Have you ever wanted to make a difference but didn’t know how? Read on…
Aldi grocery stores are among my favorite places to shop. I think of it as simplistic shopping. One of the things that is a little different is that you need to make sure that you bring a quarter with you for the grocery cart. Aldi has just a handful of employees so they don’t have time to chase carts down in the parking lot. They have an apparatus that links all of them together. That’s where you need to pick one up and bring it back.
Sometimes when my husband and I shop we spy someone in the parking lot that hasn’t taken their cart back and we’ll hand over a quarter so they don’t have to walk back up to the store. And occasionally some will say keep the quarter. How nice is that??? The first time it happened to me I had a huge smile on my face. Then I wanted to pass it on. We didn’t stay in the parking lot to see if that next person did the same.
Now I have a couple of missions when I go to Aldi. Shopping is obvious. I will try to pass off the cart to someone else and tell them to keep the quarter. Or I don’t remove the quarter from the slot when I take the buggy back. It’s especially thrilling to do something that no one sees. You wonder who will be blessed by that simple quarter!
Oh and one more thing…when I am able to pass a cart off to someone else, I make sure and say “Have a nice day!”
Mary Lu Saylor South Office for Grow Real Companies
Facebook announces changes….again! But this time you will want to listen up. This will likely impact all users of the social media platform in one way or another.
Facebook is working on stripping out some of the junk that’s been populated and trying to create more value within their system. We all need to work on building on what we really believe here at REAL RELATIONSHIPS! Build your community and peel back the curtain on your business! This will mean the following for businesses:
You need to be more intentional. Spend time delivering to your customers what they need…not how it will benefit you.
Money spent on Facebook Ads and boosts will need to increase. It’s really important to remember that this kind of advertising is very inexpensive and if you do it well it can pay off.
Make sure you remind your fans that they need to set your page to SEE FIRST status. This will ensure that they get see what you are providing!
Remember social media is here to BUILD relationships with family, friends, and clients. If you need help please feel free to chime in on our Facebook page or right here in the comments.
We’ve entered 2018 and I’m excited, how about you? Dreaming, creating goals, resolutions….whatever you want to call them are part of life pumping yourself up and setting the tone for this clean slate of a year we have ahead.
Goal defined: the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. (Oxford Dictionary)
Why should we set goals? One of my favorite Christian writers Reverend Norman Vincent Peale said, “All successful people have a goal. No one can get anywhere unless he knows where he wants to go and what he wants to be or do. ” No doubt Rev. Peale believed that God sets the plan for each of us and it is our job to make it a reality. We do this through prayer, listening to the messages he sends us, and realizing that he has given us abilities beyond what we can comprehend. Goals are part of this process.
What are my goals for 2018? At the end of 2017 I took a big leap of faith and decided it was time to work full time on social media management and training. Now that I work at home, part of my 2018 goals include professional and personal ones that intermingle. I am setting up new work systems for myself and family. I want to work on spending more time cooking (something I really enjoy) healthy recipes. I love experimenting in the kitchen and have a husband who loves to be the taste tester. I will also spend more time devoted to prayer and exercise. Professionally I want to be able help more people learn how to spread their message successfully on social media.
Shared goals! One of the great things about the work I do with Grow Real Companies is that I get to work with Tracy Barse. She and I live in different parts of the country, but we share work goals. We are in constant communication and share great ideas back and forth that can help our clients. This is part of what makes us such great team because we bring different skills and experiences that can help the other. And this happens every single day! We love to dream, set goals, and watch them blossom.
Goals into reality: Goals that are worthwhile are not easy. For example, most people can’t go out and run a 5K race without some sort of preparation. If you can, wow!!! The reality is it’s all about the training or action steps you take. I’ve seen numerous experts quoted saying the best thing to do is to write it down! The act of putting pen to paper, typing it out on a keyboard, creating a picture, or whatever works for you is what creates a visual representation of this dream you have.
How about you? Do you have an idea, project, new career, or anything that you just can’t get out of your mind and want to see if you can make a go of it? We want to offer you encouragement to give it a try. Start by writing out your dream, then a few steps you need to take to make it happen, and most of all get some friends to support you in your vision.
“If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you.” Les Brown, Motivational speaker
Do your goals include starting a new business or perhaps you need help with marketing a business or organization and take it to the next level? Please contact us. We would love to help share in making those dreams and goals a reality.
Happy New Year! Mary Lu Saylor Social Media Strategist
Our world is all about sharing what we are experiencing. Most of the time we are doing this through social media. We want to show our friends what our kids are doing. We share that great new restaurant that we tried. Or even the new color choice for our remodeling project.
When it comes to business DO NOT do business on your personal social media page. I see this all the time especially those who are in direct sales. I understand you are very excited about your new business but set up a business page and invite your friends, family, and acquaintances thereto do business. Your business will have more success if you treat your business seriously and not mix it up with your personal social media pages.
5 Keys to a Great Business Social Media Page
1. Have a great cover photo with your logo. If you don’t have a logo yet, create one using a tool like Canva.com.
2. Make sure you have filled out all the information in the “About” section with your hours, location (if you have one), website, phone number, etc.
3. Create some eye-popping graphics (again, use a tool like Canva) to catch people’s attention and make them stop scrolling through the feed.
4. Post at least one time a day. Feature new products or services, inspirational quotes, or anything that is going to help to educate your audience.
5. Record a video or do a Facebook Live! Videos are huge on social media platforms. Try unboxing a new product for your audience or show off the new collection of jewelry on display.
After you have posted to your business page then share it to your personal page if you like. While you are at it get a few friends to help you spread the word about your fantastic business. A friend of mine uses this at her church and calls it the “Like and Share Club.” They are spreading the world about things going on at their church.
Remember you are working on building a relationship with potential clients. You want this to be long lasting. So work hard to educate, inform, and enlighten.
Click here to check out our video with more tips to be successful on social media!
As we all know, being an entrepreneur is the absolute BEST blessing in the world. However, it does not come without a lot of self-discipline, determination and Faith!
We all know that it is essential to plan, set goals and stay organized all year long to ensure utmost success for our businesses. We also know that we need to keep building REAL RELATIONSHIPS all year long. Here comes the challenge – SUMMER! Summer is such a fun season with so many things to do that are so much fun – gardening, swimming, biking, cook-outs, vacations, trips to the lake just to name a few. It seems like we work so hard that we should be able to take a lot of time off and then just keep going, without interruption, come Fall. Unfortunately, that can create disaster for your business and a lot of stress for you.
Let’s talk about how you might balance business so that you can enjoy Summer to its fullest while still ensuring that you are doing what you need to do for a successful Fall season for your business.
Meetings: It is very important to keep networking and building those REAL RELATIONSHIPS! Perhaps instead of not going to meetings at all in the summer, you could choose a couple meetings a month to attend so that you can stay in contact with others and schedule a few additional meetings in a virtual way using the many online options available. This will give you a balance of in-person meetings and also save you time and money when you schedule some of them virtually.
Early Hours: If you want to spend the day enjoying Summer activities it might be worth it for you to wake up an hour or two earlier in the morning and block that time out specifically for work. Then you can spend the rest of the day knowing you have taken good care of your business and deserve the time to play a little! You really do deserve some time to unplug and play a little!
Lists: Make a list for each day of the week and assign each day a reasonable amount of tasks. Perhaps save big projects for days that it rains and your activities are cancelled. Do this list BEFORE you go to bed at night and wake up feeling refreshed and organized! When you have a list, you tend to stay on task and get a lot more done. You spend less time distracted which means more time for Summer fun!
Groups: Make group participation on Facebook a priority! Everyone is busy in the summer. People will check in to the groups they belong to and your presence there is KEY!!! This is a great way to keep your business name and specials in front of people so they don’t forget about you when they don’t see you participating. You can do this any hour of the day and it only takes a few minutes so don’t miss this important opportunity. It’s, most importantly, a great way to let people know you really appreciate them and you want to continue to stay in contact with them.
By implementing these few small things into your Summer routine, we are confident that you will move into Fall feeling really good about your business. You will have the peace of knowing that you have not lost touch with your business and those important relationships throughout the summer and can move into Fall without interruption. You can then add a little momentum when Fall arrives and be ready to go!
Tracy Barse, Founder Grow REAL Companies.com, LLC
Tracy is blessed with over 25 years of experience working with many different businesses and non-profits as well as owning her own successful businesses. Tracy is a trained, Professional Social Media and Marketing Strategist and will help YOU GROW your business using the latest Social Media and Marketing trends available. She will help you create your own personal Success Strategy that will help you reach your REAL goals and dreams. Tracy lives in Northeastern Indiana with her husband of 27 years and two children. She loves family time, vacations, gardening, sports and reading.
If you live in Auburn, Indiana, and you frequent the drive-thru at McDonalds for that ever popular Egg McMuffin, then you likely know Bob. Bob is the epic example of REAL customer service – over and beyond. As you drive-thru and place your order, Bob recognizes those people that he has created REAL RELATIONSHIPS with by greeting them! He even knows if you have not placed your “normal” order. Bob makes it a point to know as many people as possible during his morning shift. When you arrive at the window to pay, Bob really has made it a point to get to know you. You are greeted with a big smile. You would never know that Bob has been awake since the early morning hours, he has to deal with all sorts of customers from grumpy, tired, happy, stressed and the like. But when you are at that drive-thru window – you would think you are his only customer. He has something special to say to you, maybe humorous, maybe asking about a family member, maybe briefly telling you something that lets you get to know him better. He is quick, prompt and keeps on task while making everyone feel pretty special. I’m not a morning person, but Bob’s smile is a welcome greeting any morning of the week. Bob could likely find all sorts of things to be grumpy about, a fast food drive thru likely does not always come with a lot of gratitude, appreciation, happy customers, etc.
So what is the point of this story …………………………………Bob is REAL! There is no way he can fake this magnitude of epic customer service. He really cares about the people coming thru the drive-thru and invests his time in getting to know the majority of them.
What if each of us were like this in our businesses? What if we spent time, regardless of whatever is going on in our business and our lives, and invested quality time in getting to know people. I think we just might have a REAL customer service explosion ………………………………. people love to know how much you care. They love to know that you really care about them and their life without any further expectations. You see, Bob does not own McDonald’s. He is not gaining any extra points to invest time in getting to know you. Hopefully, he at least gets Employee of the Month from time to time because he deserves it. You better believe that if this guy worked for me – he would know just how much he was appreciated by everyone. What Bob does receive is the happiness and peace of knowing he has a lot of people that care about him as it is evident as they frequent the drive-thru and get to know him and spread joy to him as well. When you mention Bob’s name in the community – people know him as that incredible guy at the McDonald’s drive-thru window! I would guess that Bob leaves work each day knowing that he has not only done his job to the best of his abilities, but that he has made an impact in the lives of many. Perhaps he has brightened the day of people going thru very painful or stressful situations and he was just the smile or word of happiness that they needed that morning. We all need positive and joyful people in our lives…………………Bob is doing his job well!!!
Let’s all learn a lesson from Bob at McDonald’s in little Auburn, Indiana. Get out there and no matter who you come in contact with and no matter what you are going thru……………………. treat people with REAL significance. Get to know them. Invest in them. Show them you REALLY care! If they become your customer great – if they never do it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have shown them REAL joy, care and concern and that is the absolute best goal you can attain. These are TRUE blessings!
Be the “Bob” in your business or the business your work for!
Until next time,
Tracy Barse
ps. What ONE THING can you do to be more like Bob?
Tracy Barse, Founder
Until next time,
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