Click the player to listen to this BIGG Success Show podcast episode. Here’s a summary of the discussion…
Our basketball team had a BIGG win over the weekend that will improve their ranking as they head into the NCAA Championship Tournament. Their winning season has some great lessons for all of us.
https://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/3-Keys-to-Win-the-Game-of-Life-and-Business-blog-post-image.png430448George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Fosterhttps://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BIGG-Success-Nurturing-Your-Inner-Entreprener.jpgGeorge Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster2021-03-08 15:22:252021-03-08 15:27:233 Keys to Win the Game of Life and Business
We know – the question posed in the title is a tough one. But we say it with love. And we share it from our own struggles with this topic.
It’s a crowded marketplace these days. Competition is fiercer than ever. The bad news is that it’s probably only going to get more vicious in the future.
Many small businesses aren’t prepared to compete amidst all the noise. They don’t stand out. They get lost. They remain obscure.
Tell your boss you understand the concerns. But you want to be sure you’re ready when the right opportunity does present itself. You’d like to practice interviewing.
Even that may not get the job done.
So let’s assume the opportunity is out-of-town. If need be, and if you feel really strongly about your fit with this particular opportunity, offer to pay for the trip yourself. Take an extra few days and call it a mini-vacation.
We have a friend who did exactly this. He got his boss to set up the interview. He didn’t go to practice. He went to get the job.
And he did! You can do it too!
Jump ship
You may not be able to get a better gig with your current employer. But if you’re feeling like you’re hitting your head on a ceiling, start looking for a place with a higher ceiling!
Expand your outlook to other companies.
Reach out to select individuals in your network.
None of them will likely be the person who gives you a job.
But one of them is likely to know someone who might.
When you chat with them, just let them know that you’re quietly exploring your options. You’re doing great where you are. You love the place.
But you’re ready for a bigger challenge and it doesn’t seem forthcoming where you’re at.
Strike out on your own
The best way to have a boss who never holds you back is to be your own boss. But be ready – this boss may be your toughest task master!
Before you launch, be sure you’re ready for the rigors of entrepreneurship. It may pay to spend a little time preparing before you give up the day job.
And don’t think it has to be an all-or-nothing proposition. If you have enough energy to take on a job with more responsibility, you should have enough energy to start a part-time business.
You can build it part-time until your free cash flow replaces your current job.
Then you can launch full-time and let the sky be your limit. Now that’s BIGG success!
If you have more questions than answers about being your own boss, maybe we can help.
https://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/bigg-success_stacked-1080.png10801080George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Fosterhttps://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BIGG-Success-Nurturing-Your-Inner-Entreprener.jpgGeorge Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster2012-03-08 07:00:552015-08-17 11:57:07Why Your Boss Holds You Back – Part 2
With these two principles in mind, you can steer your way through good times and bad to get to your destination.
There are natural laws which we can't break without unfavorable consequences. But we also place a lot of "rules" on ourselves. These rules come from many influencers – family, friends, co-workers, Hollywood, advertisers, society at large, and tradition to name a few.
Sometimes we need to follow these rules. Sometimes it pays to break them. Here’s an example:
Fred DeLuca had just graduated from high school. He wanted to go to college and then medical school, but he had a problem. The only jobs that he could get only paid minimum wage. He couldn't make enough to pay for his education.
So he approached a family friend and asked him for the money to start a restaurant. He got the money and opened the restaurant. It lost money – Fred would have been better off working for minimum wage!
But the young man was not dismayed. He did something that we wouldn't do; maybe you wouldn't either.
He opened a second store nearby!
There was just one problem – it lost money too.
What Fred did next was downright crazy – he opened a third restaurant!
Before long, all three locations were profitable because he could advertise all three with the same budget as just one.
This is the story of how Fred DeLuca started Subway. His tactic – opening more stores in spite of losses – may not work for anyone else. It doesn't matter to Fred; it worked for him.
With the two key principles in mind, here are the action steps to duplicate the success of bigg winners like Fred DeLuca. We’ve put them into an acronym to make them easier to remember: I STEER.
Investigation: Match your talent with a specific market opportunity.
Strategy: Formulate a plan to get started.
Tactics: Break your strategy down into specific actions to be done by a specific time.
Execution: Act upon your tactics.
Evaluation: Review your progress and make any and all necessary adjustments.
Reprise: Repeat these steps in harmony with the knowledge you've gained.
Thank you so much for sharing some of your time with us today. Please join us next time when we’ll tell you how to feel better right away. Until then, here’s to your bigg success.
Most businesses and non-profit organizations have a web site by now. Good thing since more and more people are searching online for services instead of using the phone book.
There’s a lot of advice about how your website should look. It’s important to pause to realize …
It's the experience that counts the most!
Just like in the bricks-and-mortar world, people value the experience.
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I've had two bad user experiences recently. The first one has to do with a local not-for-profit organization for which I volunteer. I produce the audio for the radio and television commercials that promote the event. The commercials mention a web address to get more information. However, that address takes you to the organization's national website. I spent ten minutes trying to find the page with information about our local event.
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If memory serves, Mary-Lynn, you told me that you saw a link, “Find your local event.” But it directed you to sign up or log in to get more information.
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Right! It’s crazy. I shouldn't have to sign up to simply get information. Regardless, I finally recovered my user name and password. Then I logged in, but I still haven't found the local page. I ran out of time and will have to go back.
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People who aren’t as invested as you probably wouldn’t put that much effort into finding the local information. Worse yet, they may never go back to the site.
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Tip #1: Create a landing page specific for what you are promoting.
Make it easy for people to find the information they want. For example, our local branch could have a page that ends with the name of our city. They could set up an address like this: nameoforganization.com/champaign.
That's a landing page. It’s the address you want to promote to people in your area for information about your local organization – especially when you’re using local TV, radio, or the newspaper.
Here's another example for a business: If you are promoting a deal, use a web address like one of these:
yourbusinessname.com/deal
yourbusinessname.com/summersale
Create your landing page in advance. It can reiterate the most important points of your advertisement and provide more information. Also provide links to your home page and any other pages that people interested in this promotion might find useful.
Integrating your offline marketing with online marketing makes all your marketing more productive. It’s a time-tested strategy. If visitors to your site get the information they want quickly, they’ll be more likely to take the time to visit other areas of your site.
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The second bad experience occurred when I read an article online about a local tech series that is free and open to the public. The article was on our local newspaper's website. It gave details on the upcoming session and offered a link to the organization's website to get more information on all of the sessions in the series.
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So you went to the website to find out more information, and I remember hearing a … how should I describe it … a frustrated sigh coming from you.
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That’s a good way to say it. I was frustrated because I couldn't find anything about the series. I clicked on several page links, including their events link. Nothing. I used their search tool to search for the name of the event. Still nothing. Finally I went to their calendar and typed in the exact date. The first session in the series came up. It contained the same information that was in the article. Nothing further about the entire series. I was planning to put all of the dates on my calendar. I guess I’ll have to call them.
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Tip #2: Make it easy to find the information you promote.
If you want people to know about your events, make it easy to get that information. Especially if your event is getting press!
Create a page like we suggested above. If you prefer to link people to your home page, create a link and highlight it so people can find it quickly and easily. For example, in the case we mentioned above, you could highlight it this way:
"Tech series starting in August"
Make it very visible on your site. When people click on that link, it will take them to the page you've created with all the information about that event.
Your site is an excellent tool to compliment your other marketing efforts. But if you don't make it easy for people to find what you’re promoting, they won't participate in your sale or event.
Prepare your web site for visitors before you advertise or send out a press release. That will help make your campaign a bigg success!
Do you have any tips from your bad user experiences? Or maybe a good experience combining your web site with traditional media? Share that with us by leaving a comment below, calling us at 877.988.BIGG(2444) or e-mailing us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com.
Thanks so much for reading our post today. Please join us next time when we’ll discuss artificial dissemination. Yes, you read that right! Until then, here’s to your bigg success!
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Here are two key principles to never forget: 
Most businesses and non-profit organizations have a web site by now. Good thing since more and more people are searching online for services instead of using the phone book. 
I've had two bad user experiences recently. The first one has to do with a local not-for-profit organization for which I volunteer. I produce the audio for the radio and television commercials that promote the event. The commercials mention a web address to get more information. However, that address takes you to the organization's national website. I spent ten minutes trying to find the page with information about our local event. 
If memory serves, Mary-Lynn, you told me that you saw a link, “Find your local event.” But it directed you to sign up or log in to get more information.