As if small business owners didn't have enough to fret about!! Google is changing the rules ...again!! Last night I attended a great SCORE workshop on Search Engine Optimization, lead by CS Wurzberger of Premier Web Services. She had news hot off the press about Google changing their already confusing rules about how to get ranked in their search engine.

Google no longer cares about being the largest search engine (which they are), they want to be the best. To that end, Google is now splitting their index in two; one index for web pages that will get ranked - the good web pages, and the second 'supplemental' index where they relegate all the second-rate pages - the bad web pages.

Which index is your site falling into? Go to the main Google search page and type in: site:www. and your site URL and enter. For example, for my site I would go to the Google screen and type in site:www.boldvisionconsulting.com and enter.

You'll see the pages of your site that have been indexed by Google. If you see the words "Supplemental Result" at the end of the listing, you're in trouble. From what I understand it's a big deal and you don't want to get relegated to the supplemental, aka junk pile.

I suggest you contact your web strategist. CS from Premier Web Services is a good contact. Fellow blogger, Rich Brooks, at flyte new media is also a good contact. Regardless, it's something (else) to look into.

That's the fun of being in business, right? It's always something new and BOLD coming down the pike. Visit me on the web at www.boldvisionconsulting.com

Do you want to learn how to market your professional services business? Join me for a 90 minute lunch and learn on April 10 in South Portland. You'll leave with an outline of steps you can implement immediately to generate business and increase your reputation as the "go-to" person in your area of expertise. Marketing for Professional Services Businesses 90 Minute Lunch & Learn - 12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m. $49. Call 207-221-3492 or email info@boldvisionconsulting.com for more information.

8-week BOLD Business Boot Camp, Quick Start for Small Business Growth. Begins April 25. www.boldvisionconsulting.com/events/BBBootcamp.php

Posted by Lynnelle Bianco at 11:40 AM

FACTS: More than 75% of us believe that companies don't tell the truth in advertising; more than half of us resist paying attention to marketing and advertising; and as much as 60 percent of us have a more negative view of advertising than we did only a few years ago. No wonder it's so hard to build a business! It's also one reason why word-of-mouth is so important and why so many big corporations spend millions on generating "buzz". If you've ever thought about building buzz for your business, here are a few interesting statistics from a 2006 study by Lucid Marketing:

--Women are more likely than men to share a positive experience with a business or recommend an enjoyable product;
--Full-time employees made substantially more daily contacts than those not in the workforce; and
--People with household earnings of more than $100,000 were more likely to make recommendations than those earning less.

So buzz marketers should not only direct efforts to these three "chatty" groups, Be BOLD and make sure your customers are happy campers! You know these stats, too: happy customers tell one person - unhappy customers blab to everyone! Download the Lucid Marketing study for free "U.S. Adults: Word of Mouth Communications"

If you're interested in learning about marketing your professional services business join me for a 90 minute lunch and learn on April 10 in South Portland. You'll leave with an outline of steps you can implement immediately to generate business and increase your reputation as the "go-to" person in your area of expertise. Marketing for Professional Services Businesses 90 Minute Lunch & Learn - 12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m. $49. Call 207-221-3492 or email info@boldvisionconsulting.com for more information.

8-week BOLD Business Boot Camp, Quick Start for Small Business Growth. Begins April 25. www.boldvisionconsulting.com/events/BBBootcamp.php

Networking, Networking, Networking! We all do it to some extent. But isn’t a big challenge to have something succinct and catchy to say after that ever present question, “What is it that you do?”

This might help. It’s the Pitch Wizard. The site is www.15secondpitch.com and it appears to be designed in a similar concept to linkedin.com. You can sign up if you would like, but you don’t need to be a member to use the wizard.

You still have to spend some time and continue to refine your responses however this is a pretty fun tool. Use it to create a few different responses for various situations and prospects.

Remember, be succinct and of course be BOLD. These and a vision will take you far!

PS - Here's the link to the new issue of the BOLD Bulletin, just out.

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Get your business on track in only 8-weeks!

The BOLD Business Boot Camp - What seems impossible to achieve in your business - or life - IS possible. Take a holistic approach to planning. The BOLD Business Boot Camp is an 8-week quick-start course to get you on-track to achieving your objectives and having your best year yet.

With a vision, a proven process and peer support you will fundamentally transform your results not just once, but forever. The BOLD Business Boot Camp. Beginning April 25. For information go to call 207-221-3492 or go to www.boldvisionconsulting.com/events/BBBootcamp.php

"With your help I have achieved important things that I had not been able to achieve in the last 20 years of business!"

Regarding my last post, Steve raises an important question, “how (do) you think Starbucks should respond to the insistent analyst and market pressure to increase in-store sales each year?” First, I would ask - do the analysts and markets truly reflect an interest in same store sales volumes or is it an interest in the growth and profitability of the business? Profitability, I would say. Second, I would say it is investor expectations that are creating the pressure. Analysts are only doing what the market wants – pressuring for short-term information about short term results.

Investor expectations drive the market and, unfortunately for the most part, investor expectations are focused on the short-term – 1, 12 months. This is a predicament that has been on the mind of every CEO of publicly traded companies for quite some time. Back in 2002 Daniel Vasella, CEO of Novartis explained it very well (See this Harvard Business School article.) http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5194.html In a nutshell Vasella says that while quarterly CEO updates are expected and part of the fabric of today’s market paradigm, CEO’s and operating officers “can become preoccupied with short-term 'success’, a mindset that can hamper or even destroy long-term performance”.

On the other hand, the article goes on to say, in today’s age of transparency we have come to expect the CEOs of publicly traded companies provide as much information as possible, including quarterly and annual business projections.

Expectations. Like many other areas of our life, the marketplace has become more interested in quick, short-term gains than in long-term sustainable growth. Day traders, high turnover funds. When investor expectations focus on long-term growth and return rather than quick profits, the pressure for quick fixes will be lessened and short-term forecasts will be just informational and not market-moving events.

Regarding adding products, I don’t believe it’s a bad thing to add to your product offerings. What I don’t agree with is diversifying outside of and diluting the brand. Starbuck’s mission statement: “To establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow”. I submit that a croissant / muffin approach to breakfast accessorizes the coffee – the focus of Starbucks better than a big plate of eggs and bacon hot off the grill.

In response to Jonathan, who fears Starbucks will go out of business if they stick to selling coffee: Starbucks has been in business over 35 years, since 1971. For most of those 35+ years they sold nothing but great coffee / coffee accessories. I don’t think sticking to their mission will do anything but make them stronger.

Patrick is right on the money when he said “At McDonalds its "I'm having coffee with my meal." at Starbucks its "What'll I have with my coffee."

Have a vision and be BOLD enough to stick with it for the long term. Thanks for the comments.

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· Were your revenues up 30% last year?

· Did your company grow by 100% last year?

The BOLD Business Boot Camp - What seems impossible to achieve in you1r business - or life - IS possible. Take a holistic approach to planning. The BOLD Business Boot Camp is an 8-week quick-start course to get you on-track to achieving your objectives and having your best year yet.

With a vision, a proven process and peer support you will fundamentally transform your results not just once, but forever. The BOLD Business Boot Camp. Beginning April 25. For information go to call 207-221-3492 or go to www.boldvisionconsulting.com/events/BBBootcamp.php

"With your help I have achieved important things that I had not been able to achieve in the last 20 years of business!"

No matter how many times you hear that the more you can narrow your target market the better your marketing results will be – the concept still can seem counter intuitive. However, you can’t be all things to all people.

Sometimes what you don’t offer is more important that what you do. Those who try to be it all usually end up diluting their message and offering, winding up without a meaningful message at all. Take the recent Starbucks “brew”-ha-ha. Read the attached story in today’s MarketingProf.com.

At the end of the day, perhaps Starbuck’s trying to be all things to all people (instead of a great and comfortable place to get a great cup of coffee) is putting them on par with the Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds of the world; eggs and bacon at Starbuck’s? Ugh. Let me know what you think.

Know your customers, know your market, do what you do well and Be BOLD.

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· Were your revenues up 30% last year?

· Did your company grow by 100% last year?

The BOLD Business Boot Camp - What seems impossible to achieve in you1r business - or life - IS possible. Take a holistic approach to planning. The BOLD Business Boot Camp is an 8-week quick-start course to get you on-track to achieving your objectives and having your best year yet.

With a vision, a proven process and support you will fundamentally transform your results not just once, but forever. The BOLD Business Boot Camp. Beginning April 25. For information go to call 207-221-3492 or go to www.boldvisionconsulting.com/events/BBBootcamp.php

"With your help I have achieved important things that I had not been able to achieve in the last 20 years of business!"

Make a fist with one hand. Press the fist against the palm of your other hand.  Press harder. What are you doing? You are resisting by pressing back against your fist with your other hand. 

Resistance is a normal part of human nature when faced with change. Whether positive or negative, change creates loss.  We fear loss, therefore we resist change. 

·              Change creates the threat of loss

·              The threat of loss creates resistance

·              In all societies (organizations, families, cultures) the normal human instinct is to protect oneself and one’s “normal way of life”.

There is a real, scientific phenomenon, a self-protection mechanism that works against change. Our bodies and our brains, for example, have a built-in self-protection mechanism to maintain the “status-quo”. Consider the way your body self-regulates temperature, blood sugar levels and blood pressure levels.

This self-regulating, self-protection phenomenon applies to psychological states and behavior as well and is called homeostasis.

Homeostasis applies to all self-regulatory systems; from microscopic bacteria to human beings to societies like families, organizations and entire cultures. It is designed to defend against the “distress” of change by encouraging the familiar in action and behavior, even when what is familiar is inappropriate.

A few real life examples of homeostasis in action:

A Golfer shoots under par.  He exclaims, “I don’t believe how well I played. That’s wasn’t like me at all!”  The next day he plays one of the worst games of his life.  He balances the two round and gets back to his “normal game”.

Consider the hourly wage earners who win millions in the lottery.  Many lose or spend all of their winnings in a relatively short period of time; many ending up in a worse financial position than before their win.

One reason it can be so difficult to encourage an abused individual to leave the abusive situation is this self-regulating system. The abusive situation has become the “norm” and therefore, changing that can be very difficult.

How does this relate to you and your business?

When was the last time you tried to make a change?

Network more; Do more with less; Process improvement; Company reorganization; Increase sales presentations; Lose weight; Get the bookwork done earlier; Leave work at work; Eat healthier; Organize the prospect database; etc., etc., etc.

So what can you do? You’ve done the first thing; understanding why change is difficult is an important first step. The next thing to do is to be aware of the stages you go through when making a change. This way you’ll be more likely to persevere through the difficult times until the change becomes the new norm. James Mapes in his book Quantum Leap Thinking defines the stages of change as:

1. Letting Go – Resistance is as it’s peak. Denial, despair, anger, blame, illness, sadness, mourning. It is in this state something is lost. Letting Go is the first step.

2. The Dead Zone – This is a time of reorientation. Often we feel at our worst. We feel a combination of hope and despair, confusion and adjustment. We begin searching for meaning. Because this stage can be so painful, it is here where the natural tendency to regain “balance” takes over and many revert back to the status-quo position, pre-change.

“Every change looks like a failure in the middle.” 
--Rosabeth M. Kanter author of The Change Masters.

3. The Leap – We finally begin to identify with the new, changed way. We may feel a combination of fear and excitement.  In order to take the leap we first have to let go, release the old and experience and persevere through the dead zone. The Leap is made. Here is where creativity and comfort begin to take over.

Once you understand the phenomenon of change and these three stages, you can take positive action to handle changes. You may feel uncomfortable, but you do have the control over how you deal with the change. You can resist or you can let go, work through the discomfort and take the leap.

The best way to handle change? It depends on your vision.  Be Bold - because, that’s where it all starts; a Bold Vision.

Attend the Business Bootcamp: A one-day business and life planning workshop – What seems impossible to achieve in your business - or life - today IS possible. Take a holistic approach to planning. With a vision and the right process you can fundamentally transform your results not just once, but forever.  Wednesday, April 25; 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. – Location; TBD (Greater Portland area)  Download the Business Boot Camp application or find more information on the Business Boot Camp here.   

The next Ocular Forum starts April 11. The application deadline is March 27. For information check out www.OcularForum.com