Author Archives: Barbara Eldridge

Entrepreneur Awards

| January 20, 2010

At the end of each year I like to recognize Mind Masters members for their accomplishments. I have selected 5 Entrepreneurs to recognize for their persistence and focus to the goals they have set.

Our Bronze Achiever for 2009/10 is a person who hasn’t been in Mind Masters all that long, but has been in business for about 10 years. Recognizing that something needed to change as business was getting stagnant, it meant stepping out of the shadows –taking some risks, beginning to network, and showing up in a redesigned website. Of course he joined Mind Masters to get it … Read More

The 2009 Dilemma

| December 16, 2009

Are you keeping up with the pace of change? The pace of technology? The pace of your marketplace? The pace of your competition? The 2010 Dilemma is how much do you and your business have to change to keep pace? As a business owner you need to have information at your finger tips that help you make the best decisions.

Planning for 2010 is a hands on process. You might start by asking some tough questions. Do you recognize the need for change?

  • Are you prepared to look reality in the face?
  • Are you willing to change the way you
… Read More

Open the Curtain

| October 8, 2009

Dying has made Michael Jackson’s music even more popular now then when he was alive. What can we learn from this legend? Well, when it comes to marketing, it pays to build a buzz and then back that up by being the real deal. It’s important to get the word out about who you are and what you do. Jackson did it through record releases, public appearances, concerts, interviews, and fan clubs.

Yeah, but that was Michael Jackson, you say. It was easier for him. Is he really that different than us? If we build a buzz about our business, … Read More

Marketing–Just Do It!

| September 6, 2009

As I have worked with Mind Masters clients over the years, I have always stressed the importance of having 3 marketing tactics that you do consistently.

There are many perspectives on what marketing is, let me illustrate – a first definition of marketing: the business activity of presenting products and/or services to potential customers in such a way as to make them eager to buy. And there is: Marketing – the management of perception.

But what I have learned is that most marketing is haphazard. We’ll try a little of this, a little of that, then a little more of … Read More

Build on Experiences and Accomplishments

| May 2, 2009

As workers create the foundation for a new building site by laying out cinder blocks, they must first place cement between them before they can proceed to add others to build another level. At Mind Masters we encourage members to share their successes, achievements and things they learned in order to lay a foundation for their on going success. Jack Canfield says that “the more you acknowledge your past successes, the more confident you become in taking on and successfully accomplishing new ones”.

This is especially important now with so much chatter about the “bad economy” and businesses failing. If … Read More

Make Customers Your #1 Priority

| March 4, 2009

To maintain on going relationships with clients/customers requires a consistent program that delivers value and meaningful actions. If you are not working at strengthening those relationships you are making it easier for your competitors to insert themselves into your market place. So what values (that require specific behaviors for them to be visible) and actions are you taking to facilitate a memorable customer service process?

We frequent the same restaurants and fast food establishments because we get what we want consistently. When they don’t deliver, we move on elsewhere. A few years ago my favorite coffee chain introduced a new … Read More

Customer Relationship Management

| July 13, 2007

Over that last few weeks several articles and books have crossed my desk that deal with the relationships we develop with customers. Of all the ways to keep a business growing, increasing the frequency of interactions we have with clients is probably one of the most important. We would all love to boast a long list of loyal customers; when we increase the effectiveness of all of our business practices, the list increases.

To sustain profitability and customer loyalty, offering discounts or cutting prices may bring in new customers, but keeping them requires a different level of customer service. Good … Read More

Business Relationships that Work

| May 16, 2007

Business is all about relationships. In the rush to get something done, small business owners often find themselves with less then perfect outcomes. Too often I hear the complaints and laments of clients because doing business with a vendor, independent contractor or performing the work themselves required accountability on both sides but somehow got overlooked. Relationships are built on trust, trust is built when commitments are fulfilled to the satisfaction of all parties. Creating the agreements that go with the commitments is a fundamental skill. Unfortunately, most people have never learned how to articulate their desired results.

Recently a client … Read More