All posts by John Paul Narowski

I’ve been hacking at various business ideas since I was 16. I’m a full stack developer and love crafting user experiences. I’ve been nose deep in code since I put the legos down, and built several successful businesses in the process. I’ve lost some hair, gained some experience and throughly enjoyed the journey.

Many people measure their lives by an unofficial equation; time is the raw input, your schedule is the machine and productivity is the end output. If you’re not being productive enough, then it must be your schedule that is flawed because time is consistent, right?

While time is consistent, how we perceive it in relation to ourselves, our tasks and achievements is nothing close to uniform. For me, thirty minutes playing with my daughter feels different than one hour sitting in a meeting. That is because my attention is fully engaged when I’m with my daughter; I want to get the most out of that time and nothing else matters.

Attention Bandwidth

While time will relentlessly march on, what you do have control over is your attention. Start to look at time in regards to what you choose to spend attention on and the quality of that attention.

If you think about it in tech terms, we have a limited attention bandwidth that we choose to devote at all times to a variety of things. If you look back on your day and feel as though nothing got accomplished, you didn’t waste time, you misallocated your attention.

Devote your entire attention bandwidth to important and fulfilling tasks and you will stop seeing time as the limited resource which is constantly being stolen from you. Instead, understand that each moment of your life is simply what you have decided to devote your attention bandwidth to. These allocation decisions over the long run will shape your life and how you see yourself.

The Choice is Yours

Seeing the world this way will show you that only you decide to allocate attention to the tasks and responsibilities that are in your life. You decide what quality of attention they should be given. That effects your perception of time and of your productivity.

Try the following to make the most of your limited attention bandwidth:

Focus on What Matters

Pareto’s Principle, also called the 80/20 rule, states that 80% of our outcomes come from 20% of our actions. So, find that 20% of your activities that are making most of your results and focus your attention bandwidth on them as much as possible.

When doing so, make sure you are fully engaged. Turn off, hide or mute any distraction that has the potential to lure you away from what creates most of the results you are looking for. That might also mean saying “No” to a new task that comes your way or delegating it to someone else.

Batch Process the Mundane

We all have tasks that are boring, routine or we just don’t want to do. Instead of procrastinating or scattering them through out the day, set aside one block of time to do them. Give them your full attention and get them out of the way.

This might mean checking email or voice mails only two or three times a day. When you do attend to these tasks, you will be fully engaged and they won’t be popping up throughout the day to beckon you away from your important 20%.

Get Organized

Having a system of organization is key to making the most of your day. It makes devoting your attention in the right quantities to the right things automatic. Something like David Allen’s GTD system helps you take tasks, sort them into relevant “bins”, prioritize projects and break down them down into manageable bits.

Imagine your attention bandwidth is a powerful laser. You can point it all at one thing or break it up into several smaller beams. The latter is essentially what disorganiztion and multitasking do to you. If you’re properly organized, you will have targets laid out in succession of priority for the full power of your attention weapon.

In the end, you can’t dwell on time “passing you by.” Organize your life and find what tasks are the most important and give them the full power of your attention bandwidth. Get rid of the things that don’t truly matter, elimate distractions and give your full attention to what you’re doing (no multitasking) and you’ll see time and your life in a much less stressful way.

John Paul Narowski

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Sales and Marketing

10 Tips to Make Twitter Work for Your Business

November 23, 2010 John Paul Narowski 3 Comments

Twitter can be a powerful marketing tool for your business, if you use it correctly.

While this microblogging platform often gets a bad reputation as a time waster, it allows you to deliver your message to millions while also listening to what your customers want, your competitors are doing and what the market is up to.

Like other forms of social media, there is a fine line between being a black hole of time and being useful to your business. It all comes down to implementation. If you understand how to properly use Twitter as a marketing tool, then you will get the results you want. If you just sign up for an account and throw some tweets up there, you’re going to get minimal results.

Here are ten quick and easy tips to turn Twitter into a powerful tool for your marketing needs:

Write High Quality Tweets

If you do any marketing on the Internet, you have probably heard the saying, “Content is King.” Whether you’re talking about creating blog posts, videos, webinars or anything else, if you churn out quality content people will listen to you. The same is true for Twitter.

You want to write tweets that are informative, helpful and most off aren’t constantly pushing your product. Everybody wants to buy something, nobody wants to be sold to. Of course you’re going to promote your business and products, but just not in every tweet.

No “Meforming”

If you have ever read someone’s updates online about the minutest goings on in their lives, then you have been exposed to “meforming.” Tweeting about what you had for lunch, where you went shopping, the cute thing your dog and so on bring no value to your business. Save it for a personal account or just don’t do it at all.

Repeat Your Tweets

The very best Twitter marketers out there repeat their tweets anywhere from 3 to 6 times a day. They do it for the same reason that CNN repeats their top news stories every hour; not everyone is going to catch it the first time.

As more tweets come in from other people they are following, your tweet will be pushed down the list. By the time they check Twitter you’re message might be out of sight and out of mind.

Be Prepared for Negative Feedback

There are millions of people on Twitter and not everyone is going to like you, your point of view or products. Be prepared to accept that and let them just go. You can’t please everyone and if you pander to the small percentage that gets their undergarments in a bunch over your tweets, then you’re going to be missing out.

NEVER Buy Followers

This point can’t be stressed enough. It’s very tempting when someone comes along and promises you thousands of followers overnight and guaranteed audiences. These services are bunk and they are nothing but spammers; the social media version of snake oil salesmen.

You have to earn your followers if you want real results on Twitter or any other social media platform. This brings us to our next tip…

Find Relevant People to Follow

In order to build a solid following, you need to follow people. It’s common courtesy on Twitter to follow people that follow you back. By extending the invitation to other users that have similar interests, you will get more followers yourself.

Twitter has a built in search tool, you can use third party software or directories to find people that you want to share your Tweets with. But don’t just rely on the lists these searches produce. You need to got through the users, check out their bios and read some of their recent tweets.

This will help you screen out spammers, inappropriate content and people who may not be receptive to your marketing messages. For example; if you search for “second amendment” and just follow everyone on that list, you’re going to get people who think the law allows citizens the right to have guns and those who don’t. By just adding everyone, you’re going to have a lot of negative stuff coming your way.

Be Helpful

There is no better way to gain a following on Twitter and been seen as an expert in your niche than to offer real help to people, for free. Search Twitter for questions people are asking in your field of expertise and see if you can’t help them out.

Don’t offer to sell them anything or charge for your help. You just simply tell the answer, send them a link or point them in the right direction and you will be surprised how soon they and many other people are following you. Build up this following and when you do decide to throw a commercial link up there, they will be more likely to follow it.

Be Human

While “meforming” serves no purpose, that doesn’t mean you can’t show that you are a human being and have a personality. Add a picture to your profile (pictures of very attractive people in skimpy clothes don’t count and you’re not fooling anyone) so we can see what you look like. Talk about your experiences at your job or with customers. You can even select a screen name that makes you appear more personal and less corporate; think “BrianatXYZCompany.”

As part of this make sure you respond to people’s direct messages, thank them for adding your and for retweeting your stuff and so on. Showing that you are a real flesh and blood person and not some corporate drone goes a long way to increasing your legitimacy on Twitter.

Simplify with Tools

There is a plethora of third party applications out there that can help you simplify your Twitter and social media lives. I personally enjoy Tweet Adder and HootSuite.

Tweet Adder allows you to search Twitter for users that are interested in your area of expertise and them follow them automatically. Instead of adding hundreds of followers all at once, you can automate the process and spread it out over time to make it look more natural. You can also automatically unfollow people who don’t follow you back in a certain amount of time (keep your ratios looking good), send “thank you” direct messages and many other awesome things.

Hootsuite allows you to write your Tweets in advance and schedule them for later. You can also add other social media accounts like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and many others. While Tweet Adder also has the ability to send out your saved Tweets, if you use more than just Twitter, HootSuite is well worth the $5.99 a month it charges.

Don’t Just Talk, Listen

Use Twitter to not only get your message out but to find out what’s going on in the trenches of your market. Read Tweets from customers, competitors and influencers in your space.

Ask questions, link to polls or surveys and ask for advice. Sure, you’re going to get some crazy stuff coming back, but ignore the outliers and focus on the good stuff.

John Paul Narowski

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Productivity

Learn to Harness the Power of Routines

November 17, 2010 John Paul Narowski Leave a comment

When we hear the word “routine”, we often cringe. It has become synonymous with boring, average and dull. While you don’t want your whole life to be routine, routines bring order to the chaotic nature of our lives and help us achieve true productivity.

The ironic part is that by working and managing your life more efficiently with routines, you can have more time to do the fun and exciting things you crave. Making routines yield productivity is as simple as identifying what you need to get done and finding the optimal times to do them. Then you simply repeat that process.

It sounds almost too simple right? Let’s go through some tips to help you achieve paramount productivity through routines.

List it All Out

Go through the tasks that you have to do every day and week and write them down.

Your daily list might include things like checking email, picking up the kids, making your prospecting calls and so on. Weekly items would be things that you do a couple times a week like working out, going to the dog park with your dog or cleaning.

Discover Your Most Productive Time

Everyone is different and we all work better at different times during the day. Some people have to get up at the crack of dawn and work in the peace and quiet. Others find sitting in a busy café helps them work. Personally, I’m a night owl and get my best work done after the kids have gone to bed.

Whatever the most productive time is for you, identify it and catalog how long it lasts, what conditions need to be there to achieve it and so on.

Make Your Schedule

Now that you know when you work the best, it’s time to put together a schedule. Prioritize your list of tasks and put the most important during the time slot when you work the best. This will be your time where you can just be in the zone and crank out things that have the most effect on your success.

Group Similar Tasks

Now, group every thing else together with similar tasks and set up time blocks when they can be done. This keeps your mind on the same track and focused on the types of things you are doing. Otherwise, you burn time adjusting from something like cleaning to paying bills or reading emails.

Don’t Over Schedule

You can’t plan your whole day. It’s best to have a couple of time blocks set up throughout the day and then leave the rest open to deal with incoming tasks, things that didn’t get done on time or rush projects. A lot of people have a morning and night routine and leave the middle of their day open.

Prioritize, Simplify and Automate

If your list is just too daunting and you know there is no humanly way possible you can achieve it without becoming Red Bull’s best customer, then you need to whittle it down.

Prioritize or re-prioritize the list and find out what is absolutely necessary to get done. Often things we think are really important just aren’t. If processes are too complex, break them up into more manageable pieces. Finally if you can automate something, then do it!

Many organization and productivity experts like David Allen extol the virtues of forming routines, setting aside time to deal with tasks on a “batch” level and prioritizing your tasks so you are productive instead of just busy. Allen’s Getting Things Donebook is considered by many to be the Bible of organization/productivity systems. If you have never had the chance to check out his GTD system, check out his blog.

Follow these simple tips, lay out your routines and do your best to stick to them. While you need to be diligent in implementing your new schedule, you also have to be flexible and allow for life to interject. If you have to break your routine, don’t freak out or give up. Just do your best to get back on track and stick with it.

John Paul Narowski

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Sales and Marketing

The 7 Must Have Free WordPress Plugins

November 10, 2010 John Paul Narowski Leave a comment

In the last post, we discussed why WordPress should be your content management system (CMS) of choice. One of the biggest selling points of WP is that there are literally thousands of pieces of code, called plugins, available that can dramatically affect your site’s look, functionality and profitability.

There are many so called “premium” plugins for sale out there, but with a little work you can usually find a free one that will get the job done just as well, if not better. Many developers ask for a small donation if you like and use their products. It’s optional but good Karma to throw a little something their way!

So, what are the best free ones out there? Without further ado, here are the seven WordPress plugins that you need to have if you’re serious about making your site a success.

WP Super Cache

A site loaded with themes, photos, videos and plugins will often load slower than it should. If you’re site takes too long, you’ll lose visitors and even be penalized by Google in the search engine rankings! WP Super Cache makes all of that go away by increasing your load time and even lowering the CPU processing needed to view and edit your pages.

Askimet

There are a million programs out there that have been developed to leave fraudulent comments on your blog in order to get backlinks. Askimet roots these suckers out and puts them aside for your review.

All you have to do is install the plugin, visit their site (link) and get a free API key. They do require you to pay a $5 monthly fee if you are running a commercial business, but personal blogs are free.

SEO Smart Links

A huge part of proper SEO is getting the right links in place. Most people only think about backlinks, but Google and the other search engines want to see that your site has a solid web of internal links too. Why do it all manually when this bad boy will identify keywords in your blog that you specify and link to other posts that are related?

Advertising Manager

Blogging and web development is fun and all but if we want to keep the lights on and the servers humming, then we need to make some money from this deal. Using Google Adsense, Yahoo! Ads, other ad networks and affiliate networks is the best ways to do that.

There is some code to deal with, though. Depending on your theme and whether or not looking at source code makes you break out in hives, this might be more of a challenge for some website owners than others. Advertising Manager allows you easily insert these ads and manage when and where they are seen.

All in One SEO Pack

All in One SEO Pack allows you to easily set up the meta tags search engines use to understand what your site is all about. You can do this for the entire site as well as individual posts and pages. It also allows you to set up your permalinks to maximize their SEO value.

Google XML Site Maps

This plugin is vital if you want Google to know when you update your site. It generates a XML site map to make it easier for Google to find and navigate your site. It also sends out updates on set schedule that is configurable by your site’s different elements (pages, post, archives, comments, tag pages etc)

You undoubtedly know the power of social media and you also know that most people are lazy. Even if you’re the Ernest Hemingway of blogging, the time and effort it takes for your readers to log into their social media accounts and share your post with the world is a big hurdle to things going viral.

Share This inserts an easy to use and configurable drop down menu of the most popular social media sites, so your reader can immediately share it. There are also email options in case they want to share it the “old school” way.

John Paul Narowski

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Sales and Marketing

4 Reasons Why You Should be Using WordPress

November 5, 2010 John Paul Narowski 2 Comments

If you have been looking into starting a blog or website and aren’t quite sure where to begin, then you need to check out WordPress.

WordPress is most widely recognized as the go-to blogging platform. Not only is the platform of choice for many small businesses and individual bloggers, but large companies like Ford and CNET have used WordPress in the past for their website needs.

If you’ve been putting off starting a company or personal blog, forming an online presence or starting up an Internet marketing campaign, then read the following to find out why WordPress is just what you’re looking for.

Reason #1: It’s Free!

You can sign up for a free site on www.Wordpress.org or download the platform through your web hosting company. Both won’t cost you a penny.

If you’re not sure what you’re going to do with the site, the WordPress.org option is best. If you’re going to be using this as a platform for your business, then you should install the software on your server. WordPress.org controls and owns those sites, so they can delete them and revoke your access whenever they want if you break their rules. It’s rare unless you’re breaking the law, spamming people or doing other “no-no’s” but it can happen.

If you don’t have web hosting, it’s cheap and easy to get. For around $6 a month, you can have your own account where you can host a huge array of sites. Plus, if you become the next Internet sensation and want to sell the site, you’ll be able to if it’s self hosted.

Reason #2: Blogging and More

WordPress is a great blogging platform that is super easy to use but its simplicity hides its true power. While most people know WordPress as a blogging platform, it is actually a killer content management system (CMS).

A CMS is simply any software that allows you to publish content to the web without having extensive knowledge of code, FTP processes and all of that other techie stuff. So, while WordPress comes “out of the box” as a blog, you can turn it into a standard website with set pages instead of dynamic posts.

Reason #3: Options Galore

WordPress is wildly popular, which has led to developers to make thousands of pieces of software called plugins. WordPress plugins usually install with one click and can help you dramatically increase the functionality of your site.

There are back end plugins that make your site run faster, inform the search engines when you have updated, automatically backup your database and so on. There are also on page plugins like contact forms, email opt in lists, calendars, spam catchers….the list is almost endless.

On top of that, developers have made tons of different templates for WordPress, so you can choose between vast amounts of looks for your site. A lot of these templates and plugins are free, while there are also a lot that you can pay for. If there isn’t anything out there that suits your style or needs, the plethora of WordPress programmers out there would be more than happy to whip something up for you.

Reason #4: Intuitive Use

If you have been hesitant to start a website because you are worried you’re not code savvy enough to pull it off, WordPress takes that off the table. Their main content editor allows you to easily insert text and add formatting, pictures, videos and much more with the click of a button.

If you’re a HTML junkie and want to get in there and tweak stuff, you can do that too. WordPress is so versatile that pros and newbies alike love using it. And with so many WordPress users out there, there is a limitless amount of support out there.

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of you running out of excuses to get a website up! WordPress takes away the stress and learning curve normally associated with getting something up on the Internet. Now, us mere coding and web development mortals can get in there and mix it up with the pros.

John Paul Narowski

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Sales and Marketing

Business vs. Personal: How to Keep Your Online Personas Separate

November 2, 2010 John Paul Narowski Leave a comment

You won’t find a marketing plan these days that doesn’t include a strong online presence. It seems like everyone from Fortune 500 companies to the smallest home based businesses have Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media accounts.

These are powerful tools and can spread your marketing message far and wide, but like Spiderman’s uncle said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

If you don’t manage every aspect of your online personas properly you could quickly find that marketing Nirvana has turned into marketing Hell.

The Double Edged Sword

The Internet and social media have opened up virtually limitless audiences to our marketing and sales efforts, but these opportunities also come at a cost. If you also use social media and other avenues of online communication in your personal life, the lines can be blurred pretty quickly.

It is not uncommon for employers to look someone up online and see if anything interesting pops up. The same goes for clients, coworkers, joint venture partners and anyone else who has a stake in how you market yourself.

Leaving a post, tweeting, updating a status or even commenting on a web page are all so easy many of us don’t give a second thought about it. However, the Internet has a perfect memory and as long as someone knows how, they can dig up pretty much anything you have said or done online ever.

Be Yourself But Be Aware

This doesn’t mean that if you’re trying to create an online marketing presence you can’t have a personality, be funny or interject your individuality into your work. In fact, people will choose to do business with someone they know and like over someone they don’t, even if your deal isn’t as good as theirs.

The more you show that there is a human being behind all the ones and zeros, the more trust you will build with your audience. If you’re looking to form a strong brand, become recognized as an expert or get someone to give you their hard money, this is necessary.

You just have to make smart decisions about how and what you put out there for the whole world to see if you want to avoid a potential exodus of business later.

Personal and Business Online Harmony

If you’re going to use the Internet and social media to promote your business while also maintaining personal accounts, then you need to do the following to make sure you’re not sending out the wrong message:

Google Yourself

Start off by finding what’s out there about you. Luckily, most people don’t look past the first page of search engine results, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.

Take the time to thoroughly go through at least the first ten pages of searches. Also make sure you check search results for images, videos, forums, news and other sections.

Use Different Accounts

If you have a personal Facebook profile, don’t simply add a Facebook page (for businesses) onto it. Keep your professional and personal lives as separate as possible by using different accounts for each.

Make sure you have your privacy settings properly set for your situation. Facebook automatically sets theirs to the loosest possible and you have to go in and edit them.

Use Different Networks

Facebook and Twitter are geared towards more personal content, but there are also social networks like LinkedIn that are professionally orientated. Consider separating the two sides of you even more by having all your personal stuff on one platform and your business stuff on another.

Also, the popularity of industry specific social networks is exploding. By putting your business self on these, not only are you keeping things separated but you’re also networking and engaging potential customers, employers and other people you want to impress.

Control Your Content

Even if you have done a good job of managing different accounts, the content you post in the form of pictures, video and updates is going to be out there. It doesn’t take much to find it. Before you post anything, run through this checklist mentally:

Propriety: Your post might seem acceptable to you, but look at it from the point of view of people who want to do business with you. While you can’t always please everyone, do your best to keep it on the up and up.
Avoid Controversy: Unless it’s part of your marketing plan, avoid contentious or controversial subjects in your posts. Your political leanings or religious beliefs may be very important to you, but you have to understand that there are people out there that don’t agree with you and may not do business with you based on them.
The Grandma Test: Before you hit the “submit” button ask your, “If Grandma saw this, would she be happy with me?” If it can’t pass the Grandma test, then you might offend some clients and it’s a no go.
Brand Image: You shape your brand’s image online by the things you post. So, when you are putting up content ask yourself if what you are doing is adding value to your brand. If you find that you’re posting a lot of complaining, negative comments, attacks on others or just useless garbage, then you’re image is going to suffer and so will business.

John Paul Narowski

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Productivity

7 Must Have Tech Tools to Make Your Business Life Easier

October 27, 2010 John Paul Narowski Leave a comment

So, you have a million things to do and not enough time to do them in; join the club. Until we’ve figured out how to manipulate that whole space-time continuum thing, you’re going to have to do the most you can with what you got. You’re a busy person, so let’s get right to it. Here’s seven killer tech tools every busy professional should be using if they want to be as productive as possible and make their life infinitely easier.

Hoot Suite: Social Media Account Consolidation

Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are more than just black holes of productivity, they can actually help grow your business. Hoot Suite brings all of your accounts together in one place. You can post the same message across several sites with the click of a button, respond to comments and mentions, follow new people (Twitter) and even schedule posts for the future. Since it’s web based, you can access your account from any computer with an Internet connection or even download a handy app for your smart phone. The service is only $5.99 a month for a basic plan that allows you unlimited social media accounts.

Booked Solid Cards: “Hand Written” Thank You Cards

If you’re in sales or run a business, then you know that little things like thank you cards and follow up notes can mean the difference between more business and no business. But writing these things out is a pain in the rear and people are picking up that your assistant’s exquisite handwriting isn’t yours. Enter Booked Solid Cards. This online service scans your handwriting style and signature and then mails out personalized cards and notes for you. Your customers and prospects get that personal touch from you and it’s as simple as typing an email.

Ovation: Jazzed Up Powerpoint

Turn a yawn maker of a Powerpoint presentation into something that looks like a professional made it with Adobe’s Ovation. With a few simple clicks you can kick your presentation up a few notches with motion, animation, more readable text and awesome graphical backgrounds.

Xobni: Jedi-Like Power Over Email

Xobni, or inbox spelled backwards, works in conjunction with Microsoft Outlook. It makes your inbox easily searchable and can help you find attachments that have been stolen by the email gremlins. Best yet, Xobni lets you know when emails from your most important contacts comes in and when it’s ok to ignore it completely and get some work done.

Gmail: Yeah, Just Gmail

Google’s email platform, isn’t just another free email system. Not only can you search your inbox as easily you search the web, but you can also bring all of your other email accounts under one easy to use umbrella. Have your other emails forwarded to Gmail and then you can set it up so you can respond as any of your email addresses. Example: Your bob@work.com email gets forwarded to Gmail and when you respond you can choose to show the “from” address as bob@work.com instead of crazy_drunken_idiot_on_the_weekends@gmail.com.

Evernote: Life Synchronized

Evernote is web based, has a desktop program and iPhone application, so when you take notes, bookmark a site, save a photo, record voice memos and a whole bunch of other stuff, all you have to do is upload it and it’s synchronized across all three devices. No more having to email yourself stuff when you’re going to work at home, carrying around flash drives or burning files to CD. With Evernote everything is everywhere and you can collaborate with other team members easily too.

Dragon Dictation – Voice to Text Phone App

All you have to do with Dragon Dictation is turn it on ands start talking. Your words get converted into text that can be saved as a file, sent as an email or even posted to Twitter and Facebook. This is a personal favorite of people who may have wider fingers and hate typing on keyboards were made for the Keebler Elves; yes, I am speaking from personal experience.

John Paul Narowski

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Sales and Marketing

5 Tips to Help Increase Your Sales Today

October 25, 2010 John Paul Narowski Leave a comment

Whether you like it or not, as a salesperson, you’re judged almost exclusively by your numbers. That means if you want to keep getting that paycheck every month and enjoy the free donuts on Fridays, you better keep those numbers as high as possible. Not everyone sets out to have a career in sales. Entrepreneurs and many employees in smaller companies find themselves wearing many hats; and one of these often includes some form of sales. With massive unemployment rippling through the economy, many people have had to take on sales responsibilities in a new or redefined position. No matter whether you chose this path or fate tied you to a horse and dragged you down it, you’re going to have to put up some numbers and make some cash to keep your bosses, mortgage company and bookie all happy. If you’re looking for a leg up, want to work more efficiently or simply stop drowning in a bathtub of your own professional self-loathing, then we’re here to help. Here are five simple tips on how you can increase your sales today!

Benefits Not Features

Of course, you have to let your customers know why they should buy your product over the competitor’s, but that doesn’t mean rattling off a bunch of technical features of the product. With very few exceptions (information technology people I’m looking at you), customers want to be told what benefit they will get from your product. Quite simply tell them what’s in it for them if they buy from you. Humans are selfish creatures by nature and appealing to how your product will make things run smoother, faster, better and improve their lives is the way to sales success. Relay what the end positive effect on their lives will be and you’ll see those sales numbers climb.

Know Your Stuff

Even if you’re not a full time sales person, know your products backwards and forwards. Knowing the benefits and features of the product or service you are selling might seem like a no-brainer, but a lot of sales people don’t bother to dig past the standard company literature and really know the product and market. If you come off looking like you don’t know what you’re talking about to a customer, you can kiss that sale goodbye.

Be Nice

Once again, this seems like a no-brainer, but many salespeople see the customer as an enemy that they must crush and dominate. Others just have poor attitudes and think it’s OK to speak to people however they want. Instead, put yourself in the shoes of your customer and treat them as though they would want to be treated. Let them know what product is best for them and if you truly don’t have what they need, tell them that and recommend the product they need. The hit you will take on missing one sale will come back ten fold when you build a reputation amongst potential clients for being honest and helpful.

Network

The more people you meet, the more you will sell. People like to do business with people they know, trust and like (see the above point if you forgot that one.) Go to professional luncheons, trade shows, conferences and other place your customers might be. Get on the phone and call up some new prospects. Call your existing customers and ask them if they know anyone who might need your product or service.

Stay Organized

All of the product knowledge and networking in the world isn’t going to help if you can’t find your prospects numbers, lose a sales order or miss an important conference call. Information comes at you like water from a fire hose these days, so make sure you have a system in place to process everything. David Allen’s Getting Things Done is an excellent resource for this, as is CRM software. A solid CRM platform is an essential weapon in your battle for more sales and it will help you keep everything from prospecting to following up for repeat business in order.

John Paul Narowski

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Productivity

Only Handle it Once; Learn it, Live it, Love it

September 30, 2010 John Paul Narowski 1 Comment

Do you ever feel completely under siege from the bombardment of tasks, projects and responsibilities that just never seems to end?

CRM productivity for small companies — Bombardment of tasks?

The trick is to learn how to properly deal with incoming emails, voice mails, memos or bombardment of tasks anything else. If you aren’t able to manage this flow, your productivity will be shot because you’ll be bouncing from task to task and items will build up in your inbox. Following a system like Paul Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) is perfect to get the most out of your time in all aspects of your life. If you haven’t been exposed to GTD, do yourself a favor and check it out.

These simple tips are derived from Allen’s GTD system and adapted to help you be the most productive you can at work:

Only Handle it Once

When you go to process a new item like an email, voicemail or memo, you want to remember one thing: only handle it once. While this won’t always be possible or practical, it’s the goal you’re shooting for.

The longer something goes unorganized the more times you’re going to have to come back to it to deal with it. To limit the amount of times you handle an item, take a look at it and decide whether it is actionable or not.

If the item is not actionable, do one of two things:

Delete It

If the email you just got is spam, junk mail, not relevant you or your department and doesn’t need to be saved, then just dump it in the digital trash and move on.

Archive It

If there is nothing actionable in the item now, but a required action may come up in the future, then you’re going to want to save it. Also, if there is information that may be useful to you later you also need to keep this item archived.

If the item is actionable, do one of three things:

Delegate It

If you get something that is actionable but there are people who are better suited to deal with it then you need to pass it on to them. That might be a subordinate, a coworker who is handling that specific task, or even a manager if the item is beyond the bounds of your authority to complete.

Just Do It

If the item can be completed in under two minutes, just handle it right then and there. This is the ultimate goal when we’re aiming to only handle things once.

Defer and Prioritize

If the task is going to take longer than a couple of minutes to complete, you need to add it to your To Do list and prioritize it. Make some quick notes if needed and decide where it ranks amongst your other projects and tasks. Also, decide if this item is something new or is part of an ongoing project for even better classification and prioritization.

While this technically violates the “only handle it once” rule, you’re still a lot better off now than you were before.

John Paul Narowski

http://www.jpnarowski.com

Productivity

How Your Surroundings Affect Your Output

September 24, 2010 John Paul Narowski 1 Comment

While it seems to be common sense that your environment has a huge effect on your productivity, the modern workplace is virtually designed to cause distraction and chaos.

Somewhere along the line, taking on too many activities at once and not giving your full attention to any of them became something you put on your resume. Being a multitasker may seem like a great thing to aspire to, but in the end it’s just a way to make yourself busy instead of efficient.

If you want to be truly productive, then you need to take a look at your surroundings, find the productivity vampires that stalk you and make the proper adjustments. Here are some of the bigger offenders:

Disorganization

The first thing you need to address in your work environment is disorganization. Have a system for every thing that is based on logical and easy to remember standards. Knowing which of your fifteen piles of paper that purchase order in is not a system.

Having every thing you need to easily and quickly accomplish your tasks is key in being productive. Otherwise you burn time trying to track down the things you need and put a serious hurting on your efficiency. You’ll be plenty busy tracking things down, put your output will suffer.

Distractions

The modern workplace is a minefield of distractions and navigating them is essential to winning the war of productivity. For those working from home the list of productivity robbers goes even deeper.

You might be ready to work like a drone on meth but once that IM pops up, your Facebook wall is written on, your cell phone rings or Bob from accounting stops by to tell you about his weekend of Fantasy Football greatness, all bets are off.

These electronic platforms, websites and devices are designed specifically to grab our attention. Something deep inside the human brain can’t deal with something unchecked or unfinished, forcing us to look. Don’t fight the way your brain works; if you can, minimize the effect of these things by turning them off or at least hiding them.

If you’re working on a excel spreadsheet have that and any other information you need open on your computer and nothing else. Turn off automatic notices and let the phone go to voicemail. Constantly stopping and starting is the worse thing you can do for your productivity.

When it comes to pestering co-workers, it can get a bit trickier. Find a way to let them know that you are busy, but that you would love to hear all about their grandson’s latest episode with the police at lunch.

You don’t want to alienate people in your office and burn bridges by being rude but you also can’t let people stop you from getting what you need to get done. Be polite but firm, show interest in what they are saying and just suggest a later time to talk about it.

Climate

The actual environment around you can have a huge affect on how well you perform as well. If you have ever worked in a freezing cold office, you know exactly what I am talking about. Make sure the temperature is comfortable for you as much as you can.

In large offices individuals often don’t get to control the thermostat. Beat the uncomfortable temps by wearing layers, bringing in a space heater or small fan or rally the troops and petition the boss to ease up on the AC.

You’re always going to have distractions and other speed bumps on the road to true productivity. Learning to master your environment is the only way you’re going to break free from the cult of multitasking. Manage to do this and you will see huge rewards in your output.

John Paul Narowski

http://www.jpnarowski.com