. You can take the “girls” out when you are home or with close friends but don’t bring them to a meeting.  If they were meant to be seen, they would be on top of our heads – even there you could cover them with a hat!    I’m starting my own trend – when the “girls” come out to see the world, I’m asking them to go home.  Maybe if we all passed out coffee cups when someone brings their “girls” to a meeting and asked them to please put the “girls” in the cups until the meeting is over, we would be talking to the hand again instead of the cleavage!

If business is so bad, why aren’t you doing something about it?

At least once a day someone will say how terrible business is, no one is calling them, stopping in, or ordering anything . I wait until they are done crying and ask, “what are you doing to bring business to you?”  More often than not, I am told, “nothing.”  Nothing?  Really, no wonder your business is not growing.  Now is the time to get out there, do something different, find a new market, become involved, DO SOMETHING!! If you sit back and wait for business to come to you, you might as well shut your doors. It is not going to come. How about looking through all the business cards you collected last year and send out a few emails.  Invite some “friends” out to coffee and find out what they have been doing.  Ask them how you can help them. You would be surprised what may come back to you.  If you invite five people out for coffee, discover what is going on with those five people, chances are those five people will want to know what is gong on with your business.  After coffee, they’ll leave and think about your business and tell a few more people about you and then you quicky become the hot topic for the day.  A few years ago everyone was using the term, “creating a buzz”.  That’s what you want.  You want all those bees who had coffee with you to go out and spread the honey about your business. Chances are they’ll learn something new about your business!  How hard is it to look at the colleciton of cards you have in a box and pull out five every other week and ask them to coffee.  Maybe coffee doesn’t work, so you do a phone conference just to catch up.  If you spent the time networking to capture those cards – you should spend the time reaching out to follow though.  How about contacting a local not-for-profit and letting them know you want to help.  Maybe you can donate an item or your time. You would be surprised how quickly the word gets out that you did something.  Granted, you may get a few more requests but you can always tell people that you only make one donation a quarter and will keep their contact information on file. Ask them to put your name on their newlsetter list so you can stay informed about all the great work they do.  You never know where your next customer/client may come from!  If you run a retail store, why not find another owner in your neighborhood and ask if they will split the cost of advertising with you.  Maybe you can host an event – it doesn’t have to be huge, just an opportunity to have a few people in to remind them what you have.  Go to your local chamber and ask them if you can have a membership directory to find someone who you could partner with.  If you are not a chamber member, join a chamber- you can always ask about payment plans for membership – you don’t know if you don’t ask!  Look online for other groups, activities and community events in your neighborhood. Get involved. You can’t sit back and wait for business to come to you – you have to go to business.   I call it “active marketing”.  Need more suggestions, email me and I’ll see what I can generate for you. melody@melodyburns.com

How do you decide?

Just like every other small business this time of year brings with it invoices to renew. Instead of January/February maybe we should change the name of the month to Renewalary.  How do you decide what is worth your time and money?  I look at my receipts for each event, meeting, seminar, focus group, discussion group, mixer, meet and greet.  How much did I pay to attend - over and above the annual “dues”.  Then I look at the business cards and determine did I meet anyone I could do business with, did I do any business, could I do any business, do they know someone I could do business with and would they be a good connection to put in the bank.  This takes a little bit of work.  When I attend “something” I collect business cards from people I meet. On each card I make a notation about date, event, and then rate that person using “did”, “do”, “could”, “know”,and “bank”.  That way when I file them in my binder, which is compiled by month with most recent in the front, I can look back at them and make an educated determination about the “renewal.” Let me explain.  I joined a group/organization, paid a little more than I wanted to and only attended two events all year. I quickly discovered the events were too pricey and always happening at the same time as something else – something that had proven to cover all of my five requirements.  When I looked back at the cards from those two events, I discovered they were “bank” only cards.  So when the renewal came during “Renewalary”, I declined.  Now I have those dollars to invest in another tool for my business tool box. 

 Here’s another tip! When I attend an event I ask if I could have a list of everyone who attended.  Sometimes it works – sometimes it doesn’t.  There may be someone in the mix you didn’t get to meet as they were monopolized by a big talker.  You can’t always break through the big talkers, you have to walk away and let those go.  If you have a list of everyone there you can reach out and introduce yourself. Then you can determine was it worth it.  Don’t just renew because you have always “belonged” – maybe there is another option. Maybe you should reach out to the contact person and say, “hey I am considering not renewing this year – I didn’t find it worthwhile for me.”  If they are doing their job, they’ll say, “hmm, I’m sorry to hear that but maybe you can get involved with this committee, or I can introduce you to this person.”  Sometimes it only takes that connection to make it worth renewing.  You should look at all the cards you collected last year and start reaching back to people to let them know what is new and exciting with your business in 2009.  Reaching back because you already met them and now need to catch up. I’m sure they have news.  Instead of starting out with all the great things you are doing, ask them what is new and exciting about their business and how can you help them.  If you don’t ask, you won’t know!  So if you belong to an organization, club, committee, group, community – look at your connections and put them to work. Don’t cancel all your memberships until you have exhausted every option with the group.  If you don’t ask – you won’t know!

Have you noticed how tv is using “stars” on thier shows?

Last night I stopped what I was doing for a few minutes and watched “Lie to Me” on the Fox Network.  Not a bad show but they are really using “star power” to promote the show.  If you haven’t watched it yet, check it out.  The premise behind the show is a consultant is hired by people to prove or disprove something.  Last night they were working on a case that involved a woman in the Army who claimed she was raped by her Commanding Officer.  They determined she was not telling the truth but showed you a few “stars” and politicans to get their point across.  They also spoke to the woman who had been voilently abused and showed how she was scared.  When explained how you can tell, they used more stars.  I found it funny they used Bill Clinton for lieing and Sarah Palin for being afraid when she spoke to the press.  Throughout the show you saw celebrities and politicians as they explained how you can tell with facial expressions and body language.  I recall during the election(s) that body language was all the rage. Now this show takes it to another level and educates us all about facial expressions.  I wonder if this will start a trend and people who watch the show will be using what they learned the night before when watching the newscasts.  Perhaps someone should alert all the politicians to watch the show so they will know the signs and learn how to cover when they lie or are afraid.  Maybe more of them will go back to radio … so the public doesn’t know.  Thanks Fox for bringing this show to life. I’ll watch again just so I can discover who is telling lies and who is afraid.  I wonder…….

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