Honey Creates Loyalty

Being nice can take you so far. My favorite quote that I apply to my life just about everyday is "you attract more bees with honey than with vinegar." Whenever possible, I try to make other people's lives a little more pleasant and I appreciate it so much when that sentiment is reciprocated.

This is so true in business. How many times have you walked into a store and got the sense that not only were they doing you a favor by having the doors open, but you were bothering them with your patronage? How many times did you present an issue to a customer service representative, only to hear in return, "there's nothing I can do; sorry, company policy." Unfortunately, kindness is business is the outlier. Which is why, as business owners, this is the best and most efficient way to set yourself apart from the competition in order to build lasting relationships with your clients.

You see, if you own a business, regardless of your industry, you are in the relationship business. The needs of your customer or client are much more important than your agenda or quota. If you can deliver the 3 Ps- people, product, and process- than that pesky fourth P will take care of itself without much thought from you... profit.

I recently heard a friend relay a positive experience at a well-known  grocery chain. Unfortunately, positive service stories seem to be much less shared than poor experiences, but in this experience, an employee saw her bewildered over attempting to reach a jar of peanut butter in the very back of the very bottom shelf- in a skirt! This employee quickly moved to the floor and lay on his side in order to reach her desired peanut butter. He didn't stop there, either! He then carried all of her groceries to the front of the store where another smiling employee was waiting to ring her up.

How many people do you think my friend will share this experience with? How many times do you think she will recall this experience and decide to go out of her way to visit that store instead of the other one that may be a little more convenient for her?

Great service builds great loyalty. That is what we are all after at the end of the day, isn't it? To find companies with whom we can place our loyalties and be business-owners with whom those we serve choose to remain loyal.

Focus on your Inspirational Why

What inspires you and your dreams? What are the things that keep you up at night because you can't clear your head of them, but when you find sleep, they appear in your dreams? What are the things that fuel you everyday, giving you the drive to keep pushing, keep working, and keep reaching until you obtain what you truly desire?

Inspiration can come in many forms and certainly looks different for each and every person. No one can influence or take away your inspiration- it belongs to you and you alone. You call the shots. You decide whether or not it is worth it.

Sometimes, it is so easy to lose sight of your dreams and the fuel and work you've put behind them because of little old life getting in the way. Instead of focusing on the WHY and the end goal, we get sidetracked by the small, day-to-day distractions that pull us away from what we're truly after.

My greatest inspiration and why...family

As an entrepreneur, business-owner, and woman in the business of following dreams and taking names, I too get distracted. I get discouraged. I allow myself to get defeated instead of focusing on the wins and the goals I am on a journey to accomplish. Like many other ventures, it's not a race but a marathon.

While my business provides services in writing, public relations, and media, that's not my WHY but my product. I do these things because I want to help other business-owners reach their fullest potential; I want to be able to fill the gaps between knowing your business and reaching your clients. What inspires me to do this each and every day is my family, creativity, wellness, and faith. If it weren't for those things, I would not be able to provide the service I do with the passion that accompanies it.

My inspiration and why... health and friendship

One of favorite ladies in business is Christy Wright. At a recent conference, Christy talked a lot about figuring out what matters to you and living your life and scheduling your time in a way that reflects those priorities. "Stress and anxiety are caused when there is a disconnect between our values and our behavior," she said.

I think if you take that idea and really ponder on how true it is in your life, you will see that we want so badly to have our dreams and desires come full circle to serve our priorities. For instance, "if I make our financial goal this month, my children (my priority) will be taken care of."But then in the midst of the craziness of life, our focus shifts from our WHY to the HOW and we wonder how we got so off track when our children are begging for our attention, or spouses say they never see us, and the talent or hobby that started your venture now feels just like another task that has to be done in order to make a quota.

Focus on the inspiration. Focus on your WHY every single day. Make a list of your top priorities or values that drive you to wake up every morning, fight every day, and dream every night and post this list somewhere where you can reflect on it consciously every day. This could be a list on your desk or an image board or something else entirely. Make it in a way that speaks to you and reminds you in the thick of everyday life that your purpose is greater, your inspiration matters, and you are fueled by things that makes your heart beat faster.

Lacking Gusto, Finding Perspective

Everyone struggles with finding willpower and motivation from time to time. Even the most confident of us can have moments, days, or seasons where we've lost our gusto and are having a hard time relocating it and putting it into action.

What are you focusing on lately? What area of your life needs a little boost in the gusto department?

It could be weight loss or a fitness journey, it could be in your relationships, job, or other endevour that you know what your end goal is, you know how important it is to get there, and yet- here you stand. Deflated, unencouraged, and unmotivated.

This week has been one of those weeks for me. I have felt unwanted, unappreciated, and so far from reaching my goals I wonder if they're even worth it. These weeks don't happen often, thank God, but when they do they are real and pungent. I know I am not alone here.

If you are having a week similar to mine, do me a favor. Just take a moment to assess the good things in life. They may not be directly affecting the points of contention you feel but I think in times like these, we all just need a dose of perspective. There is good surrounding us. We are doing a few good things. Good people do care about us and our dreams and our struggles.

Try for a little perspective and if you're lucky, it may just turn into positive insight into what is holding you back or what is needed to get you over this hurdle. Because once you cross over it, it's in the past and on these journeys, we don't operate with a rearview mirror. Other obstacles may come around but we will be better equipped to handle them when we know how strong we really are.

If you are feeling unmotivated and unempowered, know that this too shall pass. Better days are ahead if you just keep moving forward.

Eagles Only: No Turkeys Allowed

We sat in the corner of a popular local restaurant, surrounded by members of the military, families, casual diners immersed in their casual conversation. It was nice to have the secluded back corner to ourselves, five people with one common thread: we are all entrepreneurs.

We aren't competing; quite the contrary actually. We are bringing our unique talents and perspectives to the table in order to learn from one another and encourage each other. Novel idea, right? 

As we got right down to business, as sometimes we small business owners tend to do, we also took time to laugh, label our group the Eagle Tribe, and pretend to flap our wings and call out in our native eagle tongue while our server pretended she wasn’t laughing at us.

The week prior, we had attended a Dave Ramsey EntreLeadership conference together. We learned a lot from those much wiser than we, brainstormed together, and took note of some of the things to which Dave Ramsey and his fellow presenters attributed their success.

One of these was Dave’s Eagle Team. He described a tight group of men who met once a week for many years. This group shared similar goals, paths, and business ethics and they weren’t afraid to be straight shooters around one another. They could trust one another to lift them up, call them out, and point out red flags. Dave says they weeded out the turkeys so that only true eagles remained.

As I have learned so much about my passions and merging them into a lucrative business, I am understanding the importance of choosing wisely those you spend time around, share details of your life with, and trust enough to solicit and accept advice. When you find one or two of those eagles, fly close to them and don’t take that for granted.