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Permalink to take more showers . and drive more

take more showers . and drive more

by Lara McCulloch|on December 13, 2009 |in Business Inspiration, Small Business Management |tagged , , |14 Comments
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Do you do your best thinking when you’re driving in traffic, taking a jog, just before you nod off or while you’re taking a shower? It’s a fact that many people seem to encounter their brilliance when their minds shut off from thinking about the here and now and simply wander. The challenge is that your moment of peace is often interrupted by this intense desire to escape from your solitude or find something to write on, lest you forget your winning idea.


At least once a week, every entrepreneur should make time to do ‘relaxed thinking’. This is the time when we create great ideas, work through problems and crack codes. Although it’s seemingly when your conscious mind turns off and your subconscious mind awakens that you spark ideas, it’s important to understand that you can use your conscious mind to frame and shape the ideas you come up with. As Dr. Joseph Murphy states in The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, “The conscious mind is like the captain at the bridge of a ship. He directs the ship and signals orders to men in the engine room… The men in the engine room do not know where they are going; they follow orders. They would go on the rocks if the man on the bridge issued faulty or wrong instructions…”. Recognize your power to create ideas and make the time to think them.


6 Tips for Shutting off your Mind

1. Frame your thoughts - Identify what type of ideas you want to come up with. This helps steer your subconscious mind in the direction your conscious mind wants to travel in.
2. Schedule - Clear your calendar for at least 30 minutes. Make sure others know that you can’t be interrupted.
2. Remove all distractions - It’s important to understand what helps you relax and what distracts you. For example, some people find music distracting, others find it soothing.
3. Get comfortable - Wear comfortable clothing and sit or lie down in a comfortable position.
4. Breathe – Focus on your breathing – deep and slow breaths.
5. Have a pen & pad nearby – If you have a great idea, give yourself the ability to record it so you don’t spend the remainder of your relaxation wound up, trying to hold on to the one idea you thought up.
6. Don’t have any expectations – Be prepared for a good idea, but don’t expect one. After all, this kind of defeats the purpose of relaxing. If an idea comes, great! If not, don’t sweat it. You just got 30 minutes of peace and tranquility.

The Importance of Spontaneity

Spontaneous thoughts will continue to happen, even if you’re training your mind to work in a relaxed state. So be prepared for these thoughts. I have notepads on my bedside table, in my living room and in my car. I’ve also downloaded some voice recording apps (Evernote is my favorite free app) for my iPhone to capture ideas when I don’t have a pen and paper handy. The key is to be prepared so you don’t spend the following few days wracking your brain trying to remember your great idea.

Bonus: For those of you who get your best ideas in the shower, here’s a great product for you…an in-shower notepad.


My question to you…

Where do you do your best thinking? And how do you harness those ideas?

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Helping smart businesses attract more customers
 (289) 937.0141 . hello@ready2spark.com

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Permalink to what superheroes can teach us . about branding

what superheroes can teach us . about branding

by Lara McCulloch|on December 2, 2009 |in Corporate Branding, Marketing Communications |tagged , |Leave a comment
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Rule 1: Have a superpower -
What is a superhero without a superpower? There have been many a debate around dinner tables discussing ‘if you could have any superpower in the world, what would it be?’. The amazing thing is when you look at the landscape of superheroes…and there are thousands…they each have a distinct and unique power. I mean, how interesting would it be if there were two superheroes that shot webs out of their wrists? What about 5? 10? 50? Well this is the rut that many businesses put themselves in. They don’t think about what makes them different from the sea of companies who do the exact same thing they do.
Rule 2: Serve the people -
Would you be engaged by a superhero that could push a pencil faster than a speeding bullet? Probably not. Why? Because it’s not useful, helpful or relevant to anyone. A good superhero has to serve the people. So does a good brand. You have to stand for something that people need or desire.
Rule 3: Create your icon -
Superheroes usually own a color and an icon. What superhero do you think of when I ask you to visualize a red cape, blue body suit and a yellow crest with a big red S on his chest? Why Superman, of course. An icon not only helps you get recognized and identified but also remembered.
Rule 4: Be authentic -
Can you imagine Captain America pushing an old woman aside to jump on the subway? Of course not. When Captain America is in uniform, he is noble, strong, hard-working, just, and honest…the epitome of being All American. Being authentic is about staying true to who you are at all times.
Rule 5: Be approachable -
Many superheroes have alter egos. They make the character more interesting, more understandable and more approachable. And although this point may sound like a contradiction to my previous point, it’s not. It’s important for a brand to have depth. After all, perfect is boring and unapproachable. Find ways to add warmth to your brand – engage, build relationships, learn from your mistakes and be open to feedback.
One final thoughtAs Peter Parker’s (aka Spider Man) Uncle Ben once said: “With great power comes great responsibility”. So use your powers wisely.
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
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Permalink to shifting out of neutral . filling the pipeline

shifting out of neutral . filling the pipeline

by Lara McCulloch|on November 19, 2009 |in Business Inspiration, Small Business Management |tagged , , , |2 Comments
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3527749814 34947f8ca3 b shifting out of neutral . filling the pipeline



In my post 5 ways to know you’re stuck in neutral I spoke about one of my most common encounters when dealing with SMBs (small and medium sized businesses):

The company who’s stuck in the word-of-mouth rut…relying on the good of others to bring them business.

The problems with wholly relying on word-of-mouth

- You can’t project what new business you anticipate when you’re not the one prospecting.
- You’re relying on others, who aren’t intimately involved with your business, to sell your business
- Word of mouth has very limited reach: If you’re looking to expand into a new geographic area, market or industry it’s near impossible to extend your reach relying on existing customers.
- If you’re not pro-actively marketing yourself, it’s just as easy for people to spread negative word-of-mouth about your company
- A client is likely only going to refer you when they hear someone is looking.
- Overall, word-of-mouth is a passive strategy.
So, what to think about before selling

Who is your target market? Be thoughtful. Don’t only think demographics and geographics, make sure you think about psychographics and behaviors (For examples of these market segmentations, check out this netMBA article). Be specific. The mistake many companies make is being too broad with their target market. There seems to be a general fear of leaving any one segment out. But the problems with being vague are that it’s more expensive to sell & market to a broad audience, it creates confusion for your sales people and it costs you more money working on businesses that are not a good fit.
What are their needs, wants and desires. Good sales is about being relevant and meaningful. Understanding the basic needs of your target market is important. Understanding the specific needs of a potential client is imperative.
Know your competition. How do they market themselves? What is their market share? What is their growth strategy? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Intimately understanding how they position themselves is critical to knowing how you can stand out and differentiate your business.
Know what makes you remarkable. The vast majority of prospects you connect with will either be entirely happy with their existing supplier or be open to speaking with more than just your company. To thrive, you have to stand out. Know what makes you different, better and meaningful.
Have sales support ready. There’s nothing worse than lighting a fire with a potential prospect who says, “I don’t have anything right now, but I like what I hear. Please send me some information”…and you have nothing to send them. Make sure you have a website and brochures ready for when you make your first call.
4 easy ways to take control of selling your company

1. Referral Selling: Ask your clients to recommend other companies that could benefit from your products/services. Ideally you want your client to set up an introduction as opposed to simply providing you with a list of names. Ask your customer why they think this business could be a good fit. You’ll get more insight on the prospect’s needs and their behaviors from your client than a website or Google search.
2. Lapsed Customers: Go back to the list of customers who haven’t worked with you in the last year or two. Contact them and find out why you haven’t heard from them. It could be simply you’ve been out of sight, out of mind…or perhaps you messed up a past project. The key is to understand why and what you need to do about it to get your client back.
3. Upsell Existing Customers: Simply put, 1. It costs more to acquire a new customer than it does to grow an existing customer, 2. You should know your customer’s business inside-out as well as their needs, 3. You client knows you and what you’re capable of. This magical formula makes upselling an existing customer so palatable.
4. Supplier Partnerships: Your suppliers can be your best asset. Tell them you’re looking to grow your business and ask them for referrals. You’d be surprised how hard your suppliers will work for you.
What tactics would you add?
Read more

Shifting out of neutral . Thinking for tomorrow
Shifting out of neutral . Overcoming procrastination
Photo via Jenny Downing

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

Signature shifting out of neutral . filling the pipeline

Helping smart businesses attract more customers
 (289) 937.0141 . hello@ready2spark.com

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Permalink to shifting out of neutral . overcoming procrastination

shifting out of neutral . overcoming procrastination

by Lara McCulloch|on November 16, 2009 |in Business Inspiration |tagged , |1 Comment
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3261364899 278ffbbabb b shifting out of neutral . overcoming procrastination

Continuing our 5 tips to know you’re stuck in neutral series, we’re now going to focus on issue number 2:

You’re likes-focused. What I mean by that is that you spend the vast majority of your time doing things you like to do and putting off the things you need to do.

We’ve all been there. We have a deadline and we’re running out of time. But the funny thing is that everything else seems a lot more interesting and important. You keep clicking on your email to see if perhaps your computer’s sound notification has stopped working and you really do have a new message. Perhaps now is the time to go through that pile on your desk and get reacquainted with the files you haven’t cracked open in months. Or even better, maybe Chatty Cathy down the hall would love to catch up on the latest episode of The Office.

This nasty little habit is also known as procrastination. Procrastination is actually quite misunderstood…it’s often associated with bad time management skills. But in reality the reasons for procrastination are usually deeper rooted.

3 reasons you procrastinate
1. You don’t know where to start
2. You have self-doubt
3. You don’t enjoy the task
3 ways to resolve procrastination
1. Acknowledge the problem
We’ve all heard the saying: The first step to resolving a problem is admitting you have one.
2. Get to the root of why you’re procrastinating
It’s important to understand why you’re putting things off. I’ve listed 3 possible reasons above, but there are many reasons why someone procrastinates. Understand what is demotivating you.
3. Act
There’s no magic bullet to procrastination. It’s self-induced and the only cure is to make a concerted effort to overcome it. Saying that, here are a few tips to help you act:
- Break the task down into small increments and accomplish it in stages
- Schedule these tasks to be done at the beginning of the day
- Reward yourself when you’ve finished it
- Create an environment that doesn’t have distractions
- Ask for help
- If you fall off the wagon don’t punish yourself…just get back on
I don’t believe in shying away from challenges – after all, they’re what make us grow. But if all else fails and you are crippled by a task that is affecting your ability to run a great business, find a way to delegate it, outsource it or learn it.
For more information on shifting out of neutral:

3 tips to think for tomorrow

5 ways to know you’re stuck in neutral

Image via Myki Roventine

Lara McCulloch-Carter

Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark

Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions

Past-President – ISES Toronto

. Follow me on Twitter

. Connect with me on LinkedIn

. Become my Peep at EventPeeps

. Befriend me at Events Network

Signature shifting out of neutral . overcoming procrastination

Helping smart businesses attract more customers
 (289) 937.0141 . hello@ready2spark.com

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