18 posts categorized "Education"

Entry By Jason Brick

Ed. Note - Last week we posted 9 Classic Business Books You Should Have Read Years Ago — and this post is the followup. If you missed the first, we highly suggest you read it now!

Reading is an important form of education for most small business owners, but not all business reading has to be about business. Check out these titles, ostensibly in other sections of the library that can stimulate your business mind just as effectively.

1. The Art of War by Sun Tzu
   This classic book of military strategy was recommended by Michael Douglas's Gordon Gecko character in Wall Street. You always knew business was full of conflict. This manual tells you how to win them.
2. The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
   Don't let the title fool you. This hippie-flavored text is full of actionable ideas for improving your personal effectiveness, focus, energy level and relationships with people.
3.  The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
   "Machiavellian" means "brutally effective" for a reason. Another centuries-old book, this one describes how to run a principality for maximum gain. As it turns out, principalities and businesses aren't terribly different.
4.  The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
   A pop-scholarly work on globalization and modern communications, it's one of the best for wrapping your mind around how people work in this century. Business owners operating without his insights are at a disadvantage.
5. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
   Gladwell uses case studies of successful ideas and businesses as the core of this book, but it's really about how people think and groups react.
6.  Drive by Daniel Pink
   Pink spent years looking at the research on what really motivates people, and found some surprising facts. It will help you identify the kinds of incentives your staff needs, and how to apply them.
7. The Book of Five Ringsby Miyamoto Musashi
   Where The Art of War discusses battle at the mass scale, Five Rings is about personal combat. Musashi's lessons can just as easily be applied to the "singles combat" of negotiations and meetings with human resources.
8. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
   A guide to moving serenely through the tribulations of life. The Agreements -- Be Impeccable With Your Word, Don't Take Anything Personally, Don't Make Assumptions, and Do Your Best -- are equally applicable to successfully navigating the rough waters of business and entrepreneurship.
9. The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
   When people say somebody is smart, most of the time they mean that person communicates well. Especially in this age of easy self-publication, social media, blogging and text marketing, knowing how to write is a skill all business owners need. This is the go-to book on the topic, recommended by the likes of Stephen King and "Grammar Girl" Mignon Fogarty.

These obviously aren't the only non-business books you can use for business. Other blogs have recommended everything from The Bible to Dr. Seuss. What reading would you recommend?

Entry By Jason Brick

Whether you read them while riding on the commuter train, kicking back in the hammock at your house, or streaming from an audiobook during your workout, learning the best ideas business has to offer will directly improve your company's bottom line.

If you haven't read these books by now, you should make doing so a priority. If you have, consider looking into some other works by the same authors. 

1. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
   Covey's insights into how to organize work and prioritize tasks has influenced businesses, academics and personal effectiveness gurus for decades. If you haven't at least heard of this one, you should probably get to know it immediately.
2. In Search of Excellence by Thomas Peters & Robert H Waterman, Jr.
   A study of highly successful international companies, this book identifies eight key principals of business and tells you about this with a variety of case studies.
3. The Practice of Management by Peter Drucker
   Trends change, but people remain the same. There's a reason this book on how to manage and treat your people has stayed in print for 67 years.
4. The One-Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson
   A newer book on how to handle your employees or team, this focuses on result-driven communication and fostering trust between yourself and the people who help you succeed.
5. The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
   Gerber built an empire on teaching people how to systematize their businesses for best results with least effort. This book distills his most vital discoveries into actionable advice.
6. Competitive Strategy by Michael Porter
   A theoretician writing about the real world, Porter managed to create a classic that changed not only business, but how business is taught. Sixty-three printings later, the book remains a must-read for those who want to grow a business beyond their local neighborhood.
7.  How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
   Carnegie got it. He understood that most of success isn't skill set, knowledge or market -- it's knowing how to express your ideas and get other people excited about them. This book tells you how.
8.  Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar
   No business book list would be complete without mentioning sales training by Zig Ziglar. This is one of his most comprehensive and best.
9.  The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley & William Danko
   Though mostly about wealth management, this study of how people become millionaires is full of actionable advice for small business owners looking to make the most out of their profits.

Of course, books don't have to be classics to be worth reading. What are some more recent publications that belong on our bookshelves? Comment below with your favorites. 

Ed. Note - We will follow up this post next week with a collection of business books 'that aren't really about business.' Stay tuned!

Entry By Jason Brick

Stephen Covey died on July 16, 2012. If you run a business, you've probably heard of him. If you haven't, you've definitely heard some of his ideas. Covey is arguably the most famous and influential thought leader for business and work methods of the 20th century, the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. His passing leaves a huge hole.

Here are some authors and thinkers who might be able to fill it.

• David Allen Allen's Getting Things Done described a task management system that's being adopted about as eagerly as the 7 Habits. His consulting firm is running strong and he continues to publish.
  • Key Concept: Putting everything you need to do into a system means not spending mental energy worrying about what you haven't done yet.
• Tim Ferris Ferris' The 4-Hour Work Week is about lifestyle design, time management and setting priorities. Though his business model isn't for everybody, his ideas certainly are. 
  • Key Concept: As much as 90 percent of our effort and time are wasted. Fix that and live a life free from "time famine."
• Seth Godin Another business celebrity who started by founding a web boom company, he now writes a blog and dozens of books about how we view marketing, markets and our work. Seth has a cult following, and may be poised to break into mainstream success.
  • Key Concept: The ways of doing business we developed since the late 19th century aren't just outmoded -- they're dangerous.
• Ken Blanchard Author of The One Minute Manager and Gung Ho, Blanchard is tactics to Covey's strategy. He offers specific, actionable advice about managing teams ranging from large businesses to the nuclear family. 
  • Key Concept: Management is a science, not an art. It can be taught and learned.
• Michael Gerber Electing Gerber would be like electing a current vice president after an 8-year run by his presidential partner. The E-Myth, his core concept, is as nearly as popular and widely accepted as 7 Habits.
  • Key Concept: Systems are the best solution to running a successful business.

These may be the front runners, but there are plenty of other smart people in the race. Who would you nominate? Comment below. 

Entry By Jason Brick

Ergonomics can feel like a capitalist's version of feng shui. Some "expert" offers to come in -- for a surprisingly significant amount of money -- and rearrange the furniture in a way that makes your business work better.

If you run a major plant or similar operation, it can be worth hiring a pro to organize your workflow. For the rest of us small business owners, simply avoiding the most common and costly mistakes is enough.

1. Storing "Grouped" Items Separately
   If you have a task that requires both a widget and gizmo, always store the widgets and gizmos as close to each other as possible. Otherwise, that task takes extra time with every repetition.
2. Cramped Work Spaces
   Working in a cramped, or otherwise restricted or uncomfortable, work space slows the work process and costs you money. It also makes repetitive stress injuries and similar maladies more common.
3. Cheap (or Inappropriate) Tools
   If somebody has to drive screws every day, spring for a power driver instead of a hand tool. This saves time every day and cuts down on workplace injuries.
4. Bad Floors
   Rough floors can trip. Too-smooth floors can cause slips. Folks on their feet all day should have an ergonomic mat to ease the stress on joints. Fixing this can be one of the cheapest ways to boost office ergonomics.
5. Dim Lighting
   This one is obvious, considering how often it's ignored. Keep work areas bright enough to work in, and change light bulbs whenever they start to dim.
6. Poor Work Space Arrangement
   Any given work station has a flow to it. If that flow is set up for maximum efficiency, it works well. If it's set up poorly, it costs money.
7. Bad Lines of Sight
   The worst line-of-sight situations require you to hire extra people to keep an eye on the door, or on line workers. Make it easy for people -- including supervisors -- to see everything they need to see.
8. Ignoring Hazards
   Most small business owners have done this once or twice -- putting off a repair that makes an area more hazardous than it should be. Don't do it, and if you are -- stop.
9. Bad Storage Arrangement
   In your storage areas, put heavy and large objects on the lower shelves. Light, small objects go higher up. Any other arrangement takes more time and risks more frequent injuries.
10. No (or Inconvenient) Ladders
    Some jobs just need a ladder or step stool. If you don't have one -- or if it's all the way across the facility -- your employees will try to make due with a rickety pile of boxes, or one of your wheeled chairs.
11. Cheap Chairs
    If your employees will be sitting in chairs all day, make sure they're nice chairs. Back injuries and tendonitis are just two of the risks associated with cheap sitting space.
12. Not Writing It All Down
    Your processes and policies are there to help people work safely and efficiently. If you don't write them down, it's hard to train new employees on how to do things the right way. It's even harder to discipline employees who don't want to comply.

Entry By Jason Brick

If you came to owning your business from a management background, you already know the importance of controlling variable expenses. If not, apply these ideas to cut your costs and find out just how much you can save. The trick to the best expense hacks isn't that they make dramatic day-to-day differences. It's that they add up to thousands of dollars a year when used in concert. 

Seen outside the Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, CA

1. Separate Storage
   Keep only what your team needs for a day next to the work areas. Store your spare consumables in a different closet or other space. Seeing large caches in the open encourages your staff to be wasteful.
2. Go Digital
   Phone, fax, credit card processing, and all manner of other once-vital office gear can be replaced with web applications that have equal or better functionality. Jettison the expense and space the equipment takes up. 
3. Switch to Open Source
   Google Docs works just as well as Office for most businesses, as do a variety of free -- or nearly free -- software applications for other purposes. It's rare that you would need to spend top dollar on software.
4. Use a Blogging Platform For Your Website
   Instead of spending thousands on a hand-coded website, download a free blogging template from Wordpress, Drupal or a similar source. For 99 percent of small businesses, it's all you'll need. And it's free. 
5. Find Freelancers
   Never hire a full-time employee for a job that only needs a part-time freelancer. You spend less money on wages, and no money at all on payroll tax or benefits. 
6. Use That Rewards Card
   Business expenses, paid in full every month, is one of the few places a rewards or miles card can really benefit the user. Since businesses often run through expenses at several times the rate of personal budgets, it's just a matter of scale. 
7. Look Into Interns
   Interns provide motivated, educated, low-cost labor in exchange for a polished resume and/or college credit. These workers are especially valuable for helping with that layer of busywork that keeps you from working on building your business.
8. Form Alliances
   You might not need enough paper towels to qualify for your vendor's bulk discount, but it's a fair bet the combined need of your entire strip mall will. Work with other local businesses to combine your purchasing power. 
9. Always Ask Twice
   Never leave a negotiation without asking one more time for a discount or bargain. The worst that will happen is leaving with the exact same deal you had before asking -- and most of the time, you'll get something better. 
10. Go Paperless
    A truly paperless office isn't generally possible, but the more paper you cut out of your process the more you save. Less paper, less toner, less printing time, les s stuff to store. 
11. Barter  
    Always look for "gift-in-kind" trades instead of spending actual money. Beyond working with people you know, you can join barter sites to get wider access to goods and services. 
12. Re-Assess Marketing
    In the 20th century, publishers and broadcasters owned distribution of marketing -- and charged heavily for access. Now, you can publish your own messages via SMS marketing, social media and other venues. Ditch old-style marketing that costs more than it's worth. 

These twelve hacks are by no means the only tricks to make your trade less expensive. Comment below with what's worked for you. 

Entry By Jason Brick

Ed. note – For general Back To School SMS Marketing ideas/strategy see our previous post.

There's a classic Calvin and Hobbes cartoon where Calvin fears that summer vacation is slipping away from him and starts running around in a panic, trying to pack in as much fun as he can in the remaining weeks of summer. Your customers won't take it that badly, but the return to school is on a lot of minds as August fades into September. Mentioning that fact in your text message coupons can keep you in front-of-mind awareness during this relatively busy consumer season. 

1. The Inevitable Merchandise Sale
   Everybody does this, the trick is to find some way to be creative about it. If you offer anything remotely related to the school year, school supplies, or similar, broadcast a different deal every day in the week before school. Get a copy of the supply list from your local school district for help with ideas.
2. Alumni Weekend
   Broadcast a discount to anybody who can show up with proof they attended the local high schools. Be liberal in what you count as proof to maximize takers, and consider a two-for-one buddy deal so your alumni can include folks from out of town.
3. School Days Photo Contest
   Everybody has one or two pictures from high school they don't want to make public. Your job is to offer a deal so great they text that photo to you anyway. Extend this one by having a different themed contest every week: worst hair, best clothes, prom night pics, etc.
4. Mom's First Day Off
   This is an under-served but real part of the back-to school season: that first day when the stay-at-home parent has no little ones underfoot. They'll be looking for a little pampering, so offer a deal that gets them to indulge in your business.
5. School Year Philanthropy
   During the first week of classes, schools eagerly accept donations of cash and supplies from anybody who offers them. Instead of sending a coupon that gives a discount to your subscribers, offer a donation for every purchase made by a subscriber. This can help grow your subscription list, as parents share the deal across their PTAs.
6. Iron Student Contest
   Take time to help aggressive students shine by offering a discount to those who bring in the most challenging class schedules to prove how tough they have it for the coming year. If your business caters to a less academic crowd, tweak it to reflect the tastes of your subscribers.

Entry By Jason Brick

According to research by the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. families spend $7.7 billion on back-to-school clothes every September. They spend $2.4 billion on textbooks, and $5.9 billion on school supplies. Those numbers are for K-12 only, with a total spending of over $52 billion if you include college spending. 

And they don't begin to include the extra expenses of day care and other spending increases that come with the new school year. Bottom line: back to school is big business, and your business should be a part of something that big. Let's explore how you can use SMS Marketing to get in on the back to school action.

SMS Marketing Strategy for Back to School

How you get your business on the back to school bandwagon will depend on exactly what you sell...even if you offer something with no direct relation, you can find a way. 

• If you offer back-to-school related merchandise, such as clothing, books, supplies and sporting goods, this is pretty simple. Tell subscribers that you have what you need, in as creative and attractive a way as possible. 
• If you offer school-related services, it's best to wait a week or so before offering your best deals. Stay in peoples' minds, but realize that people don't usually hire professional organizers, tutors or test coaches until the initial chaos of back-to-school has settled. 
• If you offer mommy pampering, go big on day two of school. Day one is often a half-day, and is always stressful. But day two is when mothers of school-aged children breathe deep and begin to relax. 
• If you offer unrelated merchandise, get involved tangentially. Some ideas include making donations to local schools, offering specials based on school, simply cashing in with a school-related pun. Yes, that means your lingerie store can run a special on "naughty teacher" outfits.

Sample Back to School Text Message Broadcasts

If you're having trouble coming up with your own idea, use these wholesale -- or as a springboard for the message you know will work best with your customers. 

• For back-to-school merchandise, run a series of sales on different kinds of items with each broadcasts. Ten percent off backpacks on Tuesday, buy-one-get-one on notebooks on Friday. Uber-shoppers will come back each day, while others will come in once and overspend on all the other things they need. 
• For back-to-school services, consider a series of brief advice broadcasts, or even a sequence of pithy quotes, to keep folks thinking of you during the week before and after school begins. When week two begins, hit them with a time-sensitive, irresistible offer. 
• For pampering mommy, nothing beats a buy-one-get-one offer so they can spend adult time with friends. This is as true for massage treatments as it is for a coffee house. Consider "teasing" the deal a day o r two early, so moms -- who are often busy -- can pencil you in.
• For everything else, the best strategy is whatever you've been using all along. Just "spin" it in a school-related fashion for late August and Early September.

Entry By Jason Brick

Some people use text message marketing like they use their cars. They give the system a little input, and it gets them where they want to go. They're not interested in what goes on under the hood. 

Others like to know more about the tools they use. A basic understanding of how text messaging works may simply be interesting, or it could provide insight that helps you improve your SMS campaign to better turn potential into profit.

SMS Basics

SMS, or short message service, derives from text communication – essentially an instant message conversation between two mobile devices. The "Short" refers to the character limit imposed on text messaging – 160 characters in the Latin alphabet, 80 characters for more complex alphabets like Chinese Kanji.

On the Airwaves

Even when you're not using it, your cell phone is constantly in communication with nearby towers. They send each other small packets of data over a "command channel" to establish the phone's location and confirm that everything is working correctly. When you place or receive a call, the command channel establishes the connection for a broader band that handles the conversation. 

Text messages are small enough that they ride in with those smaller data packets, passing through the core network then out to the tower the recipient phone last checked in with. In addition to the message itself, that data packet includes a variety of other information:

• Message length
• Recipient phone number
• Sender phone number
• Formatting data
• Data coding scheme
• Protocol identifier
• Time stamp

Repondez S'il Vous Plait

Responding to an SMS message works essentially the same way as sending one. The phone automatically codes a packet of data to go along with the phone's next check-in via the command channel. That packet hits the data tower, then the core network, and then is pushed out through a tower to your phone. 

On your end, various tools and tracking programs analyze the responses to help you track the performance and response rates to each of your SMS broadcasts. Exactly how these work is also fascinating and useful, but a subject for another post!  

Entry By Jason Brick

Learning and growing are vital parts of success in small business. Without education, you fall behind the competition. It's well worth the money for tuition. For many business owners, the problem with education is time. Entrepreneurial schedules are so packed that it seems impossible to make room to become better at what you do. 

Enter e-books and podcasts, two solutions you can use without impacting your daily schedule. They're not the same as an MBA course or seminar series, but they'll keep you up to speed as you're dashing through the tasks of managing your business.

Podcasts
For the five readers who don't yet know what they are, podcasts are like radio programs you can download on demand and listen to when you want. You can put the file on your computer, smartphone or mp3 player. 

This means you can listen to them at any time, especially while:

• Driving
• Exercising 
• Doing manual, menial tasks 
• Running errands

No matter what your industry, you can find a podcast about it. People also record podcasts about business basics, marketing strategy, organization, human resources, and any business-related topic you feel you should learn more about.

You can get podcasts from the iTunes store, directly from the creator, or from various podcast indexes.

E-Books
Just as podcasts are the 21st century's answer to radio, the e-book is the modern world's print publication. They're files you can read on your computer, tablet, app phone or e-reader. 

It may seem like this options takes just as much time as traditional print media, but it has one advantage: You can set most readers to convert the text of an e-book to voice. It's sometimes a disjointed computer voice that sounds like talking to HAL's younger brother, but you can still listen to them like audiobooks. 

One of the best sources of e-books is reading the blogs of industry experts. Nearly all of them offer a free or inexpensive e-book in exchange for subscribing. Though these are often just the basics of that expert's knowledge, most of them include at least a few facts or tips you haven't thought of.

Bonus
Once you've consumed a few e-books and podcasts, you'll be temped to make one of your own. Do not resist this temptation. Experts put these out for a reason -- in the new knowledge economy, they're one of the best ways to promote a business. 

Including yours.

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Check out our SMS Marketing For Small Business eBook now!

Here's an inspiring TED Talk about the power of text messaging:

When Nancy Lublin started texting teenagers to help with her social advocacy organization, what she found was shocking -- they started texting back about their own problems, from bullying to depression to abuse. So she's setting up a text-only crisis line, and the results might be even more important than she expected.

Watch the video above or head over to TED.com to watch - it's five-and-a-half minutes well worth your time.