Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

What is it that determines ones success in life? In business? Let’s take a look at how a simple lemonade stand can teach you the skills necessary to succeed.

Attitude

You’ve heard it before… Attitude is everything. Well, it certainly can’t hurt. Wouldn’t your rather be running a business with these fun lovers who know how to take a break and have some fun? Or, you can always work with me, the slave-driver

Seriously now, its best to take someone who is in a funk and move them off the front line until their attitude shifts. Or, just send them home. It’s not worth the loss in sales. Your customers’ lives are hectic enough. Wouldn’t you prefer to be around someone who is spreading liquid sunshine? So would your customers.

Teamwork

What a great opportunity to learn how to take turns, share and work together toward a common goal. I watched seven little girls divide up tasks themselves. Each found a way to contribute. One sat behind the lemonade pitcher and poured the lemonade in the cups. Another collected money. Another shouted into the microphone. One held the menu. One held the sign. One wrote on the sidewalk. Another served the cookies. And each provided assistance to the others. Wow, I couldn’t have orchestrated it if you paid me. What made it work? They all shared the same vision and a desire to have fun and make some money. It didn’t matter how they got there and who did what. They shared responsibilities. They kept moving forward to their goal.

What would your business be like if everyone worked like that? What would it take to get there? Can everyone on your team buy into the vision and strive for the goal?

Goal Setting

On Sunday my middle daughter took a break from the lemonade stand to play with a friend who stopped by. She was very disappointed that she wasn’t going to get any money for the time she was away. She immediately said “How much money do I need to make to go to Build-A-Bear Workshop?” When I told her she stayed focused all the rest of the day and never left the stand. Once she had achieved her financial goal (at about 6:30pm) she said “Okay, mom, I’m done. We can close up now”.

Without a goal, she never even would have sat at that lemonade stand. But her sisters were earning money to go to “Build-A-Bear” and heck if she was going to be left behind.

Give yourself something to shoot for. Give yourself a goal. Without a clear picture of where you want to go, you may never get there. but if you know that you want to go to Build-A-Bear tomorrow morning, you’ll walk all the way around the park until you find enough people to buy that lemonade.

I have a friend who excels at Network Marketing. I once asked him what is the key success factor for someone in your business. You know what he said? “Hunger. You’ve got to really want to succeed.” Do you have the hunger? What will it take for you to get it?

I once had the hunger and I achieved great things. Then I lost the hunger and I lost the things. I rediscovered the hunger in a new place. One that is sustainable. Is your hunger sustainable and can it be met while achieving a balanced life?

Life Balance

The second lesson my daughters learned from this is that if you don’t participate, you don’t share in the rewards. You need to contribute and do your share to share in the results. You need to do the activity. When my youngest daughter took a break to run in the sprinkler, she knew full well that she wasn’t going to get paid for the hour she played, and she was okay with that. She had already earned enough to go to “Build-A-Bear” and its was time to play.

As you can see from the video above, a quick run through the sprinkler is refreshes the attitude. Make sure you plan time for replenishing your soul. How can you take a “run through the sprinkler” today?

Activity

If you want to achieve your goals, you have to do the activity. You don’t necessarily have to “work” in terms of putting a lot of labor and pain with it. You can choose to have fun or to be cranky, but you do have to do the steps to sell the lemonade. You will have more fun and more success if you have a good attitude, but without staffing the stand, you won’t sell any lemonade.

My husband has this great quote that he taped to his computer. It says “If all you do is sit around and visualize, the men in white overalls will come and take away your furniture.” I know a lot of personal growth classes teach you just need to visualize, but its only part of the equation. You actually need to do activity to support you vision.

While activity gives you results, it’s activity with a positive attitude that gives you success.

Activity + Positive Attitude = Success!

Have you planned to balance your goals and activities with some attitude refreshing fun? Make room for that creative down time. It’s in those quiet moments that brilliance comes to you.

What are some of your favorite stories of those non-working moments when something brilliant comes to you?

Lemonade Stand Marketing – The 5Ps

How do the 5Ps of marketing apply to something as simple as a lemonade stand? What lessons are learned that you can apply to grow a large and profitable business?

As I mentioned in my previous post “Lemonade Stand Marketing – Location, Location, Location!“, my kids put up a lemonade stand last weekend during the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival and here are the lessons learned that I think can be applied to your business too!

The Product:

In our case defining the product was simple. It was lemonade. But you know, there are different kinds of lemonade. Did the kids need to differentiate their product? Nope. Let’s think back to who the best customer was. It was someone walking away from a hot, sweaty, over-crowded festival full of overpriced, under-portioned food. What were the key elements the target customer was interested in? That’s right, it had to be cold and refreshing.

Do you think they cared what color it was? Do you think they cared about the brand? Do you think they cared whether it was sugar-free?

Not at all. Cold and refreshing were the desired characteristics.

The Price:

After attending a crowded festival where a bottle of water sold for $2 and a snow cone for $4, how much do you think the lemonade stand customer was willing to spend? The girls set the price at $0.50 for an 8 oz. cup. This was seen as a bargain by the customers. It was a great value compared to what they were used to. Such a value that they often gave more in tip than they paid for the product itself. And they did so happily!

What can you do in your business to inspire your customer to pay you more than you ask?

The Place:

We already talked about this in the previous article. A simple lemonade stand across from a crowded festival brought in the traffic needed to reap solid financial rewards. OK, so it was a not-so-simple lemonade stand since the mom, that’s me, is an entrepreneur with lots of supplies. So they did have a nice white pop-up tent to help provide shade. Okay, now the designer in me is taking over…It was used to not only provide shade but to create a focal point and define the space, thus drawing extra attention to the stand.

The Promotion:

The kids really took off with this and had a blast. They made a sign on hot pink fluorescent paper. Then the girls found themselves some sidewalk chalk and made arrows and signs all over the sidewalk. The menu was prominently displayed on the sidewalk. Then they got a paper and pencil and made a menu. They approached everyone on the street (it was hard to get past them) and took their order.

Another technique used to grab attention was the spider man microphone. You know, the kind of toy microphone that simply magnifies your voice using no batteries. Shouting “Ice Cold Lemonade!” into the microphone was the most successful sales technique of the day to drive sales. Fortunately, no dress-up costumes were required to grab the attention of passerbys.

The Upsell:

I’m adding the upsell information in here with promotion, but it also entails the other Ps inlcuding product and price. You see, the girls didn’t just sell lemonade, they had add-ons, loss-leaders and upsells. Yes, and they didn’t even know it! They started with lemonade for $0.50 and then offered cookies/brownies for $0.25. Now how many people do you know these days that walk around with change in their pocket smaller than $1? Not many! So if you are whipping out a $1 bill to buy a $0.50 glass of lemonade, and there are $0.25 cookies next to them, are you going to want that extra $0.50 back or are you going to buy a cookies too? And do you really want the quarter in change or are you going to leave it as a tip?

Now, they got really tricky here by offering free water to dogs. it was a kind gesture, because, you know, it was a really hot day. Well, it just so happened that one of the daddies jokingly suggested that they sell dog buscuits for a quarter too, and well, out came the dog buscuits! Now we had our official loss-leader, free dog water, with the dog buscuit upsell. Whalla! Who kinew selling lemonade was such a sophisticated endeavour?

The People:

Who do you think was more successful selling lemonade: seven little girls all bouncy and smiley or a sedentary mom and dad? When the kids took a break, so did sales. Just goes to show that sometimes your team members are the key to your success. If all else fail in your business, I suggest exploiting the cuteness factor of a little girl’s smile.

Now, for those of us who hate planning, do you think taking a step back and applying the 5Ps of marketing might give you some insight on how to improve your business?

Next up: Lessons from the Lemonade Stand: Life Skills.

Do you remember the basic business lessons learned as a kid? How can something as simple as a lemonade stand teach the business essentials to grow a large and profitable business? Let’s find out…

This past weekend was the annual Colorado Dragon Boat Festival which takes place in the park across from my house. It’s two days of racing dragon boats down a course, with hundreds of teams participating. It has also turned into the largest Asian culture festival in Colorado. Over 100,000 people attend the 2-day event.

Why is this information important to a child’s lemonade stand you ask? You could say Location, Location, Location; but I call it Traffic, Traffic, Traffic! The business location is important, but the key characteristic of the location is the amount of traffic of targeted customers that location brings. In our case, with 90 degree heat and 100,000 potential thirsty customers we put up the lemonade stand and invited some friends over to help run the store. So what happened?

Timing! Business success is all about timing. Do people drink lemonade in the morning? Not really. Do they drink it while they are on their way to the festival? No, because they just left home and are still refreshed from the air-conditioned car. When do they drink lemonade? On the way home from the overcrowded, sizzling hot, sunny festival.

Get in front of the customer when they are ready to buy!

So what time do you think the kids reaped the most reward for their efforts? That’s right, from 2-5pm; the hottest time of the day. When the girls put up the stand at 2pm, there were people standing in line while they were setting up! How’s that for a booming business!

Now, the girls took this one step further. They actually noticed that their were a lot of people with dogs passing by. One girl said, “We need free water for the dogs!” And so it was. The dog water was put out and then when the girls saw someone with a dog they enticed them over with the promise of free dog water. Now how can you pass up seven super cute 5, 7 & 9 years old girls with ice-cold lemonade and fresh water for your dog? That’s what I call knowing your customer and targeting their needs!

Are you applying these principles in your business? Have you identified the best traffic-getting location, timing and needs of your customer? Do you know how to get in front of them when they are ready to buy? How have you made timing, location and customer segmentation work for you?

Next up, Lessons from the Lemonade Stand: The 5Ps of Marketing.

18 Ways to Identify Your Life’s Passion

Follow Your Passion

Everyone has a passion, it’s just a matter of whether you have allowed yourself to find it, live it, and believe it. I have a friend, we’ll call him Jim. But Jim has been struggling and depressed for the 10 years I’ve known him. He is convinced that he has no passion. I know he’s wrong.

You see, Jim has a passion for perfection, structure, order, and timeliness. He enjoys travel and companionship. He has a strong attention to detail, is respectful and prompt. He is kind, reliable and loyal. No, Jim is NOT a dog. But, Jim thinks he lacks passion in his life because he doesn’t have a hobby he loves.

Passion isn’t just about hobbies. It’s about acknowledging what your strengths and weaknesses are and embracing them. As I tell my children, we are all given different gifts, each and every one of us. Our purpose is to figure out what they are and share them with the world.

What’s your life’s purpose?

Your life’s purpose may not be just about following your hobby. Perhaps it is about finding a task or activity that utilizes your unique gifts to the best of your ability. When you are doing the things you are good at and that come naturally to you, you will feel energized and rejuvenated doing them. When you use these skills to help others to further their dreams, it is then that you are living your life’s purpose.

Exercise: How do we find our passion and purpose?

There’s no way around it. To find out your passion and purpose, you’re going to have to do some exercises. The following are some questions that will help you to identify these things. You will need to look back at your life and experiences and search for activities that you loved or were good at. You will need to do a brain dump. Don’t spend a lot of time evaluating your answers. Just write each thought down and then move on to the next thought.

• Think about the activities that you are really, really good at. Write them down. Have you won awards?

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• What skills do you have?

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• What are your strengths?

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• What characteristics would your friends, family and colleagues use to describe you?

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• What do you love to do? What brings you joy, happiness or satisfaction? What excites you?

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• What do you do for play, leisure, enjoyment? What is it about that you enjoy?

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• What do you read about?

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• What have you secretly dreamed of?

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• If you could do one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

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• What would you do, even if you never got paid for it?

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• When you have spare time, what do you like to do?

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• What are you willing to spend 10,000 during until you perfect it?

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• What one subject can you enjoy talking about for many hours?

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• Which of your hobbies could involve working a lot with other people?

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• What do you most enjoy doing for others?

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• At the end of your life, what would be the one thing you want to be most happy about having done or having been?

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• Who do you most want to help, enable, or reach?

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• What five life experiences gave you a sense of fulfillment or growth?

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