When and Why to Use a Consulting Firm

A perfect storm of factors in the 90’s and 2000’s have lead to a vast increase in numbers of entrepreneurs.  The 90’s brought us the quality improvement, which had some good points, but more often than not meant doing more with fewer people and burning those people out.  The 2000’s brought economy changes that squeezed businesses even further, causing high unemployment.  But during this period of time technology progressed at an almost unfathomable rate.  All of these factors created an environment that has lead to an entrepreneurial boom.  Employees were either fed up working for others or simply couldn’t find a job.  Technology made starting a business easier than ever, and many have taken the opportunity to do so.

Starting and running a small business is rewarding, exciting, scary, and fun, but it isn’t always easy.  You have to be the sales department, finance department, IT department, marketing department, and human services department often with only a small number of people.  And of course, this is on top of your “business”.  Running a business is very much like running a home. Perhaps you can paint and know how to fix leaky sinks, but you don’t know anything about electrical work (and frankly you don’t want to). Sometimes you simply don’t have the time or expertise to do it all yourself and you look to consultants to help you in certain areas. 

Hiring a consultant:

1.       Allows you to focus on your business goals instead of trying to learn and do everything else

2.       Provides expertise you need in certain areas such as accounting or marketing

3.       Can bring an objective “eye” to your business for improving processes, expanding your business market, and even improving your product or service

4.       Can help with a particular project or ongoing needs

Sometimes small business owners just need an extra pair of hands, and consultants can be the way to go.

Kim Luedke is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.

10 Dos and Don’ts for Remote Workers

1.       Do take your laptop out to the porch/deck on beautiful days.

2.       Don’t use video chat while working in your pajamas.

3.       Do take frequent opportunities to mention your 15 foot commute to still-commuting friends.

4.       Don’t answer the phone “Joe’s Bar and Grill”, unless, in fact, you are “Joe’s Bar and Grill”.

5.       Do build time into your schedule to give the dog tummy rubs.

6.       Don’t continue the monthly birthday cake routine if you now work all by yourself.

7.       Do remember you no longer have a cleaning crew keeping dust and trash from accumulating in your office.

8.       Don’t let the cat eat your mouse.

9.       Do make sure your Skype call has ended before belting your rendition of “I feel like a woman”.

10.   Don’t forget to “leave” the office.

Happy Friday!

Yes, There's an App for That

These days there’s an app for everything. There are apps for personal and professional use. Apps for phones, tablets, and iPods. Apps for organizing, doing, and playing. You can practically run your whole business from your mobile device.

Here are some apps and app categories we thought were interesting and useful from a business standpoint:

·         Point of Sale – Run your POS operations on your iPad; iPhone, or Android from any location

·         SignMyPad  – Go green with the new standard for paperless document transfer – PDF signature tool

·         Inventory – Manage your property inventory

·         Retail Inventory – Manage the inventory at your retail store

·         Dragon –Voice recognition application allows you to speak and instantly see your text or email messages

·         Dropbox – Free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere

·         Flight Tracker Pro – Track flights from anywhere in the world – take off and landing times and where they are in the air

·         ProOnGo – Record, view and approve your expenses and your team’s expenses while on the go from any device

·         PTO calculators - Keep track of how much time off you have accrued

·         FileMaker Go – Remote access to your databases

·         PowerME HD – Organize all your tasks, notes, and computer files in one place – with Google Docs and DropBox integration

·         Business Card Readers, Calendars, Remote Meeting Apps, Trip Itineraries

One particular app we think is great is Evernote. Evernote made the NY Times Top 10 Must Have Apps, and winner of the Best Mobile App Award from TechCrunch, Mashable and the Webbys. You can download it on all of your platforms and sync everything across all computers and devices you have. Evernote helps you remember anything and everything that happens in your life.

What app do you use that you can’t live without?

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Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.

Working from home... it's a balancing act

Working from home can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your personality and your circumstances. Whether you are telecommuting while working for someone else, or running your own home-based business, there are many things to consider before taking the plunge.

High on the list is what has been the most important thing to you about working in an office or wherever you have worked outside the home? Is it the social interactivity? The logistical support? Working with teams?

Whatever was most important to you there will still be important at home, and you have to figure out how to meet the need. If social interaction is important to you, be sure you set up ways to get together with your peers and to network. Build activities into each day to assure you are getting your people fix. Have lunch with friends or colleagues, join networking groups, telecommute part-time and work in the office the other time. Technology is a wonderful way to stay connected, but it's also easy to get lost in it and miss out on real social interactions.

If you need logistical support, like IT support that you can't provide yourself, there are many companies (and other work-at-homers) who can provide this type of support. If this is important to your business, line up the support before you start so you don't have a crisis the first time your computer crashes.

If working in teams is important, there are many ways to do this using technology. Meet remotely using Go To Meeting or WebEx, chat and talk using Skype to others worldwide, and share files with tools like Dropbox and yousendit.com.

Another important thing to consider is what distractions you can expect at home. Are there others in the home during the hours you will be working? There's nothing harder than trying to talk on the phone to a customer while the kids are screaming at each other and the dog is barking in the background. If there are others around, set ground rules - be sure they know when you are 'at work' and when you can give them your full attention.

And that leads to the most important thing to figure out when deciding to work from home. How to find balance. Because work is always right there, it's easy to dedicate your time to building your business. This can be a great thing, because you can work at 2AM if necessary to get the job done. But sometimes it's hard to remember that it's ok not to work all the time. Be sure to have your own dedicated space and time for work and don't let it leak into the rest of your home and the rest of your life.

If you can achieve this balance, working from home can be the greatest gift you ever give yourself.

What challenges and opportunities have you found working from home?

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Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.

Mission Statements, Vision Statements, and Elevator Speeches - Part Three in a Three Part Series

Elevator Speeches (Part 3 of 3)

So, you’re at a dinner party, and you meet someone you don’t know.  Chances are after a few pleasantries you will ask the person “What do you do?” And, chances are you will get one of two responses:  a job title, or a lengthy job description that makes you want to run for the door.  An elevator speech is an answer to “What do you do?” that falls somewhere in between those two extremes.

Let’s face it – our attention spans are shorter than ever.  We are exposed to a ridiculous amount of information every day and we must constantly sift to shake out the important stuff.  A good elevator speech is designed to offer only the necessary information, and capture the interest and attention of the person listening so that they want to learn more.

Elevator speeches are used to define a job, an organization, a product, skills, values and beliefs, and for many other purposes. 

Elevator speeches are short, concise answers to “What do you do?”  The BEST elevator speeches:

·         Are short

·         Are interesting and clever

·         Focus on benefits rather than selling

·         Encourage a person to want to know more

What is the purpose of your elevator speech?

Kim Luedke is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.

Mission Statements, Vision Statements, & Elevator Speeches - Part 2 in a 3 Part Series

The best companies and organizations take time to really think about what they do and how they do it.  And, more importantly, they take the time and effort necessary to create ways to consistently and effectively communicate what they do and how they do it.  This is the second in a three-part blog series on how to begin that process.

Vision Statements (Part 2 of 3)

A vision statement is different from a mission statement in that it communicates the essence and values of an organization along with the purpose. Vision statements can be shared with customers to give them an understanding of the organization, but most often they are written to inspire and energize employees of an organization or members of a project team to accomplish a short- or long-term mission.  The best vision statements provide a mental picture of an ideal goal for the future of the organization.  Vision statements can be short or long, but in either case their purpose is to capture the passion of the organization.

Amazon’s Vision Statement

Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

Google’s Vision Statement

Ten things we know to be true

1.       Focus on the user and all else will follow.

2.       It’s best to do one thing really, really well.

3.       Fast is better than slow.

4.       Democracy on the web works.

5.       You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.

6.       You can make money without doing evil.

7.       There’s always more information out there.

8.       The need for information crosses all borders.

9.       You can be serious without a suit.

10.   Great just isn’t good enough.

Coca Cola’s Vision Statement

Our vision serves as the framework for our Roadmap and guides every aspect of our business by describing what we need to accomplish in order to continue achieving sustainable, quality growth.

• People: Be a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be.
• Portfolio: Bring to the world a portfolio of quality beverage brands that anticipate and satisfy people's desires and needs.
• Partners: Nurture a winning network of customers and suppliers, together we create mutual, enduring value.
• Planet: Be a responsible citizen that makes a difference by helping build and support sustainable communities.
• Profit: Maximize long-term return to shareowners while being mindful of our overall responsibilities.
• Productivity: Be a highly effective, lean and fast-moving organization.

What words would you use to inspire passion in your organization’s vision statement?

Kim Luedke is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.

Mission Statements, Vision Statements, and Elevator Speeches - a three part series

The best companies and organizations take time to really think about what they do and how they do it.  And, more importantly, they take the time and effort necessary to create ways to consistently and effectively communicate what they do and how they do it.  This is the first in a three-part blog series on how to begin that process.

Mission statements (Part 1 of 3)

When you define or redefine your organization one of the first steps should be to develop a mission statement.  The mission statement is, in a few short phrases, the focus and lifeblood of your organization.  It should state very clearly your organization’s primary objective(s).  And the effective statement communicates a clear meaning not only to customers and potential customers, but also to employees, the community, and potential investors.

While there are no hard and fast rules for writing mission statements, here are some rules of thumb:

1.       The statement should be clear and concise

2.       The statement should be meaningful

3.       The statement should convey the direction of the organization

Examples of Mission Statements

Here are three examples of mission statements from very different organizations:

1)      The Colorado Mountain Club is organized to:

• Unite the energy, interest, and knowledge of the students, explorers, and lovers of the mountains of Colorado ;
• Collect and disseminate information regarding the Rocky Mountains on behalf of science, literature, art, and recreation;
• Stimulate public interest in our mountain area;
• Encourage the preservation of forests, flowers, fauna, and natural scenery; and
• Render readily accessible the alpine attractions of this region.

2)      Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

3)    The Ford Motor Company Mission Statement: ONE PLAN

ONE FORD MISSION:

ONE TEAM

People working together as a lean, global enterprise for automotive leadership, as measured by: Customer, Employee, Dealer, Investor, Supplier, Union/Council, and Community Satisfaction

ONE PLAN

• Aggressively restructure to operate profitably at the current demand and changing model mix
• Accelerate development of new products our customers want and value
• Finance our plan and improve our balance sheet
• Work together effectively as one team

ONE GOAL

An exciting viable Ford delivering profitable growth for all.

What is your organization’s mission statement?

Kim Luedke is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.

Tool Review: yousendit.com

If you ever have to send or receive large files that are too big for email, one of the best tools we can recommend is yousendit.com. We have been using yousendit.com for years since it was recommended to us by one of our favorite vendors, PostupStand.

yousendit.com offers online access to save, send, and upload files. There are three different versions to choose from:

	Lite	Pro	Pro Plus
Cost	Free	$9.99/month or $4.17/month with an annual plan	$14.99/month or $149.99/year
Storage	2 GB	5 GB	Unlimited
Maximum File Size	50 MB	2 GB	2 GB

And, you can connect with yousendit.com in multiple ways, through the Internet, on your desktop, through Outlook email, and on your mobile device.

They even offer electronic file signing and a new collaboration tool called Workstream™.

So the next time you need to send or receive files that are too big to handle… check out yousendit.com.

Click on the comments section below to tell us about your favorite tool!

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Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.

Beware of Overused Words

In a world where media of every kind is in an all-out war for our attention, superlatives and sensationalism have become the norm.  We are all guilty of it.  One of my go-to words is awesome, and I catch myself using it every day, even though I know not everything can be “awesome”. 

Another overused word in today’s language is epic.  I heard a sportscaster use that term to describe four consecutive snowboarders in a recent competition.  The word has lost all meaning.

Other examples of overused words:

·         Literally

·         Seriously

·         Amazing

·         Like

We must take care not to fall into the overused word trap.  Frankly it makes us less credible, and we will either lose the attention of our audience, or they will become so distracted by our words that they miss our message.  And there is nothing awesome about that!

What words do you think are overused?

Kim Luedke is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.

Still one of the best commercials ever...

What does your website say about your organization?

To many businesses today, your website is the front door to your organization. So many businesses do much of their work virtually; and, even if you do have a physical storefront, your website is one of the most important tools in your marketing arsenal.

First and most importantly, if you don't have a website, get one. Now.

Websites can be either a traditional set of web pages that tell people about your business, or you can use a blog as your website, as long as you have one. Some organizations even use their Facebook page as their website, which is also fine. As long as you have a place online where people can learn about what you do.

Take a look at your website from your customers' perspective -- all of your customers, including those you provide products and/or services to, your potential customers, your board members, your staff, etc. Your site should tell the story of your organization as concisely as possible in the first few seconds of viewing.

The top of your home page is the most important real estate, because visitors will make the decision to learn more, to click through, or to shut it down before they will decide to scroll for more information.

If you use social media, add links to connect with you above the scroll on the home page (or use the WIBIYA toolbar like we do at http://www.professionaledge.com/ so those links are always available from anywhere on your site).

Update your content all the time. Why would people want or need to come back if there is never new information?

And finally, be sure your website tells the graphic image that you want told about your organization. Be sure the look matches your current brand, image, and goals and take a new look at it every year to be sure it is still the right image.

Take a minute right now to look at your website. What does it say about your organization?

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Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.

Is it time to get rid of your newsletter and birth a blog?

The next entry in our business success series

We've been talking about how much marketing has changed over the past several years and your newsletter is the next target. Just a couple years ago, a newsletter was one of the first things we would have recommended to you if you were our client. Newsletters provided a great opportunity to talk about the things that show your expertise and stay in front of your customers and potentials.

And we aren't asking you to stray much from that, promise!

Taking the same premise of your newsletter, now we may recommend that you switch it up into a blog. Blogs offer the same advantage as newsletters because they allow you to show your expertise to your market space. But blogs offer so much more! With a blog you can add new content at any time. You can post daily and the blog automatically archives everything ever posted so it acts as one continuous newsletter. You can then invite people to read your blog through all of your social networks, email, and your web site.

And, every time you post to your blog it's like launching a new web page that hits the search engines and gets you more exposure.

There are many blog tools available to you, such as Blogger where we create the http://professionaledgeblog.blogspot.com blog.

Have you or will you take the step to change your newsletter into a blog? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.