Mark Deo's Latest News

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2010-04-27T15:56:00.001-07:00

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Beyond Traditional Marketing - half day seminar

2010-04-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

Chasing customers doesn't work anymore. In today's culture we must leverage curiosity to "attract" clients and business partners.

This 2.5 hour class will help you to customize a strategy for your company.
- Reduce your advertising while at the same time increase demand for your product/service.
- Fully integrate the marketing campaign with a parallel selling strategy.
- Set your company, product or service apart from the competition like never before.
- Ensure that every participant establishes their own personal marketing plan.

When: Friday, June 5, 2010
Time: 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Where: Dale Carnegie Training 2525 Cherry Ave. Suite #380 Signal Hill, CA 90755
Who: Presented by Mark Deo, Bestselling Author of The Rules of Attraction
Tuition: $49 Investment

To sign-up call 562-427-1040 or email mark@markdeo.com

Recruitment Tip #253

2010-02-23T06:37:00.000-08:00

Before investing your limited time interviewing candidates, carefully consider YOUR desired profile for each position:
1. The desired staff member tenure according to the current and future department needs
2. Cost and time required to train and retrain replacements
3. Loss of intellectual equity when someone leaves the department
4. Impact on customers with a constantly changing staff
5. Impact on fellow employees who are constantly training new people and possibly lose focus of their own responsibilities

Don’t modify the position to fit the person, find the person that fits the position.

Small Business Hour

2010-02-22T17:07:00.000-08:00

I've been lucky enough to have some exceptionally great guests on the Small Business Hour lately, and I'd like to encourage all of my readers to check out the shows. You can listen to customer service improvement expert Barry Moltz, employee retention guru Dawn McCooey, and in just two weeks I'll be joined by legendary business author Harvey Mackay. Check it out at www.smallbusinesshour.com.

Governed and Guarded by Buffoons

2009-12-26T11:42:00.000-08:00

It seems to me that we are being governed and guarded by buffoons. I write this blog as I sit in the Delta Sky Pass Lounge at Chicago Ohare. My flight is delayed 5 hours and after speaking with some of my fellow travelers it looks like I'm the lucky one! All this is a result of the latest "terrorist scare" that dominates the news today. Some wing-nut (who couldn't look MORE like a terrorist if he dressed-up as one for Halloween)decided to try to light an incendiary device while on final approach. He was apprehended by a few civilians, no thanks to our multi-billion dollar TSA system. Nothing against the TSA officers who are merely attempting to do the jobs they were hired to do. Yet I have to wonder who is in charge of hiring these folks. They don't seem to have the intellect to count the number of fries in a Happy Meal. That coupled with our fearful leaders in Washington who seem more focused on protecting the rights of foreign born middle-eastern nationals than they do with protecting our safety. What will it take for the Americans who are paying their salaries to rise-up and demand that politicians fulfill their obligation to make decisions for the majority rather than out of fear of offending the many minorities in this country. My heart goes out to all of you who are traveling this holiday season. Please have a safe journey despite the stupidity which you are surely contending with.

Small businesses pay tab for health care

2009-12-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

It looks like businesses with over 50 employees will be paying the tab for obama's new health care plan. Join me on our radio show this Monday as we discuss the good and the bad of the new plan which Congress passed yesterday and how it affects your business.

Is the ARC Loan a Sinking Ship?

2009-12-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

It's been six months since the SBA announced the America's Recovery Capital Loan program. My last article on this topic, "Will Anyone Be Saved by the ARC" discussed banks' hesitance to participate due to the onerous requirements and lending limitations for such a small loan amount. My new article about ARC loans discusses what has transpired since then, and you can read it on Entrepreneur.com.

Please leave me your comments or send me an e-mail to let me know your thoughts on the ARC loan program.

If the Recession is Over, Why are Businesses Failing?

2009-11-03T10:17:00.000-08:00

Despite the "irrational exuberance" on Wall Street, small businesses are failing at an unprecedented rate. Equifax, the credit-reporting agency, reports U.S. small business bankruptcy rates soared 81 percent in June 2009 compared with June 2008. More than 10,000 small businesses closed their doors, unable to withstand continued assault on a number of fronts.

Join me today as I interview the former Assistant US Secretary of Labor, Al Angrisani. He talks about why this dangerous trend exists and what we can do about it. We will discuss the three main issues that are threatening small business survival in the current environment:

1. Washington's blind spot for free enterprise solutions to the recession, effectively overlooking small business assistance in the stimulus bill.
2. Small businesses are experiencing rising state and local taxes to fund state revenue shortfalls and are anticipating a federal tax increase in 2010 or 2011.
3. Rising employee costs in the form of minimum wage increases and added health care costs.

I plan to confront him about what we can do regarding the power that lobbyists and labor unions have in the legislative process. Who better to answer this question than a former cabinet member!

Listen to the show any time after 4pm today, Monday, November 2, 2009 at: www.smallbusinesshour.com

Have a great week!
-Mark Deo

Decline to Participate in the Recession!

2009-09-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of you who called in to my teleseminar last week entitled, "Decline to Participate in the Recession!" We had a great call with a lively discussion of price erosion and how you can maintain your profit margin even while facing stiff price competition. If you missed it, or if you just want to take another listen, you can find the seminar here.

Got an idea for a future teleseminar? Let me know!

OSHA Trainers

2009-09-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

I just learned this from my friends at the Compliance Poster Company, one of the leading providers of OSHA, Safety, Labor Law, Minimum Wage, and other HR resources.

OSHA (The Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is tasked with promoting safe and healthful working conditions in American workplaces. As part of these efforts, OSHA has an "authorized" Outreach Training Program that certifies trainers as being experts in reducing workplace accidents and promoting safety. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous trainers are representing themselves as "authorized" when they are no such thing.

From CPC's Blog:

In an effort to crack down on fraudulent trainers, OSHA has published what they refer to as an "Outreach Trainer Watch List". This is a compilation of those who have had their trainer authorizations revoked or suspended. This list is available online and will be updated weekly.

Additionally, OSHA is monitoring training programs and provides a hotline at 847-297-4810 for individuals to file complaints about fraud or abuse.

Find out more about these initiatives from OSHA here

So if your business is considering hiring an OSHA trainer, please make sure to check the OSHA Outreach Trainer Watch List to verify that you are getting a qualified, authorized trainer.

Small Business Contracts...or are they Big Business Contracts?

2009-08-31T14:42:00.000-07:00

The Small Business Administration has released their contracting data for fiscal year 2008, and the numbers show a shortfall in contracts awarded to small businesses to the tune of $6.5 BILLION. The government reports that while congress mandates that at least 23% of all contracts should go to small businesses, only 21.5% of them were awarded to qualified businesses. These are the best self reported numbers to come out of Washington in years, so they do represent some hope...except they're probably not accurate.

We spoke with Chris Gunn of the American Small Business League on my small business radio show this afternoon. The ASBL did a study of the top 100 contracts awarded to small businesses in 2008, and found that 65% of them were actually given to large multi-national corporations. These contracts were given to companies such as Xerox, HP, AT&T, Boeing, and General Electric. Do any of those sound like small businesses? According to the ASBL, actual contracts awarded to small businesses is less than 10%, not 21.5%, representing a shortfall of over $100 Billion! You can see a raw copy of their study results here.

One way that we can help to combat this problem is to contact our congressional representatives and urge them to support the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009 (H.R. 2568). We'll have another visit from the ASBL on the Small Business Hour next month, and will keep on top of this story to let you know the latest.

How Professionals can Leverage Exclusivity

2009-08-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

Since professionals have a highly specialized vertical skill, they possess deep knowledge in a very specific area of expertise. If this knowledge is properly used in a carefully orchestrated campaign it can produce fabulous results in attracting potential clients and referrers. Unfortunately few professionals perform the planning necessary to properly educate and inspire their prospect base. It often comes off as “self promotion” which has the opposite of the intended impact. Instead, I recommend first crafting the educational message in a way that is interesting and relevant to the target audience. But most critically in a way that demonstrates the “exclusivity” offered by the professional. That is, “what do you offer which no one else does?” How do you do it? Why is your exclusive method more valuable than the traditional approach?

The next step is to create a series of messages which clearly articulates the significance of the exclusivity in a way that does NOT promote the professionals services. This can accomplished through "customercentric" e-blast announcements, seminars, webinars, teleconferences and most importantly in a casual, informative way through personal conversations and networking. Shameless self promotion by professionals is the “kiss of death!”

Finally the all important follow-up step. Without consistent, valuable follow-up we are unable to maintain the top-of-the-mind awareness so that when a client need arises, we are the first call they make. More critically our series of carefully orchestrated messages succeeds in motivating someone to take action based on a latent need. This is the most influential from of selling for professionals.

For more examples of how professionals can use “attraction-based marketing” to build their practice, particularly during economic downturns go to www.markdeo.com and check out my new book, The Rules of Attraction.

Minimum Wage Update

2009-08-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

The minimum wage saw another increase July 24th, 2009. Even if you don't have employees being paid at this rate, this affects your business.

Taken from the US Department of Labor Website:

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
The FLSA establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in federal, state, and local governments. The FLSA requires employers to pay covered nonexempt employees a minimum wage of not less than $5.85 per hour effective July 24, 2007; $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008; and $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009.

Poster Requirements
Every employer of employees subject to the FLSA's minimum wage provisions must post, and keep posted, a notice explaining the Act in a conspicuous place in all of their establishments. Although there is no size requirement for the poster, employees must be able to readily read it. There is no requirement to post the poster in languages other than English.

What does this mean for employers?
If you have a poster with an outdated minimum wage posting notice, you need to update this section of your poster or hang a new poster to avoid potential civil penalties.

What do I need to post?
With the myriad of state and federal regulations with which you must comply, it can be difficult to know what you need to post for your business. We recommend consulting an expert in the compliance business that can help you discover what you need.

Do I need to get these posters from the government?
While in many cases you can download or order posters directly from government agencies, in most states you will wind up having to deal with a multitude of agencies at the federal and state level. In California, you could end up with a dozen or more separate sheets of paper hanging on the wall! Obviously this can be difficult to manage and keep up with any updates, and as such we recommend using a combined labor law and minimum wage poster that has all of your required federal and state postings.

What happens when things change and I have a combined poster?
If you deal with a reputable poster provider, you will be contacted and notified that a change has occurred. In many states these changes happen infrequently (every few years), but in California, New York, Texas, and other large states these changes can happen as often as every 6 months. Some poster providers will require you to purchase an entirely new poster, so we recommend dealing with a poster company that has the option of stickers that you can place on your existing poster for smaller changes.

One company that we recommend dealing with for your labor law and minimum wage posters is Compliance Poster Company, a small business based in Monrovia, CA. They have a full time dedicated research staff to make sure that when changes happen, their clients are notified right away. You can also easily call them and talk to a knowledgeable representative on the phone. They offer free compliance audits for any business- just answer a few questions for their representatives and they can tell you what the law requires you to post, and what you need to communicate but not necessarily post. For the most recent minimum wage change, they offer a Peel-n-post sticker option so their clients don't need to replace their entire posters. You can even talk to the president of the company, Patty Blum. Just call 800-817-7678 and ask for her, and you know you're dealing with one of the most knowledgeable persons in the country when it comes to posting requirements.

As my friends at CPC like to say, "Don't get caught with your posters down!" With this new minimum wage change, make sure that you get the most recent posting from a labor law and minimum wage poster provider such as CPC, or directly from the Department of Labor. It's a very small investment to make to ensure that you aren't fined.

Will Anyone Be Saved by the SBA's New ARC?

2009-06-25T06:48:00.000-07:00

Just a few days ago I wrote another article for Entrepreneur Magazine which was picked-up by Reuters and and several other publications. See the entire article here http://entrepreneur.com/money/financing/article202382.html
It references the new America's Recovery Capital (ARC)loan program. The ARC loan is a $35,000, interest-free, deferred-payment loan, fully guaranteed by the Small Business Administration and available to established, viable, for-profit small businesses suffering "immediate financial hardship." This program is meant to be a savior for small businesses in touble but it seems to be nothing more than a publicity stunt by the current administration. There are 30 million small businesses in this country yet only 10,000 loans available. Huh?

I spoke to several of the supposed "participating banks" and they are quite nervous about the fact that they will be required to issue funds without receiving any of the loans' principle from the SBA for a full year. In addition, the SBA is offering a lower interest rate than other loan programs.

The Coleman Report, a newsletter for banks, states that "the ARC loan program is already being positioned to be a failure, and lenders are going to be the key players behind that failure." Even the SBA says it expects ARC loans to default at a higher rate than its other programs.

Is this the best our government can do to help small businesses to survive in this difficult time? As America's small businesses continue to "take on water," the jury is still out on whether the ARC loan program will be a lifeline to thousands of small businesses.

Why GM Failed

2009-06-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

GM is bankrupt. That's no suprise. They’ve been bankrupt since 2006! They just avoided filing through creative financing like bonds, bailouts and banking relationships. Any other company would have long ago disappeared.

GM like many companies large or small made several massive blunders:
1. Lack of Market Touch. They lost touch with their target audience. They failed to make vehicles that appealed to their core consumers. Their leadership were Harvard Finance gurus who knew NOTHING of the automotive business.
2. Uncompetitive Product. When compared with their biggest rival, Toyota, their cars are uncompetitive, poorly designed and poorly built. In the last 50 years their market share has dropped from 60% to less than 19%. They have been on their way down for a long time.
3. Wrong Focus. GM has been pulling profits from their finance group more than their vehicle sales for many years. Rather than focusing on product innovation, creative marketing or customer satisfaction they were immersed in sustaining the economic model.

This is an example of what can happen to a business when they fail to focus on their CORE BUSINESS! Lose touch with the customer, the product and the marketplace and it is only a matter of time before economics will catch-up with you.

Book Review - Chaotics: The Business of Managing and Marke ting in the Age of Turbulence

2009-06-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

This book is very focused on today’s volatile business world, and I really enjoyed reading it. I recommend this book for the business owner who needs practical “fix it now” advice. The reader will gain so much insight just by reading chapter 2, as it covers topics I’m sure today’s business owner is struggling with. I.E. – resource allocation, across the board spending cuts, quick fixes to preserve cash flow, and reducing sales related expenses, etc.

I particularly found a passage in the book that rings true and reinforces my stance that who we are is more important than what we do. The authors state, “So a company’s internal and external behavior leaves a legacy that affects the stakeholder’s future mindsets and behavior toward the company. Often times this reveals the absence of the company’s authenticity, a quality that is becoming increasingly important to consumers.” Being authentic in your marketing and business operations in imperative in maintaining happy customers that return. I recommend this book.

Interview on Houston Public Radio

2009-05-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

Great interview on Public Radio with Ed Mayberry. He is NPR's quintessential business guru in Houston and a genuinely nice guy. Listen in here!

Flat Tax or Not?

2009-05-28T18:57:00.000-07:00

In order to return our economy to health and growth we MUST provide “tax burden relief” for small businesses. They currently employ half the work force, produce half of the private sector output, shoulder the largest tax burden and are likely to benefit from a flat tax more than the larger businesses. A flat tax could eliminate tax deductions and credits which are less widely available to small businesses as well as reduce compliance costs, lower interest rates and ultimately increase exemption for individual and small business taxpayers.I am interested in hearing your opinion. Email me at mark@markdeo.com

Small Business Advocate Show

2009-05-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

I was on The Small Business Advocate show this morning with Jim Blasingame. Take a listen below!

Constructive Conflict Creates Attraction

2009-05-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

It is only by facilitating constructive conflict, engaging in confrontation and practicing humility and deep self-introspection that we can create attraction and significant corporate cultural shifts. Most companies live in a world of "conflict avoidance." As a result they fail to confront dysfunctional behavior. They accept inadequate or barely adequate performance. They bask in the "comfortable" and encourage team members to place high value on "comfort" and abhor risk. When this happens they trumpet their risk adversity and this becomes the culture. Ironically this occurs more often with market leaders rather than those barely successful companies. Their success breeds arrogance. Arrogance breeds apathy. Apathy results in decline. Interrupting this progression requires redefining values and inciting a work-ethic born of "discipline and passion" NOT "necessity and incentives." When this happens, greater attraction, growth and profitability are simply natural outcomes.

WebProNews Interview

2009-05-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

Today I was interviewed by WebProNews, one of the largest small business online resources in the country. Check-out the full article but here are a few highlights:

It’s a survival of the fittest thing. “Weaker businesses are pushed to the side, leaving strong small businesses and market leaders to snap up extra market share.”

The other good news also doesn’t sound like good news: Big companies are laying people off. “About a million people are on the street now,” he said. “Some of them are real smart and some are going to become entrepreneurs.”

“Small businesses can scarf up some of those really smart players. A lot of Fortune 500 employees are going to work for small businesses next. I’ve had several clients who’ve been fortunate enough to acquire some A-player talent.”

One might call that the Making Lemonade Out of Lemons philosophy.

Using the "Rules" in the Investment Community

2009-05-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

Like many industries the investment community has changed like never before. The way investments are being sold, marketed and evaluated is different as well. I will be discussing this with JD Morris his radio show, "Ideal for Investors" on Monday at 2pm. We will be exploring how using the Rules of Attraction can help both investors as well as the invetment marketers. Join us by going to
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Ideal4Investors

Economic Crisis May Actually Be GOOD for Small Business

2009-05-03T22:42:00.000-07:00

There may be a ray of hope for entrepreneurs in all this gloom and doom. Economic leaders believe that this crisis will eliminate the weakest of competitors in nearly every industry leaving greater market share for the strong. While there will be some direct economic relief, small businesses cannot expect significant help from the government. We are on their own. But now may be a great time to attract some of the best talent on the street. It is also a good time to work on refining new technologies. Here are some tips that I talk about in my new book The Rules of Attraction:

1. Become a bigger fish in a smaller pond by shrinking your audience and targeting
your approach.
2. Create standards and systems to leverage efficiency and accommodate growth.
3. Be willing to destroyand rebuild your business or re-invent
yourself especially NOW!
4. Innovate or die! It’s time to launch your most creative products, services and
marketing.
5. Take advantage of all the great talent on the street.
6. Seek out new collaborative alliances, affiliate relationships and joint ventures
to consolidate costs and spread risk.
7. Localize or globalize! There is no center ground today.

This country was built on the backs of small business leaders. The current financial crisis and lack of effective government intervention will allow the smart, innovative entrepreneurs to dominate and succeed. Those using the rules of attraction will be the ones to succeed.

Apple Does A Good Job of Exclusive Positioning & "Unique Selling Proposition". New iPhone Ad Targets Small Business.

2009-04-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Apple is focusing its new iPhone advertisements on Small Businesses. Since the Apple App Store opened 10 months ago for the iPhone and iPod Touch, it is now approaching its 1 billionth download. Consumer demand caused about 110 million “apps” to be downloaded each month.

Apple has done a good job in their key changes to the iPhone's functionality from a business standpoint (I.E. - push email, calendar & contacts capabilities, and compatibility with Microsoft Exchange). The new changes include the the ability to: process credit-card transactions using Inner Fence's Credit Card Terminal application, print a shipping label for a package using the Print & Share app,and check on the status of delivery with the FedEx Mobile app.

Granted, Apple is catering to the demand of more "apps" to download, however Apple does a good job of using a "Unique Selling Proposition" to target Small Business. When thinking about your business, ask yourself:

I. What sets you apart from the crowd?

II. What do you do that no one else does?

Apple has positioned themselves to be the exclusive solution for Small Businesses to do business faster using technology. Blackberry started it's version of the iPhone App Store called the Blackberry App World. App world has less than 1,000 applications compared with the 31,000 available for the iPhone.

To read this article click here

Outlook Better. Missouri aproves $200 million for Small Business. $25K for Business Owners.

2009-04-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

Missouri Development Finance Board approved the creation of a $2 million pool of state funds. The state money will provide 80 low interest or no interest loans of $25,000 for small business owners. The funding comes from the same 4% collected on MDFB tax credits.

If you are a small business owner, I recommend implementing time everyday to gaining knowledge about the funds and resources available to you. Contact your regional SBA office. Start asking questions. Take the initiative.

To read article, click here