Marketing Lesson Learned from Kona

Just like your clients, Kona is a creature of habit. (As a refresher, Kona is my 10 month old Golden Retriever.) Every morning she hears the alarm go off she knows it time for her morning walk. And just like most mornings, we take the same route around the neighborhood. And for the most part, Kona is just fine with that.

Does this sound like your clients or patients? Are they stuck in the same routine with you? Do they place the same order every time? Do they get the same treatment every time? Are you boring your clients with the same routine?

If Kona could talk, I know she would ask, “What’s new?” Isn’t that what everybody asks when you see them? I’ve never once ran into an old friend or acquaintance and had them ask, “so, what’s old?” That just doesn’t happen.

However, every once in a while we go on a walk in the afternoon, or in the evening, or take a different route. And what happens? Kona gets excited! Her tail starts to wag, her nose goes into overdrive as she smells all the new smells (she is a retriever afterall). The change energizes her and gives her a boost.

So here’s this months lesson. You need to be constantly telling your clients “What’s New!” If you’re not constantly and consistantly telling them, “What’s New,” or “What’s Different,” or “What’s Next,” they’ll go find someone who will, and its more than likely your competitor.

No BS Time Management

Eliminate the time between the idea and the act and your dreams will become realities.
- Dr. Edward L. Kramer

Entreprenuership is the conversion of your knowledge, talents, guts, and time into money. Time is valuable, although the value differs from person to person. When most people place value on their time, they do so based on an eight-hour work day, which is not all that correct. It’s hard to get eight productive hours out of each day.

One study involving Fortune 500 CEO’s revealed that they achieved 28 productive minutes a day.

If you are your own boss, you decide how much you are going to get paid because you write your own paycheck. Most of the time that salary is determined by whatever is left over at the end of the month. This is a mistake because:

1. It indicates zero planning
2. You pay yourself last; a common reason why most entrepreneurs end up going broke.

Planning

To plan against business failure and going broke, you need to decide how much money you’re going to take out each year to cover your salary, perks, contributions, retirement plans, etc. Eighty percent of entrepreneurs can’t come up with this number.

To do this, you need to have a base earnings target, otherwise you can’t calculate what your time is worth and will not be able to make good decisions about how you invest that time. As a result, you have no control over your business or life.

Calculate Your Base Earnings Target

Coming up with a number will dramatically affect the decisions you make, habits you cultivate, and people you associate with. Here’s how?

• Divide the number of workday hours
• Multiply it to allow for unproductive versus productive hours

A closer look:

Base Earnings Target _______________

Divide work hours in a year
(244 days x 8 = 1,952 in a year) _______________
= Base hourly number $_______________

x Productivity-versus
Non-Productivity Multiple x_______________

= What Your Time
Must Be Worth Per Hour $_______________


It’s important that you surround yourself with people who understand and respect the value of your time. If you don’t eliminate the people who don’t respect the value of your time from your business life, then you ad your business will pay the price. You also need to delegate tasks to other people that tend to take away from your valuable time.