Exploit your competitive advantages

Life isn’t fair.
Neither is competition.
You can compete ethically . . . or in some other way.
You'll sleep better.
I recommend ethically . . . but ask no quarter.
Believe me, your competition will give you none.

Here’s an example of what I mean.
A friend of ours is an early riser.
She’s usually at the gym early every morning.
Seven days a week, 350 or more days a year.
It is a habit that took time to develop.
Now she enjoys it. Feels guilty if she misses a day.
She smiles throughout her workout.
That releases endorphins into her blood stream.
The endorphins give her a “runner’s high”.
Smile at whatever you do and feel the same high.

The other morning she stopped at a grocer's.
The store doesn’t open until 7 a.m.
She was unwilling to wait 35 minutes.
She drove to a nearby competing grocer.
This one didn’t open until 7 either.
They were satisfied with opening at 7.
They both lost her business that day.
She shopped for what she needed near her office.

This reminded me of a story.
The only dry cleaner in town opened at 8 a.m.
A young entrepreneur spotted an opportunity.
He parked outside the dry cleaner one morning.
By 8 a.m. a dozen people stopped but left.
They had clothes to be cleaned. No luck.
That evening, the cleaner closed at 5:30.
The entrepreneur parked outside to watch.
More than a dozen people stopped to make a pickup.
They went home without their cleaning.
The entrepreneur rented space across the street.
He opened at 6:30 and closed at 6:30.
Guess how uch business he picked up?
He exploited a competitive advantage.

This week’s Strategic Challenge
What needs or wants does your competition ignore?
How could you take care of those needs or wants?
Is it worth the effort to exploit them?
Not all needs and wants can be satisfied.
And not all of them can be profitable.
But I’ll bet there are some that are.
Think what this could do for your bottom line.
Talk it over with your team at work.
Your colleagues may see things that you missed.This is one way you can ethically compete.

Special offer for my readers
We’re raising money for literacy tutoring.
Our immediate goal is a modest $10,000.
Our local tutoring program needs it badly.
Proceeds from sales of my books goes to this cause.
Here’s an irresistible (I hope) offer:
Autographed copies of business books at $20 each.
• “Lead People, Manage Things” on leadership.
• “Your Life’s Great Purpose” on pursuing yours.
• “Killer Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs”.
You’ll learn 22 entrepreneurs success secrets.
All three for a $50 donation ($80 value).
Just email me at this address. Thanks.

The magic of publicity

Rock stars hire people to do it for them.
Movie stars and their studios do, too.
Big corporations hire people to do it.
But small business owners do not.
They don’t think they can afford it.
They don’t know how or realize it value.

What are we talking about?
Free media publicity for your business.

There’s a nugget of truth in the old joke:
“Advertising is what you pay for.
“Free publicity is what you pray for.”
When we publish a new book, we get attention.
That’s because we know how to do it.
Today I’ll share some thoughts on that with you.
But let me first give you an example.
Robin Hudson and his family run two restaurants.
Hudson’s Smokehouse has great barbecue and ribs.
It’s one of our favorites.
It’s a lot of people’s favorites.
His two restaurants are always busy.
His catering business is in high demand, too.

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and Robin are friends.
She recently lost a bet on a college football game.
The Guv is a graduate of Clemson University.
She bet Clemson would beat Florida State this year.
She lost her bet to Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
Robin packed up ribs and barbecue for 15 people.
He shipped it in dry ice to Tallahassee.
He did it at his own expense.
This was ready-made for national media attention.

We found out and published the story.
Did local TV and the Food Network do anything?
No. They didn’t know about it.

You may have an equally interesting story.
It may be something you think unimportant.
Such as a move to a new location.
A business anniversary or milestone.
A retirement, a new hire or an award.
Saluda River Club just won a Pinnacle Award.
The development has won many awards.
Andy White gets a lot of publicity for that.
And he knows how to do it.
Or he has Betsy Sheppard do it for him.

Savvy public officials do this, too.
Congressman Joe Wilson is an example.
Caroline Delaney sends out his news.
Gov. Nikki Haley knows the value, too.
She has Ron Godfrey do it for her.
Attorney General Alan Wilson as well.
Mark Powell does a good job for him.
Yet some public officials don't do this.
A few won't answer reporters' calls.
How smart do you think that is?

This week’s Success Challenge
PR agencies offer media news services.
So does the state press association.
We can help you with this, too.
We offer workshops for business owners only.
Would you like to gain free publicity?
Can you imagine the word of mouth it will start?
Just email me at JerryBellune@yahoo.com
I’ll guide you and help you.
It’s not rocket science . . .
. . . but it can be time consuming.
We can help you save time on free publicity.

Special offer for my readers
We’re raising money for literacy tutoring.
Our immediate goal is a modest $10,000.
Our local tutoring program needs it badly.
Proceeds from sales of my books goes to this cause.
Here’s an irresistible (I hope) offer:
Autographed copies of business books at $20 each.
• “Lead People, Manage Things” on leadership.
• “Your Life’s Great Purpose” on pursuing yours.
• “Killer Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs.”
You’ll learn 22 entrepreneurs success secrets.
All three ($80 value) for a $50 donation.
Just email me at this address. Thanks.

Don’t get trapped in the Blame Game

Do crises occur at your business?
That’s OK.
It happens to all of us.
How we handle it is what’s important.
When it happens, do you look for the culprit?
Do you seize on the first available scapegoat?
Are your people willing to level with you?
Do they take care of your business as if it was theirs?

Did you answer yes to any of these questions?
Now is the time to re-examine your leadership style.
Find and fix the problems - not lay blame.
Sometimes stuff happens and it’s no one’s fault.
Let me give you an example
We were en route to Scotland.
A thunderstorm blew in from the west.
We waited on the tarmac two hours for it to pass.
Finally at 1 a.m. the pilots gave up.
They went back to the terminal.
Several hundred passengers were stranded.
We waited in line over an hour to get rebooked.
The airline had only three employees to help us.

OK. It was in the wee hours of the morning.
But management should have anticipated a problem.
Twice that many people should have been available.
It damaged the airline’s reputation with passengers.
Finally at 3 a.m. we took a shuttle to a hotel.
We slept until noon and went back to the airport.
Finally at 9 p.m. that night, our plane took off.
We were 24 hours late reaching Edinburgh.

The thunderstorm was nobody’s fault.
Stuff like that happens all the time all over the world.
Crises are not the issue. Management is.
Management should have expected the storm.
Weather forecasting is nothing new.
They could have called in emergency personnel.
They could have offered meal and hotel vouchers.
They did none of that. They let themselves down.
We will never book that airline again.

I’m not scapegoating the airline personnel.
They took care of business under stressful conditions.
But it’s clear what kind of management they have.
They showed no foresight or concern for passengers.

Do you treat your clients and patients like that?
Of course not or you might be out of business.
So fix the problems. Don’t scapegoat your people.
Talk with your people about worst case scenarios.
Decide how all of you will respond.
All of us need a crisis plan for our businesses
Special offer for my readers

We’re raising money for literacy tutoring.
Our immediate goal is a modest $10,000.
Our local tutoring program needs it badly.
Proceeds from sales of my books goes to this cause.
Here’s an irresistible (I hope) offer:
Autographed copies of my books at only $20 each.
• “Lead People, Manage Things” on leadership.
• “Your Life’s Great Purpose” on pursuing yours.
• “Killer Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs”.
This book contains 22 great success stories.
You’ll learn 22 entrepreneurs success secrets.
All we need to sell is 500 copies of these books.
They will enrich your life. Won’t you help us?
Just email me at JerryBellune at yahoo.com for copies.

Tap into the power of numbers

John Bachmnn’s vision
grew Edward Jones into
a financial powerhouse


John Bachmann changed Edward Jones.
He started there as a lowly messenger.
He wrote his boss Ted Jones a visionary memo:
Take advantage of our unique business model.
Multiply neighborhood brokerage offices.
A single broker serving individual investors.
“We had 100 offices,” Bachmann said.
“I thought we should have 1,000.”

Bachmann rose through the ranks.
In 2003, he retired as the firm's managing partner.
Fortune named it Best Place to Work . . . twice.
John left it with more than 8,100 branch offices.
He still wants to see Jones with 25,000 branches.

We chatted before his recent speech.
We found we had friends in common.
That’s always a connection maker.

John brought a vital message to us:
Chamber leadership is vital to communities.
It is more than networking for more business.
It is about improving your community

John cited St. Louis as an example.
At one time, the downtown was in trouble.
At 5 p.m. everybody went home.
Downtown was dangerous after dark.

The chamber rallied business leaders.
They partnered with each other.
They cleaned up downtown St. Louis.
It’s now a safe place to congregate after dark.
Only a strong chamber can work such miracles.

John’s advice is elegantly simple.
Tap into the power of your numbers.
Rally the troops. Share the vision.
Make a commitment. Tackle the impossible.
Together we can do what we can’t do alone.
That will work in your community.
It will work in your church or civic group.
It will work in your business, too.
Make it work . . . for everyone.

Special offer for my readers

We’re raising money for literacy tutoring.
Our immediate goal is a modest $10,000.
Our local tutoring program needs it.
Proceeds from sales of my books goes to this cause.
Here’s an irresistible (I hope) offer:
Autographed copies of my books at only $20 each.
• “Lead People, Manage Things” on leadership.
• “Your Life’s Great Purpose” on pursuing yours.
• “Killer Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs”.
This book contains 22 great success stories.
You’ll learn 22 entrepreneurs’ success secrets.
For a $50 donation, you get all three books.
These books will enrich your life. Won’t you help?
Just email me at JerryBellune@yahoo.com

Do what you say you’ll do

Konrad Orzechowski gets a lot from his personal and professional life.

Konrad Orzochowski is unusual.
A former physics student, he's a plumber. And he runs a first class plumbing business.
He grew up in the plumbing trade in Poland.
His father taught him.
Konrad studied physics in college.
Then he had an opportunity to come to the U.S.

He turned to his father’s trade.
He is building a business on reliability.
He does what he says he will do.
Many plumbers are unfortunately poorly organized.
They don’t show up when they say they will.
Some don’t even show up. Period.
That’s frustrating when your cellar is under water.
Konrad offers his loyal clients preference.
They go to the head of the line when they call.

Konrad had an opportunity recently.
He could present his business to chamber members.
He used a format we’ve discussed before:
1. Identify the pain of unreliable plumbers.
2. Present the solution: A reliable plumber.
3. Share your personal and family life.
4. Introduce your colleagues.
5. Thank your audience and sit down.
Good format for you when such chances come up.

Want build your confidence in speaking?
Join a Toastmasters Club.
Toastmasters was a life changer for me.
Public speaking was a challenge.
Many of us fear it more than death.
Toastmasters gave me incredible confidence.
Now I’ve been invited to speak all over the globe.
I really look forward to giving a presentation.
Confidence and practice chased the butterflies.
It can do it for you, too.

Email me at JerryBellune@yahoo.com
I’ll help you find a club convenient to you.