Be Part Of The 'In' Crowd At Networking Events

Remember how you used to walk into the lunch room when you were in grade school or high school and wondered, "Who am I going to sit with?" Well, sometimes those feelings come back when you walk into a networking event. Unless you're the gregarious type, you may be faced with that tinge of panic that struck each day in the school lunch room.

What can you do to combat that? Here are a few networking how-tos I've gleaned:

• Have a plan in mind of how many people you want to meet at the event. If you know that, you will have a focus and a goal. 
• Get in touch with the event organizer and see if there is a Facebook group or other area in which attendees are gathering to "get to know" one another prior to the event. This is a great way for you to hone in on who you'd like to meet.  
• The event is not a place at which you will sell your widgets. The event should be looked at as a way to get to know potential clients. Once you meet someone, set up a time at a later date to get together to grab a coffee and see if you can work together. 

Remember, if you see someone standing alone, approach them. If you're in a group and you see someone wandering around, looking lost, invite them into your group -- they will thank you for it. 

Who Is Your Ideal Client

My business model allows me to serve EVERYone. What? How can it possibly do that? Even McDonald's can't promise to be everything to everyone, and they certainly do try. If you're chasing every person, every business owner, every single opportunity you need to stop. You cannot be everything to everyone. You need to know who your ideal client is and then seek out that person or business. Having a focus on who your ideal client is will make you more productive and likely make you more sales.

Take some time to develop an ideal client persona, understand what problems he or she has and how

your services can address that -- that is who your ideal client is -- the one who will benefit the most from what you have to sell.

Here are tips to go into a deeper dive on creating a customer persona:

• What pain points does your service or goods address? Who are the clients who could benefit the most from having those pain points erased? 
• Visit your ideal clients, those who you believe would benefit from your goods or services. If you can see them in action you can see how your goods or services could fit into their daily work routines. Getting out of the office is a better way to network than to continually network through social media. 
• Write down the characteristics of your current clients and how they use your goods or services. If you already have an active client base, they are your best first source for building a client persona. 

Targeting your client base will help you be more productive and will help your bottom line better than chasing every client who comes along.

Tips To Being More Productive

Everyone wishes they had more hours in a day. If you were granted that, would you get more done or would you use those additional hours to spend more time on Facebook or LinkedIn or involved in some other activity that didn't further your business or your life?

Here are some tips that I share with my consulting clients to help them get more done in the office:

• Work on smaller tasks first. Finishing off ten small tasks will give you the momentum of having completed something and that will spur you onward to complete complex, larger tasks. 
• Before you leave the office at the end of the day, put together a to-do list for the following day. Knowing what your plan is for the day ahead will help you jump in as soon as you step foot in the office. Having a to-do list will keep you on task and will also offer you a way to track what you've completed. 
• Give yourself permission to take a break. Stepping away from your desk and even getting out of your office will give you a much needed respite and will help you come back to face work with a refreshed, relaxed attitude.  

I'd love to hear where your productivity problem areas are. Leave a comment below.

How To Improve Staff Accountability

If you're like many business owners you work with a virtual team. Let's face it, having your staff work from their home offices has been shown to improve productivity and you also save on having to rent office space and potentially increase your utility bills because of the need for more internet bandwidth among other on-site costs. 

Do you have accountability metrics in place for your staff? Prior to bringing on your first employee -

- or even contractor -- you will want to have policies and procedures in place as a way to measure success, hold employees accountable and make certain that client tasks are getting completed. Also, if your staff or contractors aren't clear on your standards how will they know if they’re not meeting them (or if they’re exceeding them!)?

How can you improve -- or set -- standards for accountability? First remember that all behavior starts at the top so you need to set the example you want your staff to follow. Here are other things you can do to hold staff accountable: 

Profit Power Series: IT & Physical Security

What is the one thing more valuable than your manufactured product? 

Information is the most valuable commodity you have. It can be destroyed by accident. Or it can be stolen, then sold or used to ruin or steal from your company.  In addition, some folks hack computers for the simple joy of doing it.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

It happened to my company…
A number of years ago, we had a lighting strike right outside our building that burned out half of the communication ports on our PCs and dumb terminals. About $10,000 worth of damage and a real pain in the butt. After that, we isolated not only the power wires with surge protectors but also the communication wires that passed the low voltage back up through the system that caused the damage.

It happened to South Carolina…
A hacking of the South Carolina tax department lead to 3.8 Million records being stolen by a foreign entity that used some sort of phishing email to penetrate the system. A simple click on a dubious email and wham, you got a problem. Using a credit card at a department store like Target or a hardware store like Home Depot -- who both had recent hack attacks -- can lead to your identity

being stolen.

It could happen to your company…
Your employees can cause the problems by having weak passwords or by taking company records home on their own computers, tablets or phone. You are just a stolen car or lost equipment event away from a mad scurry to repair the damage. I just read that an eight-digit password made up of alphabet letters, symbols and numbers can be hacked in five hours or less by the computers out there today. The funny thing is that most of the hacking programs start with the obvious passwords like “password” or “12345678” or “myname1” and then they start with the brute force trial and error attacks.

And YOU could actually go to jail!
Almost all companies have:

1. Employee social security numbers
2. HIPAA (health information) data
3. Company proprietary information
4. Customer supplied information. 

All of this data must be secured either by law or by contract. Failure to secure this data can result in jail time and or large fines (for the SSN and HIPAA info) and possible loss of business in the case of the other two.

Two common mistakes…

1. Most companies believe that just because they have data that isn’t that attractive (to them) that they have little to worry about. WRONG!
2. To top it off, many companies make it all too easy to access their computers physically or do not isolate them from risk.

And three steps you can take now…

1. First, call me, David Senkfor, for a free one-hour on-site*(see below) visit and consultation and I’ll give you a report card that grades your company relative to the risk you are currently exposed to.  No obligation, no cost.  I’ll tell you what you need to do to protect your ‘corporate memory’, your company, your money and your reputation.  At no charge to you!
2. Check my website out for what you can do today to limit the risk and sleep better at night. Click on this link and get started now.  http://tinyurl.com/cbvvqxe
3. Check out our new "Exhaust Notes" video using the link under the picture of my 1967 Chevelle to the right. In this month's video, you'll come to understand why it is essential that you implement three simple solutions that can secure your information technology and physical plant.

What Leadership Traits Do You Possess?

Attention business owners: It's not enough to proclaim, "I want to own a business." You need to have myriad skills and strengths in order to lead and manage a company, whether you're a solopreneur or manage a staff of hundreds.

Do you have the leadership traits it takes to succeed? Here, at a minimum, are the traits I believe any

want-to-be business owner should possess:

• The ability to share your expertise with others
• The ability to articulate your business mission and vision
• The personality that allows for follow through on ideas as well as the creation of them
• The perseverance it takes to keep moving ahead even if you're faced with failure. Look at a failure as a chance to regroup and look at the process and start over
• Are you approachable and able to take constructive criticism, whether from a colleague, customer or coach? 

What do you have planned for your business this year? Do you need help honing your leadership skills?

Email Etiquette For #Manufacturers

Guest blog by Robbi Hess, Written Marketing Specialist

Electronic communications are the norm for most every business owner, and with good reason. It's quick, efficient and can be taken care of no matter the time of day. However, in our "texting era" email communication has taken on the slang of texting and that doesn't always translate well.

Here are tips for writing better emails:

• Clearly state your message. In your message do you require a response, or action? If so, spell
  
  that out so the recipient knows his or her next steps.
• Try to stick to one issue. Don't muddle your message with multiple issues. If possible stick to one issue per email. If the email is regarding Company XYZ and there is more than one issue, it's all right to have more than one as long as it's related to a specific client.
• Make your subject line clear, ie "Action needed on XYZ client" rather than "follow up on meeting."
• Be brief, but polite. Don't ramble. Keep in mind that your client is just as busy as you are so be cognizant of his or her time. Don't forget a salutation and a closing.
• Don't use slang or industry acronyms. Sometimes messages get lost in acronyms and unless you are truly clear that the recipient will understand without a shadow of a doubt what they mean, leave them out. 

Your email is your public persona so make certain your best image shows through.

Robbi Hess is a Written Marketing Specialist who writes web copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and other business correspondence. Your Words. Your Message. Where It Matters!

Honing Your Marketing Plan For 2015

Just as one size does not fit all for manufacturers, neither does that approach work for your marketing efforts. The ultimate goal of your marketing is to reach potential clients and turn them into clients, right? To do that you need to find them, gain their trust and then convert them into clients.

When you're putting your 2015 marketing plan together here are three items to consider:

1. Where in your sales stage do you find that prospects convert into customers? In other words, how often do you need to touch them before they convert?
2. How do they like to be communicated with? In your initial conversations you should be able to gauge whether a prospect prefers a text, an email, a face-to-face or a phone call. "Meet" them where they are comfortable.
3. Ask permission. This is especially important if you want to add someone to your e-newsletter mailing list. Having an e-newsletter sent to prospects and current clients regularly helps you stay in touch in a non-intrusive way.

What steps can you take to amp up your 2015 marketing efforts?

Technologies For Your #Manufacturing Shop

I found this post on the Modern Machine Shop website and wanted to pass it along.
The post talks about five  "Go-To" technologies that can make a HUGH impact on your productivity and your goal of reducing the overall cost of your jobs.

If you wind up using even one of these technologies to your shop, you'll see the difference.

What technologies do you use in your shop? Have you seen a return on your investment?

Is Your #Manufacturing Business Ready For Growth?

Guest post by Robbi Hess, #WrittenMarketingExpert 

Business growth is what entrepreneurs seek, but it needs to be done strategically. If your business suddenly explodes with growth and you don't have a strong foundation on which to house it, the

business will surely fall under the weight of that growth spurt.

Here are steps you can take to plan for strategic #manufacturing business growth:

• Determine how much (how large) you should grow
• Decide how you will grow
• Determine your financial capacity for growth
• Take stock on whether you have the "correct" people in place to help with the growth 
• Start looking now for people you will need to fill spaces in your potential growth
• How will your company's growth impact your company culture, customer service delivery and the company's overall financial stability

Are you prepared for business growth? 

Do You Want To Buy My #Manufacturing Company? Valuation Information

From our newsletter archives:

Do you want to buy my company? This is a question, that when I hear it from a business owner what I truly suspect they want to know is... how much will you pay me for my company. The problem is that many owners have only a vague idea of how much their company is worth and will actually get quite upset if you run a number by them that isn’t what they had in mind.

What these owners don’t know is that there are very simple but detailed methods to determine the value of a company. The other fact is that the buyer will most likely be going to a bank for money and they also will be using these methods to value the business. It doesn’t matter that you clean the shop every week or that you just painted the walls. Great job but in the financial world they only look at the books for the initial value. Only after the offer is accepted and the due diligence starts will any weight be given to aesthetics and other subjective matters.

So what are buyers and banks looking for?

Can Telemarketing Work For #Manufacturers?

Guest post by Social Media Manager Robbi Hess

Do you cringe when the phone rings and it's a telemarketer? Many of is do, but when you consider it -- your business thrives on sales, right? If you don't make sales, you don't stay in business. What can you do to overcome "telemarketing fear"? There are many ways to do this -- especially when you consider the fact that telemarketing, like your on-the-street salesforce is an investment in your #manufacturing business.

Here are some tips to make certain your telemarketing campaign has a chance of succeeding:

• Who is in charge of contacting potential customers? You need to have someone with a vested interest
  
  in the sale and in making a connection with a potential client. If, however, you're the business owner is making these calls the best use of your time? Only you can determine the ROI. 
• Does the person making the call have the knowledge necessary to speak with authority about your firm and what you could offer? Does he or she have the knowledge to uncover the potential clients' pain points and offer a solution? 

Salespeople Need To Be On The #Manufacturing Floor

Guest post by Peter Young, Street Smart Resources

In every company I’ve worked for as a salesman, I made an effort to get to know the Operation’s VP and get myself invited to the plant floor to connect with the line guys. Depending on the amount of “silos” in the company, I usually had no problems, although in one or two instances I had to do it on the sly.

How? Beginning with my opening question, “How close to capacity are you running?” would move us into a nice conversation about capabilities and concerns. (If your salespeople don’t have the answers to those "C" questions (capability, capacity and concern), someone isn’t doing their job.) For their part, they liked to hear about what was going on out in the real world of the market and the customer.

Why Your Manufacturing Firm Needs A Blog

Post by Social Wordsmith, Robbi Hess

When you look at the options of social media available to a manufacturing firm -- Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, to name a few, you may think there is no reason for your company to have a blog, right? I disagree. Blogging should be the first choice when it comes to marketing a business and sharing your expertise.

Other social media platforms can be fed by the content from your blog. When I meet with clients and we discuss a content strategy, there are reasons I share with them for why I believe that blogging is not dead and in fact needs to be front and center and a vibrant part of a marketing strategy.

Get Involved or Die Trying

Most manufacturers I talk to these days are looking for skilled machinists. Also, I’m sure you’ve read elsewhere that this IS a problem and that the problem will only get worse before it gets better. While we wait for the education system to produce the number of skilled machinists that are needed, there is something a shop or company owner can do.

Resolutions And Musings On Business From A #Manufacturing Consultant

I’ve been giving a bit of thought what my business New Year’s resolutions will be in 2014 and I think I've figured them out.

My central themes in my consulting practice are costs and cost control. To be truly competitive and profitable, you’ve got to know what your costs are to accurately price quotations. Whenever I talk to a new/potential or existing client in 2014, I resolve to ask them three questions:

1. Do you have a system in place that accurately tracks direct costs?
2. Does this cost system have the ability to add indirect costs to give you a complete cost structure for a particular part, job or customer?
3. Do you review these costs for each job and customer to see how you are doing vis-à-vis the pricing of your products?

A Great Topic to Talk About During the Holidays: Is College Right for Everyone?

I came across an article that specifically addressed the divide between those who think everybody should go to college and those that don’t. I’m not saying that college isn’t a great option for those who are thinking about a career in engineering, medicine and any other career that requires an advanced degree.

#Manufacturing Is Alive And Well In The United States

Contrary to popular belief, manufacturing is doing fine. Output is up, productivity is up and sales are up. So why does everybody think everything is made in China?

We get a bad rap because of two fallacies:

• Manufacturing is unimportant to our economy.  Not true!  When I hear this one, I know the person saying or thinking this has been in the basement for the last 125 years. Most of the wealth “created” in this country was made either by mining, farming or manufacturing. Everything else just moves the money around or services these industries. 

Profit Power $eries: The Best Manufacturing Workforce Money Can Buy

Whenever I talk to business owners about their operations, we invariably wind up talking about HR issues.

The two most common are

1. How to manage the employees I have and,
2. How do I hire good people? 

It turns out these two apparently diverse concerns are closely related.

How you ask? Well, if you hire good people, you don’t have as many HR issues day-to-day. But David, people say, how do we hire the “right” people that “fit” our company?"

U.S. Needs To Up Its Manufacturing Industry

I came across this article the other day and have to say I agree with the information. How can the United States remain at the forefront if innovation isn't a priority? The manufacturing community also needs to step up and be part of the solution, don't you agree?

Check out the article on To Continue Innovating, the U.S. Has To Manufacture Things.

I'd love to know your feelings.