5 Things Every Entrepreneur should be prepared to do For the New Year 2010

As we approach the new year of 2010 we sit in one of the most interesting times in human history. As Entrepreneurs we have the opportunity to change the course of the U.S. economy, with a little help for the administration of course. The New Year 2010 will be what you, as an entrepreneur, make it. Going in to this New Year know that there are some things we all need to be aware of. Social Media and its presence in the world of marketing and promotions, regulation changes, tax changes (not for the good with our current administration), the availability of talent in the marketplace and cheaper money are just a few of them. So, in order to be ready for this upcoming New Year we all should be prepared to do the 5 following things:

5. Work Hard- It is plain and simple looking into a crystal ball and seeing the trends of 2010 I see that money will be cheaper and it won’t matter to entrepreneurs any way. We have been thrust into a world of pain and confusion and the only way out is to work harder than the person next to you. This is OUR TIME to shine because we have the grit that others don’t and it will pay off greatly. Personal lives and “4 hour work” weeks will not exist during this time. Entrepreneurs have to be able to separate themselves from their business and remind themselves they still have a family these days, suck it up this year and work right through all the hardship. Also remember that this will be the era of handshake credit, no question on that. Build out an in house credit solution for your clients to use to pay later. This will increase the amount of payments you receive by allowing more people to buy your product. Get more buyers, not more margin.

4. HIRE, HIRE, HIRE, this will be the time of all times to make a move on talent. People all over the country are losing talent because they cannot pay enough and people are losing jobs where the businesses cannot sustain the payments they are making. In the New Year 2010 we will see a great increase in layoffs and a struggle to pay bills, this means any stupid human could tell you that there is a huge talent pool out there right now, so use it and free up some time for you to grow even faster.

3. Train like never before- There will be a high precedence set on training in a world like the one we are about to see. If we have $80,000 a year people looking for jobs and taking $50,000 a year jobs this tells us they came from a much larger shop and need the major training to be reminded of big dollar corps of yester year. Be professional even if you are small, it will attract more talent than you can possibly imagine! Training can work like a recruiting tool if done right. Just remember that you time is valuable and find ways to save time in 2010.

2. Save Time, Use Technology- because money will be selling at a premium to you in 2010. The ways to save time are simple and need no explaining what they do. So to make this useful to those that are reading it I will make it simple by explaining how to use this new technology. Use video, ALL THE TIME!!! Record every training session, every board meeting and every client meeting, it allows to be played over again at your leisure. It also allows you to be able to prove things that may take up your time later with proof. Use lots and lots of webcasts and save on flight money. By a good version of some speech to text software and experiment with it to see if it is worth the time saving. Get yourself the newest Neat Works scanner and go to town; you will never have to input info again!!! Use CRM’s and Project managers religiously, they will be the big heroes for you. The more technology you use the more money and time you save.

1. SELL YOUR PRODUCT YOURSELF- There is a very bad trend that exists in the “Entrepreneur World” and it is the trend of being too good to sell. Owner need to be on the phone 2 times more than the best salesman in the firm. You, as a CEO, have the responsibility to make calls all day and find a way to sell somehow. What I have done in the past is hire a full time assistant and let her do a lot of the smaller things I was doing, just so I could sell again. Think as though you weren’t the owner and you saw the owner working harder than you on the day to day and then out selling you in the end of every month, what a cool thing! There is no bullshit in that statement, only truth. If you are running a company and can find an hour a day, make calls and try to sell, you keep the commission and prove yourself to the crew right away. Selling the plan is the most important thing anyone can do all day, make sure you fit your time right. Use Social Media, Text Campaigns, New Software, and an electronic newsletter to save some funds and some costs. Hire a Social Media firm and let them take a listen to what you plan to do, if they can help, let them and start to build in an implementation schedule.

This is not a “get ahead” idea, this is a must for you as an entrepreneur in 2010, The New Year. You can either be brought in now, or forced in later. The New Year of 2010 will be one that makes new legends and keeps some people poor, the choice is yours. Often times we see that most people that do not succeed have the same excuse, I just didn’t have enough time. Start finding that time over the rest of 2009 and by the time the New Year 2010 comes in you will know exactly how to get this done. There will be many more of the posts to read, so please feel free to send me a comment.

By Eric A. Rice

San Diego, California

America, an overview, with Mason Weaver

America, an overview, with Mason Weaver

A New Sheriff In Town?

A New Sheriff In Town?

Boom Media Social Media Integration

Social Media is the future, are you ready for it?

Boom Media Social Media Integration

View more presentations from erice25.

Bruce Ruff For San Diego County Sheriff

This guy is great and needs our support! Make it happen San Diego

Bruce Ruff For San Diego County Sheriff from Eric Rice on Vimeo.

Congrats to Grant and GDI

Local Turlock Agency Named “Insurance Broker to the Stars”

Grant W Davis, President of GDI Insurance Agency, Inc, in Turlock, CA announced today that GDI was named as the insurance broker for Steve Perry’s new motion picture studio Masque Entertainment, being built in the heart of Donald Trump’s new golf resort in New Mexico.

GDI has developed a national reputation as the go-to broker for difficult insurance projects. Grant Davis has published articles for nearly two decades on ways to control premium costs and manage risk, among other related topics.

GDI was contacted early in 2009 by consultants working on the Masque Entertainment studio project, after doing a web search for an insurance broker for their project.

According to Grant Davis, “Most insurance brokers spend a lot of time focusing on controlling the buying decisions a client has by running to the insurance market place and locking up the lowest priced insurance companies so only they can offer those prices. Then they disappear until the following year’s renewal. In the insurance world this practice is referred to as ‘blocking the markets.’

“GDI, as part of one of the largest insurance brokerages in the country, has worked to develop contracts with the nation’s largest insurance companies, taking price off the table as a buying concern for our clients. Instead of rushing to stake a claim on the lowest initial premium available, GDI spends time developing ‘risk management’ programs designed to lower the number of expected losses, as well as the size of losses a client might have. This triggers large premium discounts for our clients, which, ultimately, lowers the price.

“For Masque Entertainment’s new studio, GDI worked to get the risk management right. Once that was done, getting competitive coverage and pricing just fell into place, as it always does for our clients.”


(GDI Insurance Inc is located at 801 Geer Rd in Turlock, CA 95380. GDI can be reached by phone at (209) 634-2929 or at www.gdiinsurance.com. For information on Masque Entertainment, visit wwwmasquestudios.com.
Also, for more of Grant Davis’ insights on salesmanship, visit his blog at www.thehabitualsalesman.com.)

Spreading The Word

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BFC's Local Shark Tank

BFC's Local Shark Tank

Eric Rice's Entrepreneur Tips

We see it all the time, “Eric my product is amazing, my office design is perfect, my books are run well…….why am I going broke” and the answer is always the same—YOU ARE NOT SELLING. The purpose of any business is to sell products or services, period. Most businesses fail, not because it is the law of averages, because the person running them had one of the following problems:

1. They couldn’t break the paradigm of going from a W-2 salary employee to a 1099 Self –Employed machine. This is a problem. This is why most businesses fail. Most people are taught to do “a job”, not “run a business”, which are far different things. “Doing a job” is nothing more than filing your role within the system, and most of the time getting paid a fraction of the value of the job. “Running a business”, has no function, YOU MUST KNOW AND DO EVERYTHING, from the smallest to most important task—EVERY DAY.
2. They couldn’t get out of their comfort zone. People are funny; they love to do what is easy and want to be paid like they did the things that are hard. Being successful is all about doing things that everyone else hates to do or doesn’t want to do. We have to teach these candidates to get out of their comfort zone and break through the barriers that hold back their peers.
3. They never learned to sell. What a problem this can be for an entrepreneur, not knowing HOW to sell. Think about it, once you have a product or service, what good is it if nobody buys it? Sometimes the best product or service in the market is never heard of because the owners didn’t know how to sell, really know HOW to sell. We teach them TO sell and HOW to sell during this phase, while they sell their business that they have been working on.
4. “I am a business person not a salesman”. WOW, this is a killer. No one says that you have to sell used cars out of the back of a flea market like a bad movie. Think of some of the best salespeople out there, they are the names you know. The entire panel of multi-millionaires on Shark Tank, some of the best salespeople to ever live. Sean (P-Diddy) Combs, Tony Robbins, Donald Trump, Suzie Orman, David Letterman, the list goes on and on. These people have made it in their industry because they are always on the sale. When people realize that a salesman is the same thing as a businessman, they sky is not even close to the limit. The common misconception that salesmen are bad is controlled by the way that a sale is done. Learn to embrace it and use it right.
5. I need money to make this work! Big problem for most businesses. Entrepreneurs seem to follow the trend of the popular failures and successes of those that have been where they are. Make sure you have a product and or service that is good enough to not need money from anyone else.
6. One revenue stream. This is 2009 and the world of specialization has hit, but the specialty is in knowing how to pay your bills. Companies that limit themselves to their business alone as a revenue stream will be left behind. We will teach our candidates to learn about other businesses and partner with the right ones to ensure that SOMEONE is always selling and revenue is always coming in. Make no mistake about it, the consolidation era is here and those that embrace it will come out on top.

Boom Media, Politics, Exclusive to Obama Software

(San Diego) Eric A. Rice, President of Boom Media, has obtained the exclusive rights to the same patented software used by the Obama campaign during the presidential race. This software was used heavily to drive traffic to Obama’s’ websites and other internet postings. Boom is currently handling over 7 campaigns for congressmen, governors and a senator at the moment. Along with the multitude of businesses and entertainers, Boom has developed a division that is dedicated to the social media work of politicians. “We are humbled to have the chance to help our government in any way we can. It is paramount that today’s politicians understand the working of social media and use it properly.” Says Eric Rice. Rice goes on to say, “Getting the exclusive on the Obama software was pretty unexpected and amazing at the same time”. Boom Media is expecting to be able to triple the traffic that a website gets within a few weeks based off of historical data about the software, which is used by Sports Illustrated and many other nation brands. The Law Firm of Gaston and Gaston, along with Chris Snook of No Limit Publishing played a major part in this deal and will be assisting Eric Rice and Boom Media through 2012.

Grant Davis, Insurance Expert, On Mind Reading

Have you ever thought “if only I could read my prospects mind I could make the sale”?

What if I told you I could teach you how to read a prospects mind? Do you think that would be helpful?

No really! I haven’t lost my mind, but I can read yours. And I am about to teach you how you can read your prospects mind. Here’s how!

One big decision saves us from making a lot of smaller ones. So if you can figure out just a few of the big decisions your prospect has made you can with some certainty know how they will respond to other smaller questions. Once you are in sync with your prospects thinking you can reframe your proposals, by asking questions you already know the answer to.

A few examples will help illustrate this for you.

Here is an easy one to start with: As you look around your client’s office you notice a lot of pictures of family doing various activities. You ask about a few of the photos, and spend a half hour talking about how important building good memories for children is, and how those memories will last a life time, and influence generations to come. As these children have children they build great memories, and so on.

What have we learned? This prospect has made a few big decisions. 1. Planning is important. Why? Because this prospect talked a lot about planning activities and building positive memories on purpose. This prospect doesn’t leave the things that are important to chance. 2. The future is important. Why? Because this prospect spent a lot of time talking about the effects of planning to build positive memories for grandchildren, and great grand children and beyond. 3. Family is important, particularly the “future family”

From that brief encounter you could write several pages about what is important to your prospect and why it is important.

So let me ask you this. If you asked your prospect if providing for education was important? What do you think the answer would be? If you showed your prospect a way to guarantee the cost of education would be provided for the current children, grandchildren and so on, would that prospect be interested?

What if you had a great plan for this prospects business? I think you get the idea. Mind reading is easy if you can elicit the core beliefs and major decisions your prospect has made.

A few more examples:

1. A born again Christian.
2. Someone that runs 20 miles a week.
3. I lost 40 pounds and my good cholesterol is now right in line.
4. I built own home.
5. I decided long ago to do what was right. (this one is tricky as to us it you need to know what set of standards your prospect is using as “right”)
6. What I do for a living.
7. What I do on the weekends
8. What I do with my free time.
9. I believe in the death penalty, or I don’t believe.

Every little thing gives us clues as to the fundamental basis by which our prospect filters information, and how and why they will answer a particular question we ask.

Once we think we “have the core beliefs and values” we need to ask lots of questions to dial in on exactly what the cultural basis the core values and beliefs are applied against.

Once we have this final piece of the puzzle, we in fact can read our prospects minds. We almost don’t need to ask the question as we will already know how our prospect will answer it!

Goal Attainment

From; Grant W Davis

Many people talk about goal setting workshops. Which is great fun, and very motivational. As for me I'm into goal attainment. Think about it for a second.... Goal setting vs. Goal attainment. One gets you pumped up, and blue sky motivated, but only Goal Attainment gets you what you want!

I know it is the journey not the destination that matters. Sometimes I agree with that. But if your goal is to eat today, or earn enough to pay the bills, or some other pressing need. Then the journey isn’t very fun anyway, so let’s skip it, and just achieve our goals! Then go on vaction! That all said, I have kept journals since the mid 1980’s when I first read think and grow rich. And I seem to arrive at my goal, with a new one already in place. So the journey is important. Part of my journey today is setting up this website, not knowing if anyone will ever care to take a look at it.

The basis of what we will be doing in the members section. I start from the simple premise that every good thing comes from God. I also have noticed that different people have different goals. This convinces me further that our goals, (dreams) come from God to each of us based on gifts he has already given us. By this I mean as we look deep inside and ask ourselves what do we really want out of life, and start to write it down, I believe my goals are different than yours because my life, and the gifts God has given me are also different than yours. For me faith in my goals has been a key ingredient. My faith has been strengthened by the knowledge that your goals, (dreams) are different than mine. The things I want, and dream about are not the same as the dreams you have for your life. I believe this is because each of us have our talents, and purpose in life, which is very distinct for each of us. Again this is a key part of goal attainment. Being sure that our dreams are unique for each of us, and that as we are given the dreams and goals, we are also given the ability to achieve them. Next I believe that my thoughts are as real as my hand, or foot, or any other physical thing. My thoughts I consider spiritual as compared to physical things. Goal attainment is then for me the process of taking my thoughts, dreams, goals, desires from a spiritual place into this physical world. A few rules I have discovered: •Faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain. No one said you wouldn't have to pick up a shovel! •Must be for a good purpose •We can turn the soil, plant the seeds, water, fertilize, and weed the garden, but only God can make a seed grow! In the members section a large section will be devoted to setting, and attaining goals. Grant W Davis President GDI Insurance Inc 888-991-2929 Gdavis@gdiinsurance.com www.thehabitualsalesman.com

Grant Davis, Insurance Guru, on Profits

Of growth and profit I would take profit.

That is if I had to choose!

Un-planning for failure! The theme of the day seems to be lack of a clear business plan. Beyond today, or next year or the year after where is your business heading and why?

The question is very similar to questions I ask when I review financial plans for my clients and prospects. These past few years it seems I have run across a lot of people that lost 30-60% of their money and have an almost cavalier attitude towards it. I have heard comments like; That happens, Stocks go up and down, You just have to hang on to your stocks and they will come back, this is normal, everyone lost money.

The list goes on. There are even groups of people that get together to tell them selves it is ok that they just lost 60% of their money.

I always ask, why? Why is a 70 year old widow’s nest egg exposed to market risk of any kind? Does she need the money? Is there a financial plan that requires a 12% minimum return or she will lose her home, etc… The answer I find more often than not is there is no plan at all, and no reason for the exposure to market risk.. By the way I have never had a client lose one cent on a plan I put together in 30 years. Why? Because there is no need to take risk if the plan is sound. Systematic savings is the most important part of a person’s financial plan, not the rate of return.

So what does lack of planning and or pursuing the wrong plan with out a reason have to do with your business plan, or lack thereof…? Hum… A good business plan provides for growth and profit growth without risk.

For most people risk is a result of desperation, or failure to plan, or flat out bad advice.

If we are to plan for success, then lets pay attention to the key word “Plan”.

Grant Davis, Habitual Salesman

Bruce Ruff, San Diego County, La Mesa Debate

Bruce Ruff, San Diego Sheriff 2010

Mason Weaver explores the idea of running for US Congress in the 53rd District

San Diego- Mason Weaver, a radio broadcaster, newspaper columnist and public speaker has announced his intent to form an exploratory committee for a run at the US Congress in the 53rd District.

Weaver has been a part of the San Diego community for the last 40 years. After constant urging from community leaders, he has decided to explore the idea of running for Congress against Democrat Susan Davis.

“Someone has to tell them (Washington D.C. politicians) to reverse the bailouts, reduce taxes, drill here drill now, reward job creators, marriage isn’t broken- don’t try to fix it and parents, families, government in that order,” Weaver explains his campaign issues.

As a conservative, Weaver intends to change the way Washington D.C. politicians do business. “I’ll stand for dignity, honor and hope,” he says.

Weaver goes on to say that civil rights "was not about white folks liking black folks, it was about justice and law enforcement.”

As a potential candidate for the 53rd Congress District, Weaver will work for all San Diegans not the special interests or unions.

For more information regarding Mason Weaver; www.masonweaver.com

Ruff For Sheriff

Bruce Ruff For Sheriff

Intro To BFC Ventures LLC

Why Your Advertising Isn’t Working

Why Your Advertising Isn’t Working

Posted by admin On November - 2 - 2009

The vast majority of ads don’t register with consumers. Here are seven straight-up reasons why your message probably isn’t getting through

Recently, an AdweekMedia poll of LinkedIn members posed this question: “Of the ads you see in a typical day, how many engage your attention?” A remarkable two-thirds of respondents said “a small minority of them.” Another quarter answered “none of them.” Together, that’s 91%. Only one in 100 respondents said “most of them.”

Ouch. While polls like these have their limitations (we often can’t—or won’t—tell the truth about our own purchase behavior), I suspect few us would doubt the overall conclusion that a lot of advertising doesn’t work very well. Your own advertising may even fall into that category.

If you find yourself nodding your head and wringing your hands right now, keep in mind this simple business axiom: Companies get the advertising they deserve. If your advertising isn’t working, it may be you that’s the problem.

The good news is that you can take steps to fix it. Certainly the economic environment is playing a significant role in how well (and how quickly) prospects are responding to your advertising, but blaming the recession is ultimately unproductive. After all, you may not like the hand you’ve been dealt, but your competitors are holding the same cards. It’s how you play your hand that counts.

With that in mind, I’d like to suggest seven reasons why your advertising may not be pulling its weight. Use them to evaluate your efforts, but don’t rely on your judgment alone. Ask a trusted and objective colleague to give you his or her honest opinion as well.

1. It’s boring. Yep, boring. Why do we watch TV, listen to the radio, read the newspaper, or go online? Three reasons: information, entertainment, and engagement. Ads that fail to offer at least two of these three benefits flop. Just as nobody reads every story in the newspaper, nobody pays attention to every ad. You have to engage your prospects with something that is interesting or entertaining before they’ll give you their valuable time and attention. Creativity has always been the coin of the realm, but in our time-starved culture it’s truer than ever.

2. It’s boorish. You shouldn’t think of your advertising as being about your brand, you should think of it as an extension of your brand (see “A Practical Guide to Branding”). If it’s loud, annoying, insulting, offensive, or self-centered, people will think the same of your products or services (see “The Cocktail Party Test for Advertising”). Remember the first sentence in the best-selling hardback book in U.S. history, The Purpose Driven Life: “It’s not about you.” What’s true in life is true in advertising; if you focus only on what you can get, you’re not going to get much. Instead, focus on giving, and good things will begin to happen.

3. It’s safe. The first time I saw a Ford Taurus (F), I took note, and I suspect you did as well. So did a lot of other people, and the Taurus went on to become the best-selling car in America. If the Taurus had been another in a long line of boxy sedans, it probably would have been just another car. Instead, it turned automotive design conventions upside down and made history. While being different isn’t in and of itself a guarantee of success, what you do is a lot more likely to get noticed if it hasn’t been done before. And keep in mind that when you do something different, people may not like it—at least initially. Most of us were shocked at our first sight of the Taurus’ curved lines, but it went on to have significant influence on automotive design. If you worry too much about offending someone, you’re likely to not attract anyone.

4. It’s trying to do too much. As the poll results above demonstrated, most people don’t engage with most ads. And even when they do, for how long do they pay attention? Thirty seconds? Ten? Five? The best an ad can do is communicate one single, compelling idea, and in the age of the Internet—when people know they can go online to get all the additional information they need—it’s crazy to ask an ad to do more than that. Just because you have a lot to say doesn’t mean your audience will sit still and pay attention. Do your best to make a simple, singular point. Do it with flair, and given enough exposure (see next point) it might just get through.

5. It hasn’t been given time. You can’t rush bread out of the oven. You can’t hurry a seedling out of the ground. All you can do is prepare the ingredients properly, tend the garden with care, and wait for the loaf to rise and sprouts to appear. The same is true of advertising. If you expect too much too soon (especially on a limited budget) you’re sure to be disappointed. Think about your own consumer behavior—how many times do you need to be exposed to a marketing message before you take action? Depending on your prospects’ level of interest in the category and frequency of purchase, it could take weeks, months, or even years for your message to sink in.

6. You like it. O.K., this one may sting a bit, but you are not the best judge of your own advertising. You can’t be, because you simply know too much about your brand and have too much affection for it to remain objective. Look at Burger King (BKC). Its advertising over the past few years has been quite successful in appealing to the company’s core target audience of young men, but many Burger King franchisees could personally do without it. The smart ones recognize that they’re not the target and leave it alone. Your advertising is not only not about you, it’s not for you. Both points seem counterintuitive, but that’s why this stuff isn’t for amateurs.

7. It’s not an advertising problem. A common mistake many companies make is trying to use advertising to fix another problem. It may be faulty or outdated product design, an uncompetitive cost structure, customer service letdowns, or any number of other things. It’s not as if they do so intentionally; it’s just that it’s a whole lot easier to put on a new coat of paint than it is to fix the foundation that’s causing the drywall to crack. No company executes flawlessly, but until you can maintain a solid track record of excellence, spend your money on internal improvements rather than advertising. Paint may mask the problem for a short time, but soon new cracks will begin to appear.

There are, of course, many more reasons why advertising underperforms, from poor media placement to bad strategy to competitive countermoves. But the above missteps are so common—and so commonly misunderstood—that simply putting them out to the curb would go a long way in making advertising better. Not to mention making television much more bearable to watch.

5 Branding Don'ts

Mistake No. 1:

Equating branding with communications. Yes, branding includes communications. But if your branding strategy is all about messaging and advertising and nothing about business strategy or people, then you won’t be able to deliver on your communications. If you have lousy customer service, telling people it’s great will only drive customers away faster. But investing in training and infrastructure to improve service will enable you to market your great service and still look yourself in the mirror As more information about companies and products is available online, a great company and product are your brand’s only defense.
Mistake No. 2:

Branding on price. Don’t do it. Basing your brand on your low price is a race to the bottom–and someone will always beat you there. Even if your prices are the same as your competitors’ prices, you need to give clients compelling reasons beyond price to buy from you. The difference between the product offered by Morton Salt and a supermarket’s house brand? Not much. The difference in pricing? Fourteen percent. That margin is due to how well Morton has built up the intangible parts of its brand. Establish trust with your customers, and you can breathe a lot easier when the newest competitor undercuts your price.
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Mistake No. 3:

Changing your promise. Like a dog sniffing at a fire hydrant, every time a new marketing vice president is brought into a company, there’s a risk she’ll try to change the brand, or put her mark on it. While your brand promise should be relevant and up-to-date, making a wholesale change from, say, being the educational leader to being the innovation leader will only confuse your market.
Are you ready to change your tagline or logo? Companies get tired of their own marketing way before the market does. (You live with it day in and day out. They see it only once in a while.) Remember when Jack in the Box killed its ping-pong-ball-headed CEO? Customer sentiment brought him back, but the company was smart enough to do so in a new, updated way. Whatever you do, don’t let your visual brand identity and messaging force changes in your brand promise (see Mistake No. 1).
Mistake No. 4:

Overpromising. The least expensive way to brand yourself is to have your customers do it for you. How do you get them to become evangelists? By underpromising and overdelivering. Fight the temptation to sound better than you are: Promise what you can deliver, then do it to the nthdegree. Are you the fastest? Then don’t give customers a long voice-mail message to listen to before they can act. Are you the friendliest? Don’t let your employees bad-mouth clients behind their backs. Are you the coolest? Then make sure your lobby looks awesome and has wow power.
Alongside this advice, I recommend that you focus your brand message–don’t try to be all things to all people. Figure out the most compelling part of your promise and build that up, rather than try to communicate 10 different elements of your brand promise.
Mistake No. 5:

Me-too branding. I can’t tell you how many entrepreneurs have said, “If I only get x percent of the market, I’ll be rich.” You have to give consumers a compelling reason to give you their business to get that percentage. You can’t expect to siphon off business from the market leaderwithout a substantive reason. Don’t try to be like other companies: Be yourself. There will be a subsegment of the market that likes what you do better than what the market leader does, and that’s the percentage of the market you can skim off. Instead of emulating competitors, be different. If you’re competing against Starbucks, zig when it zags. Make your décor unique, encourage customers to play board games, roast beans on site or have coffee-tasting parties. Get your own buzz on.
Steer clear of these mistakes, and you’ll be well on your way to branding nirvana–being known for your compelling and differentiated value.
Lynn Parker is co-founder ofParker LePla, a brand strategy consulting firm in Seattle. She’s also the author ofThe Reluctant Entrepreneur, and co-author ofIntegrated BrandingandBrand Driven.

Mason Weaver for Congress

Mason Weaver

Eric Rice, Co-Founder, Chairman BFC Ventures LLC

Eric Rice, originally from a town just outside Chicago in Indiana, is the founder and CEO of a couple large corporations in Southern California. He is married and just had his first child, Nolan on June 5th of 2009. In addition to his degree from Indiana University, Rice has held over 12 professional licenses ranging from securitiesto real estate. Eric has been in the financial services sector for more than nine years and has built multiple successful businesses in the fields of financial planning,mortgages, real estate and insurance and consulting. He began his professional career as a planner and trader in Chicago and has since relocated to California where he has experienced fantastic success in real estate and mortgages, and now as the figurehead of one of the fastest growing companies on the west coast, BFC Ventures LLC.
An idea man by nature, Eric’s success is defined by his relentless work ethic and ability to share his vision with his partners, employees, and the public. Never satisfied, no matter the level of his success, Eric drives and motivates his team to constantly improve, and spawns countless ideas and strategies on a daily basis, which he filters through his partners before implementation.
Eric is not only BFC Ventures driving force behind the scenes; he is also the face of the company in the eyes of the public. He has been wildly effective in branding
himself through numerous media avenues including radio (has hosted two shows, weekly guest on two others), television (has hosted one show, weekly guest on channel 6 news, numerous guest appearances on other shows), and the web (huge presence on a variety of social media outlets, and internet video platforms). As the visionary and public presence for the firm, Eric has taken BFC Ventures to impressive levels, but everyone who has met Eric knows that he will never be satisfied.
Eric thirsts for success and is driven by the ability to either succeed or help someone succeed. With this in mind, after closing his last company he started to focus on what he is really good at and where he belongs in life. So, he is now training and investing with young entrepreneurs and businessmen all around the globe. “The thoughts that come out of his head are mind blowing sometimes, not because of their content, but because he knows he will work hard enough to make the thought a reality.” says his partner Adam Blejski, “I have never seen anything like it, he has a gift to find revenue streams for businesses that no one would have ever known were there”. With that being said, Mr. Rice is now playing the free agent market and not settling done to one company. He is a highly sought after consultant that will not take the work if it is long in nature. He is focused on his own projects and the 10-15 new ones he sees every week from investors and inventors.

Eric Rice and Boom Media, Secret Weapon For Politicians and Hollywood

(San Diego, CA) Eric Rice, David Turner and Brian Tomkins have officially opened Boom Media, a full scale online PR and Social Media firm and much more. Boom Media handles campaigns for prominent politicians, actors, comedians, writers, singers along with mid-sized businesses. “The goal is simple for our clients, we get the word out!” Rice states. Boom Media uses a mix of online and offline tactics to promote businesses, politicians and entertainers. Boom has a brand management system they consider to be revolutionary. “We won’t say how we do it, but we have great people in big numbers that make the impact for our clients. We are tired of seeing people claim to have experience in new media when they have never run a business and do not use American labor. Our team is experienced, successful and best of all; we do not use China, India or the Philippines. We use American workers and American communication.” Rice says. Boom Media keeps a secret seal on their database of clients but did release that they are working with multiple Congressmen, Governors and Actors to go along with the businesses they promote currently.

For the last 4 months Eric Rice has been working with Brian Tomkins and David turner to develop e a new company called Boom Media. Boom was created out of a rising need in the media markets, social networking. “I really didn’t want to even open a business like this until about 2 months ago. I have been very successful using social media for my own brand and businesses and people have been asking me to do it for them, so now we have Boom.” states Rice. Rice has been a client of Brian Tomkins, well know social media figure, and has had major success promoting his businesses through this median. Tomkins, considered a revolutionary in the field, had been courting Rice to make a move into the media space for quite some time and now they have teamed up. David Turner is a pillar of the business community and has gone public two times with different companies he started. “I would only do this deal if we had David involved, period. Brian can handle the online campaigns and I can do the growth and expansion but we needed a professional on the operations side and that is where David came in. We need to be a well oiled machine to handle the kind of clientele we have and it is vital to have the right team. ” Rice goes on to say.

Shut Up And Sell

Posted by admin On October - 25 - 2009

Contrary to popular belief, to be a successful salesperson, it doesn’t matter how much you know about your product or service. It also doesn’t matter how much of an industry expert you are. It doesn’t even matter how great your mother thinks you are. The only thing that really matters to be successful in selling is your ability to shut-up and listen. On numerous occasions, everyone in sales has heard how important it is to get the customer talking, so it’s imperative that they have an arsenal of great questions to ask. Despite trying to follow this guideline, every salesperson seems to overstate the amount of time they believe they allow the customer to talk. The many interviews I’ve conducted over the years with customers and salespeople alike confirm this reality. Therefore, salespeople need to take a step back and consider their sales presentation.
To talk less means you have to ask questions that truly engage the customer. However, this doesn’t mean you need to develop complex questions. Instead, the best tactic is to ask shorter ones. Long questions tend to result in short answers, while short questions will generally result in long answers. An example of a great short question is, “Why?” In my opinion, there isn’t a better follow-up question you can ask after the customer has shared with you some information. Consider how your customers would respond to other short examples like, “Can you elaborate on that?” and “Could you explain more?” These shorter questions elicit detailed responses and that’s just what you want. On the other hand, asking complex questions often tends to perplex customers. Because they are not sure what you are looking for, they respond with the universal answer representing total confusion, “What did you say?” Questions should not be your means of showing your customers that you are an expert. Save that for your statements.

When preparing your sales presentation, a guideline I subscribe to is to limit yourself from talking for more than 20 seconds at a time without asking a question. The question you ask should be one directed at the comments you just made. By doing so, you’re checking with the customer to see if they understood what you just shared with them. Again, this is something many salespeople overlook. They get caught up in sharing with the customer their expertise and the features of their product or service and forget all about what the customer is thinking. Even if your product or service requires a complex presentation, you should still follow this rule. Whether you’re selling software, high value medical equipment, or technical tools, it’s essential to check your clients understanding by asking a question every 20 seconds. Your goal on any sales call is to talk only 20% of the time. To help ensure that this takes place, you have to plan ahead. Before you start developing your sales presentation, create your list of questions. This is contrary to the pattern of most salespeople who often spend a substantial portion of their time developing their presentation and, at the last minute, develop their list of questions.

Consider that if you’re expecting to have a 20 minute presentation, you should have 40 questions (2 questions per minute). Even though you may not use all 40, you’ll definitely be more prepared. In addition, you’ll be able to pick and choose which ones you want to ask. If you’re following the rule of asking short questions, you’ll ensure that the customer is doing most of the talking. You’ll learn valuable information that will help you better understand the customer’s needs. If you want to move your questioning process to the next level, make half of the questions you ask be ones that help the customer see and feel the pain they have. By doing so, they will be much more open to receiving your solution. For example, if you’re selling computer back-up systems, you might ask, “Can you explain to me what happens when data is lost?” This short, concise question is designed to get the customer thinking about the risks they face. Furthermore, the beauty of this type of question is that no matter what the customer’s response is, some good follow-up questions will naturally arise. By adhering to these guidelines, you will be able to see dramatic results in the number of sales you are able to close. As simple as it sounds, the more you shut up, the more you’ll sell. And, the easiest way to achieve this goal is by asking more, short questions. So, shut up and sell!