Kick Overwhelm To The Curb

Do you ever have to prompt your kids to eat something, wear something, do something or go somewhere?

They resist; you persist because you want the best for them.

You’re selling, but you’re able to do that because ultimately you believe it’s best for them because you love them. You are delivering value by showing something that’s good for them.

Your kids are like the general public at large and your business is the parent that is trying to show them something of value.

I’ve been marketing since about the mid 1980’s. But I didn’t know I was marketing. 

My favorite course in college was marketing. We reviewed businesses that excelled because they applied business fundamentals that introduced their products and services to consumers.

Then when I joined my father’s insurance agency.
My first thought was “I don’t want him to be the best kept secret.”
My other thought was “this could take a while. People need to get to know me.”
My mantra became “there’s no immediate gratification in a long term strategy.”

I networked and joined business organizations to meet other business owners. I created events to engage the community.
I grew revenue 800%. He was able to retire when I bought him out and then I sold my shares to my sister six years later.

It was all from marketing. 

This was inspired by a conversation with a few of the Board members of an IDS Chapter in CT who brought me in to do a presentation. I asked, “what do you want me to talk about?” 

I wanted to do something different from what may be expected.
I didn’t want to beat a dead horse with the obvious platitudes about marketing. 

Nor debate about which is better:
Facebook vs. Linkedin
Posting in the morning or afternoon
Writing a Blog or recording a Vlog.

You don’t need me to tell you to post on social media.
It’s been trending for the past decade or more. Being an early adopter has left the station.

They said, “We’re overwhelmed. Many of us are Solopreneurs and doing everything ourselves.”

FEELING OVERWHELMED

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with marketing? I have good news and bad news.

I believe being overwhelmed is an opportunity to learn how to grow in some capacity.
Your business could be at the precipice of growing to the next level.

Being overwhelmed, to me, is the difference between doing the things we want to do and doing the things we think we should be doing. It’s an internal conflict. It’s why we procrastinate and make excuses instead of delegating.

A side effect of being overwhelmed is complacency.

I don’t want to steal my therapist’s thunder, but most of the time, many of us, in general, have the same doubts and fears. 

People aren’t paying attention to us as much as we think they are. They’re too worried about their own stuff.

I’ve listened to hours of marketing podcasts where professionals share how they got started and invariably it begins with some fear and doubt as they stumble to figure things out.

Is there anyone here that DOESN’T want to grow to the next level?

Anything I share with you today is nothing i’ve not been through already.
I’ve worried. I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’ve doubted. And I’ve succeeded.

Marketing is not an event. It’s a process.
And when it comes to process, we don’t seek perfection, we strive for progress.

Who has a purpose they are trying to accomplish?

Marketing is about understanding our purpose and the goals we set to achieve the fulfillment of our purpose along with the good we want to put out into the world.

Sometimes it feels like marketing it’s not always practical or executable.
It’s too much, we’re too busy. We can always find an excuse. I know I do.

If we’re following our purpose, it’s practical.
If we’ve not achieved all of our goals yet, we must make it executable.

i can talk to you about tactics and techniques, but it’s boring, and you know it already.
You can google everything and anything for FREE.  You know more than you know.

It’s the motivation, inspiration and creativity that we seek sometimes.

I’ve been saying for years:
You have to start somewhere in order to celebrate progress.
It’s basic benchmarking.

Rachel Hollis said it better,
“You can’t get to great if you aren’t putting “good enough” out in the world.”

Rachel Hollis also wrote a book about the lies she told herself and how she overcame them. 

I’m going to share the lies I told myself when I started social media in 2009:

  1. I have nothing to say.
  2. No one is listening to me.
  3. I don’t have an audience.
  4. There is so much noise, no one is finding my stuff.

This is ego hijacking our brains. 

Because the truth is:

  1. I was most talkative in high school. So, Duh!
  2. I’ve been hired so people are listening.
  3. I’ve built an audience.
  4. I started with my inner circle & circle of influences to let them know what I’m doing out here in the world.

CONNECTION
Remember when we discussed purpose? There’s a reason I didn’t say passion or profit first.

Who doesn’t love financial gain? With profit, sometimes we let our money junk get in the way. Sometimes we charge too little or too much or we procrastinate because we don’t know what to charge or how to charge.

With passion, we keep ourselves mired in minutia because it’s an art or it’s too important and it has to be perfect and we don’t let go.

Purpose allows us to dig deep within ourselves to reveal and share our values. And values have impact.
Impact will tempt people to pause and perhaps notice you. And the more they notice you, the more likely they will remember you. When they remember you, they will buy from you when they need your products and/or services.

Your marketing strategy should include your story. People don’t want to feel alone. They want to connect.
We’re biologically wired to connect as humans.

Sharing your story, your struggle to make it in this business causes connection. People can relate.

No one cares what you post unless they know that you care. Thank you Theodore Roosevelt.

Let’s talk about the “Judgey Judge Judys” in the world. If anyone judges your content and proclaims it as a failure, thank them. It’s a gift. It’s called feedback. Feedback directs us on how to improve.  It’s not about perfection, it’s about progress.

Y’all still with me?

CONTENT
Content is king; consistency is key.
It doesn’t have to be all business all the time. The best marketing is when people don’t pontificate all the time with all that they know.

No matter your industry, build in visuals. I don’t want to invite you to my pity party, but I used to post about insurance.
Now, with my new business, I post about Business Credit Financing. It’s not very exciting content.

Find the emotion. You’re bringing your product or service to life.

Here are some things you can do to stockpile content for your business.

  1. Photographically document your process, parts of the process, pieces of the process.
  2. Train your clients to know you’ll be wanting their feedback along the process. Ask how they are feeling and why they are feeling that way. Bring them into the process.

Why is this beneficial?

You want to know what they are feeling at all times because this provides relatable events with what other people are feeling. This provides direction on your how your content will reach people who may need you in the future.

Document and/or develop “case studies” to capture a keyword library for you to enrich your content though your clients’ experience.

  • What is their Pain
  • What are their Problems
  • What are your Solutions
  • What is their Satisfaction

Lewis Howes, renowned podcaster of the School of Greatness said “Create what you would want to listen to if you were stuck, starting out or striving.”

People are paying you for your perspective. They have a problem. You have a solution.
Your job is to find more problems so you can help them solve it.

You are doing a disservice by not sharing your solutions and your creativity.

In my previous business, I amassed 13,000 Twitter followers. When I first started using Twitter, I politely stalked my competition & strategic alliances to see what they were posting and how their content was relevant to a similar audience I was trying to develop. 

Let’s go back to feeling and/or being overwhelmed.

Who feels that sometimes, somedays maybe they squander 30 minutes here and there?

Maybe you’re binge watching Netflix.
Maybe you’re aimlessly scrolling Facebook or Instagram.

Did you know that 30 minutes per day is 182.5 hours which is almost 23 days lost which is more than 3 weeks potentially squandered vs. being productive. 

How will you start taking that time back?

The Dirt on Marketing, Like Literally

When I was younger, I loved city life. The hustle and bustle of people scurrying and vehicles hurrying was alluring and alive.

As I got older, I became more attracted to the quiet countryside. Ah…the fresh air, the sounds of birds chirping, the smell of grass … hold the “flower”, I mean phone. (Yes, i’ll be cultivating these deciduous puns.)

The smell of grass? Yes! It’s a refreshing reminder of spring and summer. So glorious, right?

WRONG! You know how you get the smell of grass? You have to cut it. It’s called landscaping.

There are two kinds of people:
* People that do it on their own
* People who hire someone to do it

But wait, there’s more! There is the third type of person. Those that outsource a portion of the work and do some themselves.

Sound familiar? Yup. That’s how marketing works too.

When I decided to move to the country, I bought a house in Roxbury, Connecticut. It’s a wonderful place. Many people, even Connecticut residents have never heard of it.

Think Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, William Styron, Walter Matthau, Richard Widmark, Alexander Calder.

Ok, enough of this stardom, let’s get back to “grass roots”. 

When you’ve never owned 2.6 acres of land before, and now you have it, you have to decide how to approach this monumental groundskeeping mission.

The first thing I did was to hire a full service lawn maintenance and estate management company to handle every aspect of the property. That got to be too expensive. I then decided to manage some of the yard work myself. I paired working in the yard with the idea of working out in the yard to get some exercise.

I reviewed what equipment I needed, what I had and what outside services I could ”prune” away.

While I was planting shrubs and laying mulch, I got to thinking about how landscaping and marketing are very similar. Let’s take a “broad-leaf” look at how the two compare. 

Curb Appeal vs. Brand

First, you survey the property on how to maintain or improve your curb appeal. That takes an eye towards design.

In marketing, your curb appeal is your brand. It takes strategy to consider how to project your brand.

Equipment vs. Tools

Then you prepare your landscaping project by organizing your equipment needed for mowing, planting, pruning, weeding, etc.

In marketing, you have tools necessary to exercise and broadcast your brand such as your website, social media channels, direct mail, podcasts, etc. 

Maintenance

This is where the two meet and “thatch”, I mean match:
* Landscaping is not an event, it’s maintenance.
* Marketing is not an event, it’s a process.

If you’re looking to “till” through the marketing madness and cover more ground, email us at Curious@AuroraConsulting.biz or call 860-759-9910. 

4 Reasons Goal-Setting Doesn’t Suck

Let’s face it; it’s a goal to set a goal. 

The new year is almost here, and I don’t know about you, but this happens every last quarter and last month of the year for me and for us here at Aurora Consulting.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. It can be daunting to set a goal, track a goal, and stick to a plan to achieve the goal. Why? Because it’s work.

We also know, and this is that weird icky feeling that we sometimes ignore, having a goal and not meeting the goal could generate feelings of failure and/or rejection. 

This could set us back and cause resistance to maintain momentum.

If you think about it…what’s the resistance around setting a goal? Goals present opportunities, and creating opportunities could mean income to your business. 

That is….IF building your business is a GOAL!? We did this podcast, Ask 6 Questions as a Business Owner | The Difference Between Business Owner & Entrepreneur.

Goals are INSPIRING.

Many different activities make up your role in your business. There are things that you love to do and there are things that are for the greater good of the business that may not be your favorite part of your day/week/month/year.

Create a contest for yourself and/or team members and reward yourself when you’ve finished a task. Something, anything that will motivate you to want to work on those tasks/activities that will help accomplish the goal.

When we’re inspired, we’re more focused on accomplishing the task at hand. And this will help us work smarter to achieve a goal.

Let’s embrace what we do and not be afraid of it.

Goals build CONFIDENCE.

Now that you’re motivated and working on tasks that inspire you, this will build confidence. Confidence propels us to be the best that we can be…and maybe even have a little fun while doing it.

When we’re confident, we seek more challenges. This helps us to be more curious, continue learning, and grow.

Goals are CHALLENGING.

This is when it gets fun. We’re now inspired and that builds confidence.

How about building in something that makes us uncomfortable? We call this getting out of our comfort zone. Competition builds character.

Think of a triathlete. They track their activity and their time to know how they can train to be stronger and faster. When their body becomes adjusted to a certain weight or speed, they begin trying things that challenge their current abilities.

This helps us to grow. See a theme here?

Goals keep us ACCOUNTABLE.

The movie A FEW GOOD MEN includes one of the most memorable movie lines in movie history. When pressed for the truth, Jack Nicholson’s character Colonel Jessup bellows: “You can’t handle the truth!”

I say, you can handle the truth. Tracking your activity will cause reason to celebrate when you achieve a goal or progress toward achieving the goal. 

And if there’s evidence that this goal may not see the light of day, tracking will help you to recognize the signs so you can pivot and/or redirect our focus so you’re working on your strengths vs. giving up altogether.

Have you considered an accountability partner? Some people, and I am one of them, need an external force or energy to stay on track. Whether it’s a weekly call or you’re checking in on a private Facebook page, knowing that you have to divulge your activity, or divulge the lack of activity, it may motivate you to have something awesome to report.

Now, go and set some goals; you can handle it! 

Download our Beacon Oversights and Preparedness Guide. It includes 3 pages of checklists about the many things that must be managed when you own a business. It will help you to create goals for yourself. 

 

download oversights beacon guide

Spice Up Your Marketing

Whether you are ready to stick a fork in your marketing plan or you’re cooking with gas, you may want to let this marinade for a bit.

I don’t ever brag about my cooking. Recipes terrify me because they are so precise. And well, one false move, will it be edible?

You can experiment with so many different flavors. What about an Indian dish with a flare of curry or an Italian dish with a pinch of oregano. Maybe you like a hot bowl of chili, extra cayenne please.

The possibilities are endless. However, if you don’t want to risk your guests’ taste buds to your creativity (or lack thereof), you may want to prepare ahead of time to test taste the dish. 

When you decide what cuisine you would like to serve and you’ve picked a recipe, you browse your pantry for the ingredients you need and may already have. If you are missing an ingredient, you must take a trip to the grocery store to purchase the rest.

Click here for your marketing shopping list.

You then assemble your ingredients on the counter so it’s all readily available as you maneuver in the kitchen between the refrigerator, counter, sink and stove. You’re utilizing all the tools (appliances) you have in order to prepare the dish.

With marketing, the possibilities are also endless with how you build your brand and execute your story. Similar to deciding on your meal, you have to decide how you’ll execute your marketing strategy.

Whether you are beating, chopping, mixing or grinding, there’s a process and each step of the recipe contributes to the ultimate goal which is a delicious meal you’re proud to serve.

Marketing is similar to this. The recipe to marketing is having a strategy.

The ingredients are the various outlets that will build your brand and build your business.

  • Are you blogging?
  • Branding your website so people “know” you before even meeting you?
  • Posting on social media? 
  • Hosting/speaking at an event?

This activity will help to sell more of your products and services to new and existing clients.

If you prefer not to be the head chef in your marketing kitchen, consider hiring a sous-chef so you can do what you do best and delegate the rest. If you think your marketing is a bit bland for your taste, please give us a call and tell us how we can help you spice things up.

“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” – Thomas Keller

The ROI of Doing Nothing

Often, when a business-owner invests in marketing, they want to know when they will see a return on investment. It should be a question and a concern; it would be cavalier to dismiss otherwise.

However, when a business-owner finally realizes that marketing is key to new business development, some think that results rapidly occur. It doesn’t work that way.

Besides considering the cost of marketing, the time before profit is realized remains uncertain. In my experience of running a business and investing in marketing, a person skilled in sales considers budget, cost and equally as important, the confidence that the potential solution could be a cure to stagnation.

It’s hard to quantify the loss of income when nothing is being done to attract new business. It’s not unusual that, sometimes, we spend a lot of time rationalizing not investing a few dollar to make more dollars.

Did you ever go to a networking event, meet people, get business cards and never follow up? It happens! We spend money to attend the event, gas for the car and lose quality time with family and/or personal endeavors. The ROI of dong nothing equals nothing.

As a licensed insurance person, it would be tough to write insurance if I thought “that person doesn’t need insurance” especially when they have insurance because I know they own a car, a home, and a business. 

Do you like tea? If you do, you know that when you make tea, you don’t drink it immediately after pouring the hot water into the tea cup. You have to wait for the tea to steep so it maximizes the ingredients and flavor of the tea; otherwise it’s just hot water.

Marketing is like tea. it takes time. Besides needing money to invest in marketing, we need patience to develop a reputation. You know what costs money? A reduction in new business while overhead continues to increase.

Don’t be cheap, steep! Then, enjoy one sip at a time. 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv0Geehxw1S0r73lODPnzQgumWyj-0Tjh

Easy, Breezy, Pleasy

When you think of what is most important to prospects and clients, many would probably guess “price” and that’s not wrong. Price is typically high on the list.

PUN INTENDED!

Most prospects get right to it with questions such as:

  • What do you charge?
  • What are your rates?
  • How much will it cost?

However, did you know that one of the Top 5 Values to customers is EASE OF USE? According to Ian Golding’s article, “What do customers really want? The top five most important things revealed”, ease of use is actually #5; on a list of 5…which is actually LAST. 

Hold the phone, so what’s the big deal then?! 

The answer is to make it easy for a client to engage. And if we don’t, they will quickly turn to another option.

What does “easy” mean anyway?

It depends. Comfort for both the seller and the prospect warrants understanding the expectations of the potential client.

Let’s make this easy. What are some things you can do?

Over-Inform

Let’s start with a simple scenario gone awry. If a client is coming to your office, do you prepare them for every possible eventuality, such as:

  • Do you prepare them for where to park?
  • Is it metered parking?
  • Is there a landmark next door?

It seems to ridiculous doesn’t it? People have GPS for goodness sake! 

Here’s what I mean. I invited a woman to an event I hosted. I gave her the address thinking that would be sufficient. However, she couldn’t find the location and ended up frustrated driving around and gave up. I could have, and should have, indicated that it was next door to a well known hotel and conference center.

Over-Phone

If there are more than 3 emails about a simple question that isn’t being answered, pick up the phone. All too often, there’s too much opportunity to feed our brain’s need to multi-task because emailing seems easier. But, email can delay a simple task from being completed while we wait for an answer and get distracted with another task.

Over-Prepare

Do you prepare the client with an on-boarding process so they understand what they should expect from us for next steps?

When I used to write insurance for a new client, I would outline what they should expect after purchasing the insurance. It’s a comprehensive checklist summarized in these 3 basic topics. 

  • Documents procedure
  • Billing procedure
  • Communication procedure

Let’s go back to the concept of managing expectations. It seems like a lot of work, however, if you create a process with templates, it will be set you up for each client when they hire you.

These days, the pundits are pontificating about the customer experience and the customer journey.
And it’s no small feat to achieve customer satisfaction. 

If you have multiple product lines, you can’t be just “ONE AND DONE”. You have to train clients to keep you top of mind for any of their future inquiries. Do the tough steps first and the easy stuff follows.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv0Geehxw1S0r73lODPnzQgumWyj-0Tjh

Applying Sunscreen to the Status Quo

It’s summer time…the joys of barbecues, boating and the beach. Except when you fall asleep on the beach without reapplying your sunscreen. I hate when that happens!

The worst part is when you’re showered, refreshed, and ready to relax from the relaxing, the negligence kicks in. BAM! 

The savage tan you were hoping for is replaced with red, blotchy skin that stings to the touch. It’s painful, isn’t it? The raw burning pain is all we think about. We focus on seeking that remedy, that magical ointment, that will relieve the burn.

These ailments are physical…and visible. They can limit us in our mobility because they devour our thoughts with the pain while waiting for the relief to set in. When will the pain stop?

Unfortunately, there are no physical signs when we are STUCK in a RUT. And just like forgetting to apply sunscreen, there is no warning that this rut is imminent or happening as we speak.

To make matters worse, unlike the relentless focus on physical pain, we justify and defend our lack of progress. Isn’t there an ointment for that?

Think about it, the status quo is like walking around with a sunburn and not knowing it. It’s safe; it’s NOT uncomfortable. We aren’t in pain. Or are we?

Overcoming the status quo is like the ointment on the burn. As much as we try to maintain the status quo, the more we find the outside world will force us out of our comfort zone, through no fault (or desire) of our own.

There’s a big, bad, world out there waiting to spin us around in an attempt to try something new, whether we like it or not.

Is your status quo any of the following:

  • Is sales and/or marketing not your forte?
  • Do you think you don’t know how to sell?
  • Do you not like to bother people with asking them to buy from you?

Many of you may feel dread and trepidation thinking we’re intruding on someone’s privacy. What’s up with that?

What happens if YOUR service and/or product is something THEY really need? We only hurt ourselves with missing out on that next new client who wants, nay NEEDS US!!! 

We hurt ourselves by sticking to the status quo; you know, like a sunburn.

Learning how to overcome the hesitation we have about asking for someone’s business is a lot easier than you think. It’s like putting the ointment on the sunburn. Failing to overcome that hesitation results in losing money for no reason other than your awkward shyness. Failing to apply the sunscreen results in that nasty sunburn.

Pretend that sunscreen is merely a shield from your shyness and go burn it up!

Marketing: Woes and Wows

I was thinking about how to outline a proverbial “good news, bad news” message.

Marketing takes on different life forms when you’re deciding how to promote your business. A brief outline can be reviewed in my blog, “Reflections though the Drive-Thru Car Wash”.

I think you’ll be happy to know that I’ve consolidated BOTH the woes and wows as one issue. ONE? Yes, one! For now.

New business development is an under-stated and underrated activity and effort that’s critical to any business. Hoping and eagerly waiting for the phone to ring is not a strategy. You don’t need me to tell you that.

I think we all know that we secretly wish it were a strategy. 

Did you ever “HAVE TO” go to a family or community function because you made a decision and needed to follow through with it, but you dreaded it? WOE MOMENT.

BUT, after going, despite dreading it, you had a great time! It happens, doesn’t it? You bet it does.
You may have even been pleasantly surprised (and relieved). WOW MOMENT!

That’s how new business development works. 

Creating conversation out of thin air with complete strangers and coming across as a “salesperson” is daunting.
WOE MOMENT

So, you get uncomfortable, coordinate with colleagues, peers, associates, alliances, power through and attend that networking event because you know there will be possible connections and valuable introductions.
At the end of the event, you have a fruitful experience, much to your delight. WOW MOMENT.

One aspect of Karma is that if you venture out of our comfort zone, you will experience something valuable and useful.
If you stay within your comfort zone, you may not have bad karma, but you can’t complain about the status quo because that’s your choice.

Visit my video on prospecting. By the way, spoiler alert this is a WOW MOMENT; I don’t care what anyone says.

Marketing Superpower: Justice League Style

  1. Paying for your kid’s college tuition
  2. Getting the pool in the backyard when it’s LAVAHOT degrees outside
  3. Crossing off a travel destination that’s on your bucket list

Who’s your favorite superhero?

Reflections through the Drive-Thru Car Wash

SPRING is finally here, sort of! This past week marked my regularly-scheduled, yet overdue, visit to the car wash to rinse the winter grit and grime from my car, especially since the four recent and overwhelming Nor’easters delayed a much needed bath.

I drove to the drive-thru car wash, although a more thorough cleaning was necessary; this was a decent option in he meantime given how my visit was grossly overdue.

I put the car in neutral and onto the rails we went. i had a few minutes of quiet time to myself as we floated into the tunnel. This is where I decided that marketing could be a bit like a drive-thru car wash due to the different stations and variety of wash methods Sally and I were about to go through.

On average, a typical car wash facility has multiple stations:

• Pre-soak
• Mitter curtain
• Rinse arch
• Foam applicator
• Scrubbers
• High-pressure washer
• Undercarriage wash applicator
• Rinse arch
• Wax applicator
• Mitter curtain
• Scrubbers
• Rinse arch
• Dryer

As you can see, a couple of the stations repeat themselves. This isn’t surprising is it? This is no different for marketing.

There are various marketing activities that help with your efforts to achieve fruitful business development results depending on your budget, time and tools. Yes, it can be overwhelming, but you know there is light at the end of the “tunnel”. Let’s take a look at my quick journey through the wash tunnel and how it relates to marketing.

Car Wash:
First, a couple of guys doused Sally’s exterior with a power wash blast to prepare for the pre-soak phase. While the bay and various machines were about to swallow Sally whole, there were still humans tending to Sally’s curves and contours to ensure stubborn debris would be managed.

Marketing:
This is similar to initially hiring a marketing consultant who prepares you and your business with a “down and dirty” approach to produce a polished marketing strategy that suits the goals of your business.

Car Wash:
Then, you enter the mitter curtain. These sud-soaked fettuccine strips jounced the front hood and windshield with a head-on lather. The lengthy sponges slowly made it’s way to the top of the car and proceeded it’s rhythmic cleansing towards the back of the car.

Marketing:
This reminded me of the strategy soaked discussions a business-owner would entertain with an overall review of the myriad of marketing techniques and tactics available.

What are these myriad of marketing efforts?
• Referrals
• Existing clients – cross-selling, up-selling, account rounding
• Cold calling – yup, everyone hates it, but it’s on the list because it works.
• Strategic alliances – who compliments your business that needs your services for their clients?
• In-person Networking
• Social media
• Email Marketing
• Content marketing (webinars, podcasts, press releases)
• Internet marketing (Search engine Optimization – SEO)
• Community service (Volunteering, Boards of Directors)
• Direct mail
• Advertising

Back to the Car Wash:
Next, the scrubbers. These tall, rotating brushes glossed over the sides of Sally to remove loose debris and film from the power washing.

Marketing:
This is where you scrub what activities you think work best for you and for your business. You also want consider what activities you should handle and what could you delegate to another member of the team.

Car Wash:
The rinse arch followed. The spraying showers washed away the soapy suds.

Marketing:
It’s a time to “come clean” with focusing on what works and more importantly what doesn’t. This is your moment of reflection to understand what marketing activities you could be doing and perhaps have fun while doing it.
Finally, I enjoyed the high-powered heating vents that finished the cleaning process by blow drying Sally to remove blotches from soapy residue and streaks from spraying water.

This is the time to celebrate. Who doesn’t enjoy the refreshing feel of success when recommendations have been considered from a trusted marketing consultant. While this car wash journey was a mere five minutes of my time, it’s a start and a little bit of motivation to remember how she shines in the sun.

Cleaning any vehicle is a process and requires maintenance. So does marketing.

Start the process, embrace the progress. You know you need to do it, and you know a positive outcome is likely.

Your business is an adventure. Enjoy the ride…even if it’s for a five minutes of quiet through the car wash.