may 2008

What? Internet safety for parents?

But I’m trying to learn how to keep my kids safe – why do I need safety tips?

I thought in this post I would turn the whole idea around of why we as parents need Internet safety.

Maybe you just don’t have time to learn that much about being online. You don’t visit anymore sites that you have to, and really only turn on your computer a couple of times per week.

Or maybe you spend a full day at work, and the last thing you want to do when you get home is spend more time online learning about the latest technology.

Or maybe you dabble in the new technology, and have learned just enough to be totally confused.

Yet you as a parent are the only one that can help your child navigate the online world, and teach him or her wrong from right. Most parents are not doing this today, which is leaving many sites on equal territory to the wild west.

So when you child was a toddler, you told her “no” when she tried to touch the stove because you understood it was hot and would burn her.

As a child, you taught her “don’t speak to strangers” because you understood the safety issues.

The same applies to the Internet.

Start with the simple statement “Don’t post anything online you wouldn’t want your parents or grandparents reading”.

If you say it enough, they will listen.

Also teach them stories of the implications. If you post a video showing you drinking alcohol at 17, it may impact getting into the college of your choice, or getting the job you desire. People search, and they will find you.

Think twice. And don’t post anything online you wouldn’t want your parents, grandparents – or even your kids reading.

Not only is it a good rule for you kids, it’s a good rule for you too. Establish your boundaries now, and teach your children well.

This past weekend we decided to head up into the mountains. Instead of hitting one of the major resorts, we decided to take in a “ghost” town, and ended up in South Park.

South Park is the remains of an old mining town from the 1800’s, and has thousands of items on display from the actual town itself. It has 35 original buildings to tour, and is an amazing tribute to the life this early settlers led.

The first thing we noticed is how cold and windy it was - it’s the end of May! I can’t imagine how cold it must have been for these early settlers. Instead of today’s insulation, they used newspaper to fill in the cracks. [It's interesting to read some of the stories tacked to the walls.]

The houses were small. The rooms were even smaller. It was a huge stretch for my daughter to imagine sharing a tiny room with several siblings, and not having all the “stuff” of our modern lifestyle. You went to the store for basics - there were no choices. Especially 10,000 feet up on a mountain top.

The small one room school house was also of great interest. They had a couple of diplomas hanging from the turn of the century, and had slates and primary readers to look at. Again, a far stretch from today’s world.

Yet the people that settled in this cold country were truly entrepreneurs at heart. They had a passion for a better life, and were willing to do a lot to make sure they achieved it. And for some, it did indeed become a better life. 

?4U[I have a question for you.]

2MI[Is there too much information in your life?]

Just when you learn one thing, a dozen more pop up. And if you have kids, they come home with something new every day – in addition to the dozen things you’ve been presented with throughout the day.

When will it end?

Information, like it or not, is here to stay. If you have a question about homework, you can Google it. If you have a problem, you can Ask about it. If you need a definition, you can head to Wikipedia.

While we will never have a lack of information available to us, the one thing we now need is a way to learn the most important things, and put the rest out of our minds.

Texting has huge penetration at the moment. If you look at any teenager, chances are they are going back and forth between talking with friends, and texting another group. Can they really be engaged in several things at once?

Yes they can. They’ve grown up with technology, and use it like we use calculators and phones. They multitask in a big way – and its preparing them for the world they will live in.

Blogging and microblogging formats (like Twitter) require a user to think about communication skills in a variety of ways, and share it with the people around them. It’s no longer about sharing with one friend at a time – it’s about keeping your entire network up to date.

Texting is teaching our kids:

1. Communication skills2. Technology skills3. Sharing skills4. Networking skills

Now, do they really use it the right way all the time? Of course not. But they are learning.

The important part of starting out in a fun, simple way is to put the skills to use. Refinement comes over the years, and as you move into more complex situations.

What are you learning?

B4N[Bye for now]

Even some of the most successful people in business are adjusting their prices. And it’s not because of the economy. It’s because everyone else is doing it.

In times of recession and a slowing economy, is it necessary to lower prices, and offer what everyone else is offering - just to keep up with them?

I don’t think so. Instead, now is the time to concentrate on what you offer, how you offer it, and adjust it to give your clients even more value.

In good times, we can offer a ton of products and services and sell them quite easily, simply because people have a lot of money to spend and don’t see a time when they won’t have a lot of money. Why not have a little fun and get exactly what you want?

But when the economy slows down, people begin thinking more about what they truly want to buy. They look for:

1. a great value on something they’ve been wanting

2. great customer service from a company that sells what they’ve been in the market for

3. a new product or service that will provide them with something they’ve never had before

People don’t quit buying - they just channel their money into places that provide them more of what they are looking for.

So instead of doing what everyone else is doing, give them something no one else is. And continue growing your own business!

I received an email today with a subject line “87 ways to improve your marketing”

Isn’t that title almost overwhelming? Even for someone like me that enjoys marketing, helps others market their business, writes about marketing daily, and is constantly looking for new marketing resources.

Are we as marketers just trying to outdo each other? Will there ever be an end to it all?

870 Ways To Improve Your Marketing

8700 Ways to Improve Your Marketing

Does any of this really do any good to the small business owner just trying to grow their business? Small business owners are busy enough. They wear every hat in the business, and rarely have time to think about one new strategy, much less 87.

What if I offered one way to improve your marketing, and I provided enough detail that you could start on it immediately? What if that one way had a step by step plan? What if I gave you tools and techniques that ensured you would have a great chance of success?

Wouldn’t that be better than 87?

I attended a 4 hour event on Saturday with my daughter and her Girl Scout troop. It was at the Young American’s Bank, and it was on starting up your own business.

We started by going over the profile of an entrepreneur - what it takes to be successful at running your own business. Each girl had to fill out a profile to find out if they had what it takes to run their own business. There were dozens of questions like:

• I enjoy making presentations and know how to give a professional presentation
• I like selling an idea or product to people I don’t know
• I regularly meet the goals I set for myself
• I manage my time well
• I have a high energy level
• I want to be able to determine when and where I work

They also gave us a number of chances to brainstorm ideas for businesses, how to build a brand and a logo for these businesses, and even a four page fill-in-the-blank business plan to help them get their business ideas in place.

They made it so easy that even 12-14 year old girls had no trouble putting together some pretty amazing ideas.

I also realized during these four hours that the key to everything they were talking about is planning and goal setting. In four hours, they taught exactly how to plan for success. The problem with most small business owners is they never plan for success. You have to spend the time to write down what you hope to achieve and how you will achieve it.

Make your plan today. Start with these ideas:

• Make a list of 3 to 5 services/products you could sell
• Define your potential customers
• Why do people need to buy your product?
• What price will people be willing to pay for your products/services?
• How much will it cost to produce your products/services?
• How much profit do you choose to make?
• Do you need employees?
• How will you gain customers?
• Where will you get funding to get this idea started?
• Who is your competition?
• How much time do you anticipate running your business at the beginning?

You’ll soon be on the road to success.

Every year for as long as I can remember I have celebrated Mother’s Day by bringing my Mom to our local nursery, and buying her a plant for her outside patio. This year it’s no exception - except we went a week early. So Saturday afternoon, my mom, my sister, my daughter and I spent a couple of hours going up and down the rows and rows of flowers, picking out just the right one’s (yes, we had a couple of carts full because you just can’t leave without buying a bunch for yourself too.)

Mom was happy, as she picked out 2 beautiful baskets - one for each corner of her patio. My sister and I were happy as our Mother’s Day shopping is now complete.

Gardening (at least in Colorado) is very seasonal. I would imagine most of their sales come between April and July. And there is a lot of competition with the greenhouses, especially since the big hardware stores like Home Depot have created large nursery areas as well.

So instead of competing on price, our favorite nursery competes on value. The flowers are amazing - you just don’t find that kind of quality anywhere else. They have bands, demonstrations on gardening, free popcorn, and the people are always around offering growing advice.

As a marketer, I always find tips in how successful companies market their business. So, here’s my 3 tips from Tagawa, my local nursery store:

1. Be the best. Don’t sell anything unless it meets a certain standard.

2. Keep in touch. I get quarterly newsletter in my mail. I get an email every couple of weeks. I know when Tagawa is having a sale - and when they are offering things I want.

3. Have enough customer service staff to truly help the customers. Make sure they can answer any question, or have a way of gaining the answer quickly.

And on Mother’s Day, they have their annual buy one get one event on all of their hanging baskets. You know where I’ll be on Sunday…