Local ad Link Kelowna Localadlink Canada – Opportunity or waste of time?

Last week I received many calls from friends and clients concerning a company called local ad link or localadlink.com

They are a Multi Level Marketing (MLM) company from the US with a new opportunity that leverages the Internet to help businesses get found locally in the Kelowna Okanagan market place.

The calls I received indicated that the invitees at the meetings seem void of any true Internet knowledge. So I made six calls to local website development companies that I have had a relationship with and realised that no one from these reputable firms had been invited to any of the recruitment meetings.

Red Flag!!!!!!!!!!

Earlier this week one of my clients asked me to attend a meeting with them to get a second opinion.

I must share with you that after the third slick video presentation I was ready to leave, and we did!

It seems to me that all the hype, plays on people’s ignorance about the Internet.

Everything that they claimed, can be done by an eleven year old with free tools offered by Google.

As far as a money making venture ....possibly, but for how long!!!

This is the advice I am giving to my clients.

Focus on your own business development and live your dream instead of a quick cash grab opportunity.

For further opinions see the links below.....

Donald Robichaud – FloodLight Consulting

http://ontopresultsllc.com/news/2009/03/06/localadlink-in-charlotte-nc/

http://www.forestmarie.com/why-localadlink-is-a-scam-localadlink-review-local-ad-link/

http://www.articlesbase.com/business-opportunities-articles/local-ad-link-is-a-scam--insider-info-822357.html

http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=80303

How To Build Your Business Using Blogs in Kelowna Canada

Generate Traffic, Create Publicity, and Build Your Bottom Line Using Blogs

Blogging is sweeping the Internet. It’s estimated that there are at least 8 million blogs in the US alone, 32.5 million worldwide!

Most of those blogs are individual diaries, but many businesses have started their own blogs.
To great success!

But What Is A Blog?

A blog is basically a program that, once installed on your website, enables you to simply type into a form and, when you press submit, it is automatically and immediately uploaded to the web. It's a quick and easy way to publish your content to the web.

Why (Almost) Every Business Needs A Blog

1. Blogs make it incredibly easy to publish to the web - you simply type, press submit, and you’re done.

2. Blogs are a very inexpensive way to publish to the web - once a blog has been established, anyone, even the most technologically challenged, can create blog entries. No more paying an outside contractor an hourly rate or taking your IT guy off of his assigned tasks to do a page for you.

3. Blogging is a fast way to publish - you simply type and submit. It doesn’t take an hour to structure the page, debug the code and work it into your link system. It just happens.

4. Blogging is immediate - no more waiting a week for the programmer to get around to your site changes. You can literally react on a moment-by-moment basis with a blog, putting your point of view on a crisis or other issue for the public and press to view immediately.

5. Blogs are a great way to get your site noticed by the search engines - search engines love blog entries. Many people who have blogs have discovered that their blog entries are getting faster inclusion in the search engine, and more importantly, higher rankings on the search engines. Try it for yourself, you may be surprised!

As further evidence of this, Google owns Blogger, one of the most widely used blogging tools available. Why not work with a technology that is seen by the leading search engine as important enough to actually own?

6. Blogs can be used for a wide variety of content - you don’t have to just write about one thing in a blog, the possibilities are endless.

7. You can have multiple blogs - once you’ve made the initial investment to set up and structure a blog, it’s usually very simple to add a new blog for other purposes.

8. Blogs are great for communicating within your organization - blogs don’t have to be public. They can be on intranets, behind firewalls, and/or password protected. This, plus their ease of use, makes them a great source for internal communications, project tracking, issue resolution, etc.

9. Blogs are a great way to position your company in the eyes of your customers, your industry, and the press. Blogs can be used to support whatever positioning you wish to achieve: superiority, innovation, playful, giving, environmentally concious, etc.)

10. Blogs are a great way to get your company’s content onto the sites of other people (oftentimes, your competitors!) We’re going to discuss this in much more detail later, but almost all blogs have a syndication feature built into them that makes it easy for you to put your content out for others to include on their websites. This means that a portion of the work you produce (usually the headline and the first few words of the copy) can be picked up by and shown on other sites. Then, when that site’s visitor clicks for more information, they show up at your site. Most good business bloggers are discovering that this feature is bringing in a substantial amount of additional traffic to their sites than they received before.

And the most important reason for a business to blog?

11. Blogs convert into sales and profits - those companies who actively use blogs as part of their marketing program have discovered that blogs bring in more visitors to your website and that a high percentage of those who visit a blog, if properly influenced through that blog’s content, will actually buy from their company

Click here for complete article

Old Growth Media And The Future Of News

In the last few months I have written about the change that is happening in Marketing and Branding and how the traditional mediums of radio TV and news are being affected by the internet.

I am posting this article as it does a great job of walking though the last twenty years of technology and how it has changed what we have come to expect from journalist and the explanation of their survival moving forward.

Donald Robichaud - FloodLight Consulting

The following is a speech given at the South By Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin by Steve Berlin Johnson

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If you happened to being hanging out in front of the old College Hill Bookstore in Providence Rhode Island in 1987, on the third week of every month you would have seen a skinny 19-year-old in baggy pants, sporting a vaguely Morrissey-like haircut, walking into the bookstore several times a day.

That kid was me. I wish I could tell you that I was making those compulsive return visits out of a passionate love of books. While I do, in fact, have a passionate love of books, and bought plenty of them during my college years, I was making those tactical strikes on the College Hill Bookstore for another reason.

I was looking for the latest issue of MacWorld.

I had learned from experience that new issues of the monthly magazine devoted to all things Macintosh arrived at College Hill reliably in the third week of the month. Yes, you could subscribe, but for some reason, subscription copies tended to arrive a few days later than the copies in the College Hill bookstore. And so when that time of the month rolled around, I’d organize my week around regular check-ins at College Hill to see if a shipment of MacWorlds had landed on their magazine rack.

This was obsessive behavior, I admit, but not entirely irrational. It was the result of a kind of imbalance: not a chemical imbalance, an information imbalance. To understand what I want to say about the future of the news ecosystem, it’s essential that we travel back to my holding pattern outside the College Hill Bookstore -- which continued unabated, by the way, for three years. It’s essential to travel back because we’re in the middle of an epic conversation about the potentially devastating effect that the web is having on our news institutions. And so if we’re going to have a responsible conversation about the future of news, we need to start by talking about the past.

We need to be reminded of what life was like before the web.
Continue reading "Old Growth Media And The Future Of News" »

8 Ways to Jump Start Your Kelowna Business in 2009

In doing some research for FloodLight Consulting we came across this great article online at Microsoft PinPoint and recommend it to all Kelowna Entrepreneurs.

Donald Robichaud - FloodLight Consulting

Now is a great time to take a look at the state of your business, reassess your goals, revise practices that could be more effective, and reinforce those that are working well. Here are some things you can do to give your business new life in 2009.

1. Write (or revisit) your business plan. You may already have a business plan in place, but with the uncertain economy it’s a good idea to revisit your goals and objectives for the next six months, the next year, the next five years. Make your business plan a living document and update it at least quarterly, or even better, every month. It will help you stay on track and more easily adapt to changes in customer demand.


2. Be known as an expert. You know you are an expert, but if you write, speak, and network like one people will automatically associate you with your niche. You’ll make a much greater impression as the speaker at an event than simply shaking hands and handing out business cards. And you can further build expert status by writing articles for publication, having your own newsletter, or starting a blog.


3. Define your niche. Many people feel that being more general about what they offer makes them more marketable. Often the opposite is true. Most people want to work with a specialist, and one of the best ways to stand out in a crowded market is to be very specific about what you do and who you do it for.


4. Become (or hire) a marketing expert. At core marketing means building relationships, being able to speak clearly about the benefits of your offerings, and having conversations with people who might need your products or services. Search the Web for tips, use Pinpoint to find expert help, and talk to other professionals about the marketing efforts that work best for them.


5. Follow-up with new contacts, maintain connections with current ones. You’ve likely collected numerous business cards, but what have you really done with them? Following up is critical to business success. Consider these ways to keep your company in the front of people’s minds:

• Send individual e-mails recalling specifics of your conversation with an invitation to visit your Web site.


• Invite contacts to periodic open houses to see what you do firsthand.


• Distribute a newsletter or blog that builds your reputation as an expert.


• Promote special offers to pique contact interest in what you offer.
  

6. Provide information in addition to your offerings. Build customer trust by providing clear, succinct information about your products and services, with emphasis on the benefits to customers and your expertise in meeting their needs. Providing helpful tips on your Web site where appropriate establishes your credibility and helps customers see how what you do can provide value to them.

7. Keep prices competitive, offer incentives. Everyone is looking for a deal these days. Whether it's reducing your prices, offering something free as incentive on your Web site, or providing additional services to customers when they contact you, doing something above just selling your product or service can give you an edge on your competitors.

8. Promote results and benefits, not processes. Most people don’t care how you help them reach their goals, as long as you do it with integrity, efficiency, and within their budget. Instead of talking about how you work, be clear about your expertise and the changes people can expect from working with you. Get into the habit of asking clients for testimonials and referrals and consider writing (or hiring someone to write) case studies on successful engagements you’ve had. The most effective promotion comes from satisfied customers.

To twitter or not to twitter? that is the question

In the last while I have been asked about twitter and my thoughts of it as a business tool. In doing some research I came across this great article that succinctly discusses the virtues of twitter and its place in social networking.

Don Robichaud - FloodLight Consulting

Twitter vs Instant Messaging, e-mail and Google by Russell McQuillan March 5th 2009

There has been a fair bit in the news recently about twitter, some praises but mostely dismissals about its future.

Yesterday at the Morgan Stanley technology conference in San Francisco, Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google praised Twitter’s growth and success to date, while at the same time dismissing it as a “poor man’s email system”, and adding that, as far as instant messaging goes, people use services like Google’s Gmail Chat.

I’m not sure that Eric get’s twitter all that well. Its not an instant message system at all and it is certainly not an email system but I think it works well at bridging the gap between instant messaging and e-mail. The problem with instant messging is that it is exactly what it says ‘instant’ and it take’s time out of your day, you type a message and await a responce much is the same way as actually talking on the phone, I feel that whilst having a conversation via instant messaging it is difficult to concetrate on the task in hand which is why during working hours - I only keep my work account on and my personal account switched off.

Twitter on the other hand allows you to have a conversation over the course of a day, you can drop in and out of the stream as little or often as you wish and knowone will get annoyed if you don’t respond within 30 seconds, infact people won’t even know if you have picked up their message or not !

As far as being a poor man’s email system goes, I thought that e-mail went out with the arc! I keep very few people’s email addresses on file anymore, use it only for business and usually prefer to communicate with people via facebook and twitter.

Private message’s can be sent using the DM function and I would say that people tend to respond quicker via twitter and facebook than email ! and the great thing about it is with only 140 letters to play with, people have to be direct about what they want, there is no time or space for I’m sorry to bother you, Do you mind if ? Can I ask a favour? no no! Just tell me what you want and get on with it - we are all as it happens just trying to communicate quickly during our busy days, grabbing a few minutes here and there to interact between meetings, phone calls or even when stuck in traffic.

Meanwhile facebook seem to have headed off to the war room to see what can be done about this little dude twitter from around the corner that doesn’t make any money but has overnight became the 3rd largest social media player trumping the like’s of ning and bebo. Twitter are right on the back bumper of Facebook now and with yearly growth at over 7000% they are set to get even closer.

Of course Facebook like to say they are not concerned and that the two can co-exist but in the last few months have not only offered twitter a stagering $500 million dollors for the loss making business but gone back to the design table for another makeover to make it, dare I say it - A little more interactive - a little more like twitter.

Things are definatly getting very interesting in this newish world of social media. I think there is room for twitter and facebook to co-exist as long as they don’t put all their resourses into killing each other.

If they do that, someone else will quickly come from behind and win the race.

This is a fickle old world !

Twitter vs Instant Messaging, e-mail and Google by Russell McQuillan March 5th 2009

Is now the time to deploy a new product or service in Canada?

It is with great satisfaction that I begin a new series of articles for Castanet. Four years ago this month, I started Floodlight Consulting in Kelowna BC with the view of assisting small and mid-size businesses, and entrepreneurs to articulate what they do best in the Okanagan Valley.

The idea was to support my clients in such a way as to have them generate more daily sales. This would be accomplished through increased exposure, marketing, and branding.

In tough, economic conditions, I believe that our clients help us to decide what new services we should be deploying. It is only when we are tuned into our target market are truly offering the right services this business-client insight is then reflected in the retention, and acquisition of a new client base.

When was the last time you surveyed your clients?

In my first year of coaching on a professional level, I was providing three specific services to my clients, and this only over a short period of time. Every six months, I would have to find new clients in order to continuously fill the sales funnel.

At the end of the first year, I decided to do a survey through the services of Survey Monkey. I used a template questionnaire that they provide for Service, adding this question: “What is missing from my program?”

The answers were, on the whole, favourable this confirmed my expectations.

However, what I did find out from that survey was the following: my clients did not pursue my services at the end of the existing contract, this due to the fact that I did not offer them the next steps in the process, i.e. the services that would have ensured a continued, working relationship.

What a wake-up call!

In a short period of time, I added a few more services. To date, due to these additional services, I retain 65% of my clients.

In listening to my clients, I formulated appropriate programs, and created a niche for my coaching services in the Okanagan Region.

The question now is: what new services can you provide to your present clients, the ones that they would be willing to pay for?

The $29.95 I spent was a worthy investment which allowed me to better understand my clients.

-

Do you want to grow and market your business — even in a down economy?

Click here for more information

-

Donald Robichaud

President FloodLight Consulting

250-768-9415

http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/

http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

As posted on Castanet:

10 Ways to Grow Your Homebased Business in Kelowna

In doing some research for FloodLight Consulting we came across this great article online at http://www.entrepreneur.com/ and recommend it to all Okanagan Entrepreneurs.

Don Robichaud - FloodLight Consulting

When the status quo just won't do anymore, these 10 ideas will help you take your home based business to a new level.

Small is beautiful. Slow and steady wins the race. Inch by inch, row by row, that's the way my garden grows.

While such homespun wisdom might be fine for common folk, it can be awfully frustrating for an ambitious home based business owner determined to take his company to the next level of growth and profitability.

Sure, a thriving one- or two-person service business with no inventory, rent or employees can seem like an easy way to make money at first, but when the phone starts ringing off the hook and customers keep coming back for more, home based business owners who fail to plan often fall victim to their own success. Either they burn out trying to juggle everything themselves or they spend so much time and money hiring people to help them that their profits go down the drain.

Fortunately, there are some ways to take your home based business to new heights without sacrificing your business's profitability or losing your peace of mind.
Follow these 10 steps to grow your home based business into the personal and professional success it was meant to be:

1. Focus on a single product or service, and then market it, sell it, promote it-do everything you can to increase sales of that one product or service in Kelowna. While it's tempting to swing for the fences and try to be all things to all people, it's often less risky and more profitable to pick a product or two that you can execute really well and just try to get on base.
Richard Roy, a Sparta, New Jersey landscaper, started a home based dog-waste removal business called Dr. Pooper Scooper when he got tired of picking up the dog poop from his customers' lawns. Instead of splurging on a retail storefront or an expensive Yellow Pages ad, Roy decided to use his truck as his primary advertising vehicle. Says Roy, "I decorated the truck as a Dalmatian, used full signage and put magnetic business cards on it. By using the truck as my moving billboard, by joining community groups and through word of mouth, I've turned what was once my nightmare into a thriving business serving 100 customers and making 1,100 pickups a week."
Thanks to Dr. Pooper Scooper's success, Roy is now planning to phase out his landscaping business and focus on his new venture full time. "When I scoop the poop, I do it 12 months a year and never have to fix or replace equipment," Roy says. "It's also three time easier than landscaping, and I can do it until I can't walk anymore."

2. Expand your product line in the Okanagan to offer complementary products or services. Once you've hit on a product or service that customers really like, don't miss the opportunity to bring out related items to diversify your product line. Not only does that give your customers a wider selection, but it also makes your products more appealing to retailers who typically like to stock a line of products as opposed to a single item.
Meredith LiePelt, who runs a company called Contemporary Baby out of her home in Dublin, Ohio, started off making colorful burp cloths for newborns. Now she's expanded her line to include such "go along" products as receiving blankets, bibs and gift baskets. Says LiePelt, "Our retail customers have enjoyed having more gift-giving options, and our wholesale clients are able to offer their customers a wider selection to choose from."

3. Find ways to increase sales to your existing Kelowna customers. It's a lot cheaper than finding new ones. Even if you can't expand your product line, you can boost revenues by selling more of your existing product or service to the clients you already have. One easy way to do this is through volume discounts. Especially if your products cost little to produce, offering your customers the chance to buy, say, two T-shirts for the price of one lets you ring up additional sales without sacrificing much profit. Another common practice is to reward loyal customers by giving them a punch card that entitles them to a free product or service for every 10 items they buy. This technique is common at hair salons, car washes and arts-and-crafts stores, but home based businesses can use it, too.

4. Hire someone in Kelowna to help you out-an employee, a freelancer, an intern, an independent contractor, even your kids. Not only does this free up cash flow by adjusting your expenses to the level of work you bring in, but it also enables you to cultivate a large network of talented people you probably couldn't afford to hire full time.
Marc Kirschner, a neighborhood directory publisher in New York City, employs 50 to 75 writers-all of whom are freelancers-to develop his directory's content. This way, Marc saves on payroll taxes, medical benefits, employer liability insurance and all the other costs of hiring full-time staffers. There are other benefits, too. "Bringing in outside help gives you someone else to bounce ideas and strategies off of," Kirschner says. "It prevents you from feeling you're going it alone."

5. Create a Web site to advertise your company in Kelowna or sell products online in the Okanagan. Thanks to the Internet, it's no longer necessary to open a store to reach retail customers. For marketers of specialty products like rare books, collectibles and gourmet foods, a Web-based boutique lets you reach millions of shoppers around the world without paying for rent, utilities or garbage collection.
And while creating Web sites once required a big investment and the skills of an experienced Web designer or programmer, do-it-yourself Web sites are now available for less than $30 a month with no technical knowledge required. Typically, the companies that help you register your domain name (Web address) will provide online templates you can use to build your site, host your Web pages on their server and provide you with multiple e-mail addresses as well. E-commerce capabilities can often be had for an additional charge. You can also set up low-cost Web sites through Web hosting companies and search engines.

6. Join forces with another business in Kelowna to promote your company. Partnering with a company in a related industry is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of marketing that you can employ. If you make spa products, for example, you may be able to convince a local health club to carry them in its store by offering a discount to its members. Likewise, you can send a free, one-day health club pass to anybody who buys your lotions and scrubs.
Nancy Tamosaitis, a home based publicist, says her New York firm, Vorticom, has partnered with a graphic design firm to provide creative services such as Web design and brochures to her corporate PR clients. From time to time, she also joins forces with specialty PR firms to assist clients in fashion, finance and other industries. "Now that I'm working from home, my clients receive infinitely better service and results-at much lower cost-than when I managed a $3 million profit center at a top PR agency," Tamosaitis says.

7. Target other markets in Canada. If you sell to teens, start marketing to college students. If you sell to working moms, maybe your product will work for stay-at-home moms with a few modifications. Another strategy is to take a retail-oriented product or service and sell it wholesale. For example, a home based catering business that specializes in cakes, pies and other tasty desserts can contact local bakeries to sell its goods on a wholesale basis. While the price you get from the bakeries will be lower (because the bakeries need to mark it up to their customers to make a profit), you'll sell more products and generate consistent cash flow that you can bank on.

8. Find new and different ways to market your business in Kelowna through e-mail newsletters or by doing guest-speaking gigs or by teaching a class.
Marketing your home based business doesn't need to involve spending big money on newspaper ads, Yellow Pages listings, or TV or radio spots. Grassroots marketing techniques cost far less and are often much more effective. Most chambers of commerce and community groups are more than happy to provide a forum to a local business owner who's willing to share his expertise at no charge. Sending out a weekly newsletter is also a great way to get your name out in front of new and potential clients. Thanks to the Internet, you can send out your newsletter via e-mail using online templates and automated delivery systems.

9. Expand to another location in Kelowna. That could mean renting "virtual" office space in a business center or by sharing office space with another growing business.

Brad Taylor, a CPA in Springfield, New Jersey, spends most of his time at home preparing tax returns, developing tax-planning strategies and revising his clients' QuickBooks files. But when he needs to come to New York City for a meeting, he sometimes rents space at a Manhattan business center operated by HQ Global, a national provider of temporary office space.
For a monthly fee or a la cart, business centers like these offer everything from conference rooms and receptionist services to remote-access voicemail, high-speed Internet connectivity and tech support, offering home based business owners as much or as little outside office services as they need. Taylor pays just $10 an hour to use the space and is able to bill the cost to his client. "While I still want to run my business from home, this has allowed me to pursue new opportunities and network with other professionals," Taylor says.

10. Think about turning your business into a franchise or business opportunity in the Okanagan. While most home based businesses remain small, yours may have the potential to hit the big time through franchising, licensing or wholesale distribution. The key question to ask yourself is if your business can be converted into a business format that somebody else could operate (a franchise) or if you have a standardized product or service that someone could resell multiple times (a business opportunity).

While you may think that expanding your business requires raising capital, hiring employees, buying equipment and leasing office or warehouse space, it's often more profitable-and less risky-to license your product to a big corporation with manufacturing capabilities and an existing sales force to do the work for you.

Building Sustainable Communities Event Kelowna

From Tuesday, February 24th to Thursday, February 26th, 2009 The Delta Grand Okanagan Resort in Kelowna B.C. will be hosting the Building Sustainable Communities Conference.

With more that 100 speakers from the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors.

Featured Topics Include:

-SustainAble Agriculture
-SustainAble Business
-Community SustainAbiltiy (for local governments

to register for the conference please visit:

www.regonline.ca/bsc2009

for more information on sustainability please visit:

http://www.freshoutlookfoundation.org/

“sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
-The Brundtland Commission

So business is tough!!

How many Touch Points are you utilizing to market your business?

Selling yourself, your product or your services, can be uncomfortable for some people, but for small and mid size businesses Marketing and Branding is one of the most important activities you will engage in as an entrepreneur.

Effective marketing and branding can make you seem as big, or as small as you like, and internet technology can help place you at the top of your market. That said a poor marketing and branding campaign can have just the opposite effects.

Many marketing and branding efforts are unsuccessful because they fail to incorporate all the various Touch Points of their business.

Some of you may not have heard of the term Touch Point. A Touch Point is any way that your consumer, or end-user, comes in contact with your business. It could be a webpage, a newsletter, a flyer, or from networking, to utilising the latest internet technologies to reach new audiences.

Marketing theory says that it takes, on average, between 5 to 7 exposures to your marketing materials, or Touch Points, before someone will even consider making contact with you.

There are three key points to remember when marketing and branding your business with your Touch Points - Reach, Frequency and Impact.

Reach means getting through to the right audience, in the right circumstances and at the right time. Where is your ideal customer likely to be (hang out, read, listen, watch) when they run across your marketing message?

Frequency is about giving the audience a reasonable chance for the message to sink in amid the clamour of everyday life. How many exposures or Touch Points to your information does your ideal customer need?

Impact speaks for itself, your message must have impact to cut through the numerous distractions and it must be presented at the most appropriate time. What message would your ideal customer be likely to respond to?

For 2009 ensure to check that every Touch Point for your business is utilized for maximum Reach, Frequency and Impact.

It’s a great way to ensure you maximize your marketing and branding efforts.
-
Do you want to grow and market your business — even in a down economy?

Click here for more information
-
Donald Robichaud
President
FloodLight Consulting
250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

As posted on Castanet:





Marketing Coach Kelowna - Sales Coach Kelowna - Branding Coach Kelowna

Key things to remember this holiday season!

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Key things to remember this holiday season!

This past year I read some information that I would like to share with you this holiday season. The message speaks to the abundance that we have in our present lives.

Every day we deal with many pressing situations in our lives and for many of us we need to reflect on how thankful we should truly be.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the people in this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthiest people.
If you woke up this morning with good health you are more fortunate than the million people who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of war unfolding all around you, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a place of worship, without fear of persecution, harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

At this time of the year it’s important to remember how fortunate we are to live in such a great country as Canada. Take time to remember all the things that allow us to prosper in our daily lives.

I wish you all the best this holiday season, and may this New Year bring you many rewards.

Happy Holidays from FloodLight Consulting,

Donald Robichaud
President
FloodLight Consulting
250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

Increase your Productivity - Sales Consulting - Kelowna

In the last couple of weeks I have been reading many books and one in particular has struck a key note with me.

Daily I deal with clients and friends who are slaves to technology, specifically emails, cell phones and their own struggles with time management.

The book "The 4-Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferriss is about how to radically change your lifestyle or go from 'living to work' to working (as little, but effectively as possible) and making life as big as possible.

Here is a summary from chapter seven (Interrupting Interruption and the Art of Refusal) that is focused on step-changing one's personal efficiency. With these tips you can get 15 times as much done in a normal workweek".

The key is to do things quicker, faster better and to enjoy the things that are really important in life. Interested?

Donald Robichaud- FloodLight Consulting

Eliminate time wasters:

• Severely limit e-mail consumption and production
• Turn off the audible alert if you're on Outlook or a similar program
• Turn off automatic send/receive (which delivers e-mail to your in-box as soon as someone sends them)
• Check e-mail only twice per day, once at 12:00 noon and again at 4:00 pm.
• Never check e-mail first thing in the morning…instead, complete your most important task before 11:00 am to avoid using lunch or reading e-mail as a postponement excuse.
• Before implementing the twice-daily routine, you must create an e-mail auto-response that will train your boss, co-workers, suppliers, and clients to be more effective


• Suggested e-mail template: "Due to high workload, I am currently checking and responding to e-mail twice daily at 12:00 noon (PST) and 4:00 pm (PST). If you require urgent assistance that cannot wait until either 12:00 or 4:00, please contact me via telephone @ 626-321-4107. Thank you for understanding this move to more efficiency and effectiveness. It helps me to accomplish more and serve you better."
• Do the same type of template with your phone voicemail.

Create systems to limit your availability via e-mail and phone and deflect inappropriate contact:

• Get the auto-response and voicemail script in place now, and master the various methods of evasion.
• Replace the habit of greeting "How are you?" with "How can I help you?"
• Get specific and remember – no stories
• Focus on immediate actions and practice interruption-killing policies.
• Batch activities to limit set-up cost. Where in my life can I create a routine in my life by batching?
• What tasks (like laundry, groceries, mail, payments, sales reporting, etc.) can I allot to specific times each day, week, or month so I don't squander time repeating them more often than necessary?

Need Help?

FloodLight Consulting provides objective feedback about what you need to do to get your business on track. A healthy business coach relationship provides you honest ongoing assessment of your Business Development Activities, assisting you to focus your efforts in the areas that will have the greatest long term positive impact on your business and your life. If you need help creating your goal-plan Click here!!

Donald Robichaud - FloodLight Consulting

http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/

http://www.donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

Sales Coach Kelowna

Sales Consulting - Kelowna - Networking important to business development

This is a great article about the value of joining a Networking group posted by by Lori Welbourne of The Capital News.

Donald Robichaud
FloodLight Consulting

Three years and four months ago, I was invited by one of my clients to go to a meeting hosted by Okanagan Business to Business, a local networking group he belonged to.

He told me the group met every Wednesday morning at the Holiday Inn in Westbank at 7:00 a.m.

I immediately disliked the idea and explained that I was too busy at that time of the day getting my kids ready and off to daycare. Not giving up so easily, he suggested that I change my routine for one day so I could attend a meeting to see what it was like.

Being the people-pleaser that I am, I reluctantly agreed.

That Wednesday my husband tended to the children while I had the luxury of getting just myself ready for the day. And as relaxing as that felt, I still managed to arrive at the meeting five minutes late.

Sheepishly taking a seat in a room full of strangers, I observed something I had never seen before, an organized group of business people, all there for the sole purpose of helping one another out through networking and referrals.

It was the group’s first meeting back after a summer break, so there were only about 15 people there. But it seemed like twice that many when it was my turn to get up and introduce myself.

As much as I disliked public speaking, to my surprise, it also felt a little exciting to be out of my comfort zone like that.

But what I liked most about the experience was the obvious opportunity to build relationships with other business people in the community, perhaps some people that I wouldn’t normally have contact with.

Being an advertising consultant with this newspaper, I meet a lot of people and my job is to help them with the growth of their businesses. So I guess it’s no surprise I would be attracted to an organization that nurtured that.

The famous American author Napoleon Hill once wrote: “It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” That quote always made sense to me, like the old saying: what goes around comes around.

Clearly, that’s what this group was all about.

I also saw potential for it’s growth and thought of at least a dozen people who would appreciate this kind of opportunity to build relationships with other like-minded individuals.

That night I went home and asked my husband if he could take care of our kids every Wednesday if I was accepted as a member to the group. He agreed and I applied for membership the next week.

After the strong connections I made in the initial few months as a new member, I felt grateful to the group and wanted to give back. So I allowed my name to stand for an executive role for the following year.

A volunteer position, it proved to be much more work than I anticipated.

But like anything in life, what you put into it is what you get back. And as much work as I’ve put into the Okanagan Business to Business, I’ve gotten so much more in return.

It has opened doors and created opportunities that would be impossible for me to fully describe in a column as short as this one.

After serving two years on its executive, I had the honour of serving as its chairperson this past year.

After an incredibly rocky start and countless hours of communicating with one another about the direction we wanted our group to move in, we finally found a unified focus.

Through adversity we have become a much stronger team, made up of 54 local business people who share the same goal of helping one another succeed in business, and in life.

Last Wednesday was my final meeting as chairperson.

Standing in front of this group of dynamic businesspeople whom I admire and respect, I felt so much gratitude for the experiences they gave me, the life lessons I have learned and the strong relationships I have developed.

If there’s a business person out there who doesn’t belong to a networking organization of some kind, I would encourage them to find one that suits them, and then join it.

Because no matter how successful you aspire to be, or already feel you are, in business, and in life, you can never have too many good people on your side.
Marketing Coach Kelowna - Sales Coach Kelowna - Branding Coach Kelowna

2008 is almost over; did you reach your goals?

Each year, people make New Year’s Resolutions for change, only to find that they didn't achieve their goals – and then they make the same resolutions again the following year. Regardless of the goal, one of the major reasons that people fail to achieve their goals is that they do not have a goal-setting process for success.

So what makes a good goal? Goal setting provides a target to aim for so that you can make better decisions about how to utilize your time and effort for both business and personal goals.

A good goal is one that is worthy of individual pursuit; that, of course, is highly subjective, so far be it from us to define what your worthy pursuit is.
All goals, no matter what they are, start with a plan!
So what is your Goal-Plan? A good Goal-Plan is one that when followed, offers a reasonably high probability of success, given sufficient time.

FloodLight tip of the month - Here are a few tips to get you started for 2009
· Identify areas of strength and weakness
· Create a vision statement for the year
· Determine which areas to focus on in order to receive the biggest payoff
· Set goals to achieve business and personal results
· All goals must be written
· All goals must be believable
· All goals must be challenging (moving you forward in your life)
· All goals must be measurable and specific
· All goals must have a deadline
· You must hold yourself accountable for all your goals

Need Help?
FloodLight Consulting provides objective feedback about what you need to do to get your business on track. A healthy business coach relationship provides you honest ongoing assessment of your Business Development Activities, assisting you to focus your efforts in the areas that will have the greatest long term positive impact on your business and your life. If you need help creating your goal-plan Click here!!

Donald Robichaud
FloodLight Consulting
250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://www.donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

Donald Robichaud -Testimonials do work!

When you’re selling, you’ll have to make a claim about your product or service to appeal to potential customers. However, because research suggests that people are reluctant to believe hype, it’s essential that you’re able to validate your claims in some way.

Using testimonials provides a perfect way to do this because positive statements from happy customers are much more believable than the words of a company spokesperson. By using a customer testimonial, research shows your business could increase by around 30%.

Do they work?

Testimonials may not seem like an incredibly powerful selling tool but when used correctly, they are extremely effective. By informing readers of the positive experiences your existing customers have had, testimonials lend credibility to your product or service. Without using testimonials, any claims you make will remain unsubstantiated and customers will find it hard to trust you and ultimately, will be reluctant to buy your product or service.

Target Marketing

It is very important to solicit testimonials from your target market. People want to hear from people in their industry. If you’re soliciting realtors to work with you then you need to have one or more testimonials from this market.

FloodLight Tip of the month

When you solicit a testimonial, you must remember to ask after a moment of satisfaction. This is the moment when the client has expressed satisfaction with your service or product. This is the moment in time when they are most enamored with you and your service.

Example:

Client says: “That’s the best service I have ever received.”

To Client: I am glad you’re satisfied with my service. Can you provide me with a testimonial that speaks to how you felt before you used our service, how you felt during our service and how you feel now about our service?

Testimonials do work!

If you need help soliciting great testimonials Click here!!

Donald Robichaud

President

FloodLight Consulting

250-768-9415

http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/

http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

Dale Lamb Financial Advisor, Kelowna British Columbia, Alberta

Internet Consulting - What Makes for a Good Blog?

I just read a great article on "What makes for a Good Blog" written by Merlin Mann. He is a regular on the CBC show Spark hosted by Nora Young. Donald Robichaud / FloodLight Consulting

What is a blog? Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online information. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, websites and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art, photographs, videos which are part of a wider network of internet social media.

What makes for a good blog?

Good blogs have a voice. Who wrote this? What is their name? What can I figure out about who they are that they have never overtly told me? What’s their personality like and what do they have to contribute — even when it’s “just” curation. What tics and foibles fascinate make me about this blog and the person who makes it? Most importantly: what obsesses this person?

Good blogs reflect focused obsessions. People start real blogs because they think about something a lot. Maybe even five things. But, their brain so overflows with curiosity about a family of topics that they can’t stop reading and writing about it. They make and consume smart forebrain porn. So: where do this person’s obsessions take them?

Good blogs are the product of “Attention times Interest.” A blog shows me where someone’s attention tends to go. Then, on some level, they encourage me to follow the evolution of their interest through a day or a year. There’s a story here. Ethical “via” links make it easy for me to follow their specific trail of attention, then join them for a walk made out of words.

Good blog posts are made of paragraphs. Blog posts are written, not defecated. They show some level of craft, thinking, and continuity beyond the word count mandated by the Owner of Your Plantation. If a blog has fixed limits on post minimums and maximums? It’s not a blog: it’s a website that hires writers. Which is fine. But, it’s not really a blog.

Good “non-post” blogs have style and curation. Some of the best blogs use unusual formats, employ only photos and video, or utilize the list format to artistic effect. I regret there are not more blogs that see format as the container for creativity — rather than an excuse to write less or link without context more.

Good blogs are weird. Blogs make fart noises and occasionally vex readers with the degree to which the blogger’s obsession will inevitably diverge from the reader’s. If this isn’t happening every few weeks, the blogger is either bored, half-assing, or taking new medication.

Good blogs make you want to start your own blog. At some point, everyone wants to kill the Buddha and make their own obsessions the focus. This is good. It means you care.

Good blogs try. I’ve come to believe that creative life in the first-world comes down to those who try just a little bit harder. Then, there’s the other 98%. They’re still eating the free continental breakfast over at FriendFeed. A good blog is written by a blogger who thinks longer, works harder, and obsesses more. Ultimately, a good blogger tries. That’s why “good” is getting rare.

Good blogs know when to break their own rules. Duh. I made a list, didn’t I? Yes. I did. Big fan. And, yeah, you should disagree with potentially all of this. It’s because I have an opinion, and so do you. It’s why you probably have a blog.See? The system works.

David Mann @ http://www.43folders.com/2008/08/19/good-blogs
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Donald Robichaud
President FloodLight Consulting
250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/
Marketing Coach Kelowna - Sales Coach Kelowna - Branding Coach Kelowna

What is your Obama marketing strategy 2009?

What is your strategy for using the internet to raise your profile in 2009?

Last night as I was waiting to listen to the speech of President elect Barack Obama, I received an email from Barack Obama about half an hour before his speech:

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 11:38 pm
To: robichaud_don
From: info@barackobama.com
Subject: How this happened

Donald --

I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history. And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack

Barack Obama’s campaign has redefined how to use modern technology to elect an official. They have promoted awareness and raised funds for their party. They have leveraged the internet to promote their cause on their organization’s website; Improved communication with their faithful, repurposed all speeches on YouTube and even directed campaign supporters with GPS to knock on doors for their target market.

Along the way they amassed over 640 Million dollars through donations over the internet. Barack Obama’s campaign leveraged the internet to create awareness of their brand, Barack Obama.

So as you assess 2008 and look ahead to 2009, what is your strategy for using the internet to raise your profile, market your services and increase sales?

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If you need help creating your Marketing strategy for 2009 Click here!!
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Donald Robichaud

President FloodLight Consulting

250-768-9415

http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/

http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

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search engine optimization SEO kelowna -Marketing Coach Kelowna - Sales Coach Kelowna - Branding Coach Kelowna

FloodLight - Marketing Consulting - Repurpose information for your target markets with a Blog

Emerging Technology Trend - Increasing your business exposure through the internet by repurposing your past marketing material

In working with my clients at FloodLight Consulting, one of the areas that we leverage is the Internet, so that we can get key information out to our target markets.

The internet today has become the main source of information for your clients. Your past, present and current clients may have found out about your business in any number of ways, including word of mouth, print or radio advertising and so on, but increasingly if potential clients can’t find you online, they might never find you at all.

Within your business and industry you have great marketing material and literature that is specially targeted for your market, so why not repurpose this information so that it will be accessible on the internet?

FloodLight Tip of the Month – Repurpose information on your Blog

Utilizing a Blog with key information for your target audience can be a very cost effective way to raise your profile and credibility. If you send out regular newsletters on specific topics for your market, you can repurpose this material on the internet and speak to your past, present and future customers.

Key Points: Probably the most important thing to do is to repurpose your present information.

• It allows you to reorganize, reuse and redefine key information that you have targeted for your target market.
• Blog Post – This is a great way to repurpose information.
• Blog Post – allows you to control your own content and the story you want to tell.
• Blog – allows you to express your personal view and raise your profile.
• Blog- Cost effective Marketing with little cost.

For further Sales and Marketing information you can visit my website at http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/ or my personal blog at http://www.donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

Marketing Coach Kelowna - Sales Coach Kelowna - Branding Coach Kelowna - Online Internet Business Coach - Search Engine Positioning - SEO

FloodLight - Marketing Consulting - Dealing with Procrastinators

In my thirty years of sales and marketing experience I have had to deal with many clients who cannot make a decision. They literally procrastinate and delay moving forward for many reasons. As a small business, the survival of your business may depend on the positive outcome of many sales calls. If your main prospects are all vacillating, you will need to move the sales process to the next step.

So why do procrastinators procrastinate?

People procrastinate because they don't know what the next step is. If they don’t know what it is, they can’t take it. It's that simple!

If you are currently dealing with a procrastinator who professes real interest but keeps putting you off, you’re probably dealing with a genuine procrastinator. They don’t procrastinate intentionally. It’s just in their Buying DNA.

Here’s a great question to ask to help you get the ball rolling with all the procrastinators you encounter. Please don’t underestimate the potency of this question.

“The Great Question”

“What would have to happen”for you to place an initial order of three units of our new XYZ product?

The key words are, “what would have to happen”?

Trust me, it works.

Insert whatever is appropriate for the situation after the phrase, “What would have to happen...?”

This question works like magic. It literally forces the procrastinator to think what the next steps ought to be. He tells you what the steps are and at the same time he tells himself what the steps are.

I can’t tell you how many times I've seen this work. It may be the single best way to un-procrastinate procrastinators.

FloodLight Tip of the Month – You have to ask questions.

One of the keys to closing the sale is the opening dialogue. The best way to get a conversation going is to start with really good questions. With great questions you will open up a great dialogue with your prospect and develop rapport over a shorter period of time.

You can judge the quality of your questions by the quality of the responses. Not asking intelligent and prepared questions trips up more business people than anything else.

One of the best ways to close more sales in less time is to ask rock-solid questions. Good questions eliminate all the guesswork and assumptions. Put your key questions together and bring them to every meeting to start creating better relationships.

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If you need help creating your Best Questions Click here!!

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Donald Robichaud
President
FloodLight Consulting
250-768-9415
http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/
http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

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Marketing Coach Kelowna - Sales Coach Kelowna - Branding Coach Kelowna - Online Internet Business Coach - Search Engine Positioning - SEO

FloodLight Consulting - VODA Computer Systems Ltd. - Technology Showcase in Kelowna

Register now for VODA Computer Systems Ltd. Third annual technology showcase in Kelowna, BC October 8th, 2008.

Participate in informative and captivating discussions regarding some of the most exciting technology trends available for your small to medium business today!

Date: October 8th, 2008

Location: The Grand Okanagan Conference Centre and Resort
1310 Water Street, Kelowna, BC Canada

Registration begins between 8:00am and 8:30am. Breakfast will be served. Ample parking available.

Grand Prize: Laptop Computer.

Log onto www.vodagroup.com/tradeshow to register today!

Marketing Coach Kelowna - Sales Coach Kelowna - Branding Coach Kelowna - Online Internet Business Coach - Search Engine Positioning - SEO

Press Release - Jerry Dombowsky - “Grandpa sells Motels and Hotels”

Jerry Dombowsky was at a family gathering last summer when he started talking about his love of selling hotels and motels and working with buyers on their purchase of a property.

The grandchildren were within “ear shot” of this conversation when they began shouting “Grandpa sells hotels and motels”.

This struck a cord with Jerry.

In his 32 years of real estate experience in Alberta and British Columbia, Jerry Dombowsky has seen a lot of real estate transactions, specifically in the hotel and motel industry.

Jerry says, “The internet is an integral part of day to day communications. The diversity and transference of information brings the property to the property buyer in a timely informative manner.”

Jerry has a broad knowledge of hotel and motel markets in Alberta and British Columbia and has completed many hotel and motel sales and purchase transactions including small and large businesses, and commercial real estate. Having owned and operated ranches, hotels and motels, in the past, Jerry Dombowsky has a very good understanding of the effort needed to close the deal.

As of September 1st, 2008, through Jerry Dombowskys connections with Premier Canadian Properties and Christies Great Estates, the benefits of buying a hotel, motel or resort will be presented to a worldwide audience. Jerry’s new website which is dedicated solely to the acquisition of hotels and motels in Alberta and British Columbia is located at http://www.premierhotelsandmotels.com/

Now that “Grandpa sells hotels and motels”, the grandchildren are looking for extended stays with Grandpa.

For more information or an interview, contact Jerry Dombowsky at (250) 717-1886.

Marketing Coach Kelowna - Sales Coach Kelowna - Branding Coach Kelowna - Online Internet Business Coach - Search Engine Positioning - SEO

Donald Robichaud - Business Coach - Defining your Mission Statement

Last month we discussed how to define a great Vision Statement. This month we will focus on the Mission Statement.

Mission Statement: Your Mission Statement is the route to the destination of your company; a particular expression of the mission that is specific to this business given its history, context and circumstances. It is a more practical focus on what the business does, and will do, than the vision statement.

So if the vision is your “Big Picture”, the mission is the “how we do it here”.

FloodLight - Tip of the month / “Five steps to follow when defining your Mission Statement”

Once you have clarified your vision you need to define your mission statement, which is a statement of purpose and function.
1. Your mission statement draws on your values.
2. Your mission statement must be future oriented and portray your organization as it will be, as if it already exists.
3. Your mission statement must focus on one common purpose.
4. Your mission statement must be specific to the organization, not generic.
5. Your mission statement must be a short statement, not more than one or two sentences.

Here is an example mission statement for a company selling energy saving products:
"By providing quality products, we empower our clients to become caring, competent, and environmentally responsible citizens who care about the air they breathe today and the legacy they leave behind for their children."

The Benefits of defining your Mission

· It focuses your energy and clarifies your purpose. When you try to write your mission statement, you will find that you have to really define what you are going to do. Many questions will come up that must be resolved. For instance, who will you serve? And, who will you not? Are you concerned about just your local area, or the whole count

· A well-defined mission can attract people and resources. A mission statement is not just for internal use. It is a beacon that will attract people and resources to your cause – a common goal. Make your mission statement compelling as well as clear. It will be your best public relations tool.

· It also enables a focused allocation of organizational resources because it compels a business to address some tough questions: “What is our business? Why do we exist? What are we trying to accomplish?"

Effective mission statements can be a great asset to an organization. When everyone is working together in a defined manner greater organizational purpose is achieved. A mission statement is a stepping stone in the strategic planning process. It is important that when an organization implements a mission statement they apply it to their functional strategies.

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If you need help creating your Mission Statement Click here!!

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Donald Robichaud

President FloodLight Consulting

250-768-9415

http://www.floodlightconsulting.com/

http://donaldrobichaud.blogspot.com/

Doreen Cardwell - sales coach - Kelowna Marketing Coach Kelowna - Sales Coach Kelowna - Branding Coach Kelowna - Online Internet Business Coach - Search Engine Positioning - SEO

FloodLight - Marketing Consulting - Overview

search engine optimization SEO kelowna

Effective marketing is the key to a successful business operation in Kelowna, and when it comes to marketing many business owners are at a loss as to where to begin—this is where a marketing consultant proves helpful. More and more business owners are relying on marketing consultants to help their businesses establish a public image and to advertise their business’s products or services. Why are business owners turning to the creative talents of marketing consultants to market their businesses in Kelowna? Is correct marketing that important to a business’s success? Indeed; not only is marketing important to a business’s success, correct marketing: a strategy that grabs the attention of the public is critical, actually vital to the success of any business.

A marketing consultant is an individual or a company that knows precisely what actions are needed to advertise a Kelowna business’s services and/or products. Marketing consultants are trained professionals and they can literally help a business owner get their business off the ground and keep it there. Rather than rely on ineffective self-employed marketing strategies, many business owners choose to hire a trained professional to handle all of their necessary marketing. The initial investment proves ideal: a marketing consultant can handle every business marketing need and leave the business owner to tend to other needs of the business.

Marketing consultants are effective advertising solutions. A marketing consultant can be relied on to carry out every measure necessary to get a business recognized and remembered by the public. Meanwhile, if problems arise, a marketing consultant is trained to deal with them in an effective and timely fashion. What’s more, the business owner will not be caught up in the myriad marketing difficulties a business faces because the hired consultant is ever ready to deal with every situation that arises. A successful marketing campaign is one that must be appropriately planned and implemented, and a marketing consultant knows when to act accordingly.

See full article - Click Here

Donald Robichaud - FloodLight Consulting