Must Read Blogs

Is Work and Life Balance Really Achievable?

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Here at Red Barn Consulting, we absolutely love our jobs — What could be better than working with fantastic clients, building a team of fearsomely good people, and sharing what makes your business brilliant with the world?

But, even we know you can have too much of a good thing. It’s why there’s no end of articles on work and life balance — Trying to spin the plates of work, home, friends, family, and commitments simultaneously, without losing your mind.

Honestly — we’re not sure that’s the very best approach. That’s why we think about work life balance a little bit differently (big surprise)!

Balance = Flexibility – To us, it’s all about flexibility — Knowing what you want to do and getting rid of what you don’t. It’s not about jumping the “work” hurdle and then the “life” hurdle, but about making those hurdles smaller. Then you don’t need to waste time worrying that you might stumble.

Why do we think this way? Well, employers are demanding, especially if that employer is you! (Yep, the self-employed are probably the worst at separating work and personal life…) Because of those demands, you probably will check email after 6 PM, work late to get the presentation out the door, and crunch through the weekend to put the proposal together.

For good or bad, it’s what’s expected — But think about this in terms of flexibility and removing the time-wasting stuff, and things get much easier.

If you’re an employer, be flexible in how you let your team work. If they need to work from home occasionally, give them the opportunity. If they’ve worked late and need to leave early to watch their child in a school play, give them the time off with your blessing. Provide your employees with autonomy and let them manage their days — They know what they need to do and when they need to do it, so build trust by letting them decide how.

As an employee, it never hurts to ask. Demonstrate to your boss how you’ve made their lives easier through the work you’ve put in. Ask about flexible working arrangements that will let you spend quality time with your family. If you can demonstrate good work, your employer will probably be open to your suggestions.

Remember, working is a give and take relationship — If both sides respect one another, it becomes less about work and life balance, and more about what works best for employer and employee.

Second to flexibility is getting rid of the stuff that’s just wasting your time. You’ve probably heard of the “Pareto Principle” — That 80% of results comes from 20% of actions. It’s time to find that 20% and cut out as much of the other stuff as you can. Keep a log of what you’re doing on a daily basis for a couple of weeks and ask yourself “Is this making the business better?” If it’s not expanding the business, making things more efficient, bringing in greater revenue, or enhancing how you work, get rid of it.

Be ruthless — Talk to your colleagues and your boss and get them to take on the same mindset. Look at the waste in the business — The processes that could be improved, the way that you and others work. Then, make a conscious choice to change, and encourage others to change with you.

And that’s really it — There’s no big secret to work and life balance, other than approaching it differently. Think of it as flexibility, and not some magical target you have to reach, and you’ll be much happier (trust us, we know!) Cut out the stuff you don’t want to do, be awesome at what’s left, and there will be no stopping you.

Is Work and Life Balance Really Achievable? Read More »

The one thing your business MUST have – but many go without…

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You guessed it…Ah, the humble employee handbook — How little it’s appreciated. I’m often surprised when I begin working with a company and I ask to see their employee handbook and I get the “Yea, it’s on our to-do list – we are a small company though so it doesn’t really matter…..does it?”

It does.

Forget the obvious – you don’t have PTO days or holidays structured and in writing, there’s no written policy in case of harassment issues, or what the lay of the land is if an employee should leave or break a rule (that may or may not be written in stone).

Many companies that have an employee handbook, updated by HR every three years, given out in the introduction pack for new starters, and seldom referred to again, it leads a small and solitary life — It doesn’t have to be this way.

Used well, the employee handbook can become a vital resource for the way your business does things. Imagine having a living, breathing document that:

• Lays out reasonable, agreed upon policies in an easy to understand way.
• Shares the best ways to work to keep everyone productive.
• Has hints and tips on best practice.
• Keeps everything clear and consistent across your business.

That sounds pretty great, right?

And….you don’t have one. It’s o.k. we aren’t here to judge (not really) – we’re here to help you get started!

So, how do you go about creating this wondrous thing? Glad you asked…

Involve everyone in creating and rewriting the employee handbook. The best way to get people to care about your employee handbook is to involve them in writing it. Ask your employees about what they want it to cover, get feedback on your policies, put together a focus group. Let your teams know it’s a way to get invested in how they work day to day — They can have a direct impact on doing things better.

Talk through and get feedback on your business policies and procedures. Your policies and procedures impact everyone in your business. Encourage your employees to discuss and suggest improvements. That will encourage them to read through and understand your procedures and policies and help them feel accountable for any changes.

Make your employee handbook easily accessible to everyone. Save the trees! If you print out your handbook, it will just end up in the back of a desk drawer, gathering dust. Put your handbook online, on your intranet or a private website. Make sure it’s properly hyperlinked, has access to other resources and is easily searchable. Include a direct link to it on the front page of your intranet. Make sure that all of the language in the handbook is easy to understand and avoid jargon.

Ensure it’s about more than just policies and procedures. The best way to get people to use the staff handbook is to make it useful. Rather than just being about how you do things, how about having links to online training, best practices, explainer videos, or discussion groups? Make the handbook itself interactive — Get people to share their experiences and successes.

Regularly reference your handbook in communications. When you send out emails and other communications to your teams, reference the staff handbook. Highlight it as the central resource for your employees to source their information. Make people rely on it, and it will become their go to.

Your employee handbook is one of the best ways to influence your employees and encourage them to work better. When you use plain language, involve them in writing it, discuss policies and procedures, and make it truly useful, it’s better for everyone.

Oh, and yes we still believe employees should sign something that says “Hey, I read the handbook”. It might come in handy one day.

The one thing your business MUST have – but many go without… Read More »

How Your New Marketing Campaign Could Create Business Chaos (And How To Avoid It)

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When it comes to marketing, you don’t want to be a victim of your own success. Done well, marketing can create incredible results — Getting your products, and services in front of a new audience, putting your brand front and center, and generating lots of new business.

That could be a disaster.

Let’s back up a bit…

You see, marketing affects every part of your business — If they’re not ready to handle an influx of new customers and the demand that brings, it can create big problems that damage your brand and reputation. As responsible marketers (and, frankly, lovely people), we want to make sure that doesn’t happen.

So, here’s how to look at all the “operational” bits of your business to make sure they can channel the torrent of new customers!

Your website, eCommerce store, or online presence. Make sure your website can handle the load. You’ll want to double-check response times, even when there’s lots of people on the website. Ensure all your calls to action are super clear, track how your visitors are using your site, and make tweaks and updates to make the sales and conversion funnel easier.

Your sales and onboarding process. Talk to your sales teams, sales call center, and onboarding operations. Make sure everyone knows what’s coming and that you have enough technical capacity and the right number of staff to handle all your calls.

Ensure all your sales staff are properly trained and know all of the processes, incentives, and other information they need to close sales. Find out if your sales department needs more resources. The aim is to deal with all your customers quickly, efficiently, and well, and ensure they don’t have to wait too long on the phone. Because hold music sucks.

Your logistics and distribution[/x_custom_headline][cs_text]If you need to ship products to wholesalers, retailers, or customers, make sure you’ve got the right logistics and distribution in place. Ensure you can pack up and dispatch your products quickly, so there are no delays or problems getting them delivered.

Your customer service area. When you get more sales, you also get more customer service requests. Ensure your customer support center is properly staffed and that you can handle and resolve customer issues quickly. If you’re marketing new products or services, ensure all of your support staff are properly trained on their use and possible problems.

Your software and business processes. Make sure you’ve got good communications and collaboration tools in place across your business. Your teams need to be able to talk to each other efficiently, track customers and actions, and ultimately provide a high level of service to everyone.

That goes for the software, systems, and processes your business relies on. If possible, stress test workflows, handoffs, and other possible bottlenecks so you can identify and resolve issues before they become a big problem.

All of this might seem like a lot of work, just because you’re launching a new marketing campaign, but if it does as well as you hope, you’ll be extremely happy you’ve got the right resources, training, and support in place to create super-happy customers.

How Your New Marketing Campaign Could Create Business Chaos (And How To Avoid It) Read More »

If You Can’t Keep Top Talent, It Could Be Your Culture

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You posted the perfect job ad, read through dozens of resumes and narrowed them down. You shortlisted some great candidates, interviewed them, and found a standout applicant — You knew they could take your business to the next level. So you hired them, with high expectations and excitement for the future.

Six weeks later, they’re in your office with a resignation letter. Through your disappointment, you ask “Why are you leaving?” They respond “I’m not sure I’m a good fit.” Translation — Your company culture might not be working, and you need to do something about it.

What is company “culture?” Lots of experts talk about company culture, but what does it actually mean. Think of it as the “default emotional state” of your company. It’s how working in your business makes people feel. Does their business environment excite, motivate, and inspire them? Does it feel oppressive and authoritarian? Does it present the right mix of challenges, problem solving, and support?

Why does culture matter? Culture matters because it has a huge impact on how your people feel. It impacts morale, productivity, hiring, quality of work, autonomy, and so much more. In fact, the better a company’s culture, the more it contributes to your bottom line. The University of Warwick found that, “Happy workers are 12% more productive than the average worker, and unhappy workers are 10% less productive. In fact, unhappy employees cost American business over $300 billion each year.”

Ask your employees what they feel the current company culture is. You probably already have a pretty good idea of how the company culture feels to you, but you need the perspective of the people who really matter — Your employees. If you’re concerned about your culture, talk to your people about it. Discuss it in one to ones, let them know that whatever they say is fine. Don’t assign any blame — Listen, and understand.

Understand where your company culture comes from. Lots of things go into building a company culture, but the main one is this — It mainly comes from the people at the top of the business. If they’re exciting, inspiring, and approachable, the culture will be too. If they thrive on conflict and authority, that will permeate down through the business. It’s called Leadership and you need to lead from the top down.

That means if you want to change the culture and make your business an awesome place to work, change has to start in the leadership team. It’s a bitter pill, but a necessary one.

Talk to your team about what they want the culture to be. Once you understand how your staff currently see your company culture, and where it comes from, you can work to change it. Talk to people about what their ideal company culture looks like.

What would motivate them to enjoy coming to work more? What changes do they want to see in attitude, approaches, and management styles? How can you make doing their job easier and more pleasurable? Listen to all of it. No-one knows how to improve culture better than your people.

Create a plan. Now you know what your people’s priorities are, you should get a plan in place to change things. You’ll need strong commitment from your leadership team, a project manager who deeply understands culture change, a project team who can get things done, and a review and feedback group who can check actions are having the desired impact.

Actions you can take might include:

  • Improving employment perks — Give your employees the right benefits — Healthcare, time off, retirement planning etc.
  • Give employees control over their time — The ability to work from home, a sensible work / life balance, autonomy to work how they want.
  • Build confidence and trust — Encourage an “open door” policy, positive feedback, and collaboration within and across departments and teams.
  • Provide a better working environment — Relaxed, informal break spaces, a flatter management structure, a relaxed working environment, fun team events and parties.

Enhance your culture. And now, it’s a case of just getting that stuff done. Make changes to your culture, get metrics in place to measure success, track how you’re progressing, and see employee morale and productivity improve.

That way, the next time you spend thousands of dollars on hiring and training, you’ll have the reassurance that your employees are more likely to stay, and your company is likely a “good fit.” And that’s great for everyone.

If You Can’t Keep Top Talent, It Could Be Your Culture Read More »

Getting Your Content Shared — When Less Is More

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Many SEO and marketing firms will tell you that content is king. They’ll share stats about how longer pieces of content get better placement in Google search results, and why having really in-depth articles and information builds your authority and business brand.

While all this is true, it’s not the whole picture. The fact is, sometimes we can overdo it on content, and that means you could be missing out on a big audience — And who wants that? (Certainly not us, that’s our Kryptonite.)

Now, before you dismiss us and say “Yes, that’s fine RBC, but it’s not what the stats show,” we’ll just tell you that 54% of statistics are made up on the spot. Seriously though, different types of content appeal to different audiences, and don’t you want everyone to love you? Besides which, even if this stuff doesn’t feature that highly in search results, it is the type of content that gets shared on social media. And that makes it incredibly valuable.

So, changing up your content strategy can be a great way to get more eyeballs, and whether you’re a witch brewing a potion, or a business selling products and services, that’s a good thing. Instead of going for “War and Peace” style blog posts, why not try the following:

Infographics – People love to take information in visually. Infographics are a fab way of bringing out really important information and making it obvious to people. Infographics are some of the most shared content online, so creating one can be a surprisingly good way to share your brand.

Galleries – People love great pictures, and not just of cats. (Although if you can get a cat to advertise your product, go for it and you might want to search #catsofinstagram if you are a feline fancier.) Creating a really thematically strong collection of images based around your brand and products is a fantastic way to show them in their best light.

Personal stories -In a world of facts, data, and information, people yearn for a personal touch. Writing real-life stories can create a deep and profound connection with your audience.

Widgets – Not something you’d buy off of a 24 hour shopping channel, but little apps and games that spread like wildfire. Think quizzes on Facebook, fun mini games, web apps, and other entertainment that passes ten minutes with a smile on someone’s face.

Video – You don’t need to create the next Gangnam Style (not everyone can dance like that) to have a really successful video. Add some quirkiness and fun to your product marketing, or just share something unique. Video is an increasingly popular way to share content.

Audio and podcasts – People are busy, busy, busy! That\’s why content they can consume while doing other stuff (like chores, walking, driving, or daydreaming) is becoming incredibly popular. You can get your message into people’s ears.

With the world going increasingly mobile, you need to make your content a snap to download and digest. Make sure it’s fully mobile responsive, and that people can find it quickly and effortlessly. Next time you sit down and think about your content strategy, think about all of the marvelous, exciting, and splendid ways you can share your awesome content with the world.

Getting Your Content Shared — When Less Is More Read More »

When salespeople fail, it might not be their fault

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Being a salesperson is a tough job. Trying to convince the public they really need a product or service is very challenging, and with a cold-call conversion rate some way below 1%, it’s (very) often a thankless task.

You don’t shrink from a challenge though, especially when your business needs to hire great salespeople to survive. So, you read up on hiring theory and practice, read endless resumes, conduct interviews, and hire candidates who are so red-hot their personalities could power small towns.

Three months later, and they’re not exactly living up to expectations. Their conversion rates are the pits, their pitches are more like strikeouts, and the client list you dreamed of is just a wish list. You were told to hire for attitude, and everything else would follow, just what went wrong?

Here’s the truth, and it’s an uncomfortable one — It may not be down to your salespeople. At all.

It’s easy to assume that if you aren’t making sales, it’s your salespeople at fault. In fact, much of the time, it’s the systems, support structures, and training that determine how successful your salespeople are. If your people are failing, explore these areas and see if the problem might lay elsewhere…

Your prospects lists – A salesperson is only as good as the prospects they have access to. Do you have a superb, highly converting prospect list? Do you have the Glengarry leads? Option 1: Spend some time, effort, and money to acquire high-quality, cleansed prospect lists and your salespeople will thank you. Option 2: Work with your team to develop a solid prospecting system using LinkedIn, networking group, associations and centers of influence. Option 3 – a Combination thereof.

Your sales system – Does the software you use to track leads and sales support your salespeople? Is it easy to access from everywhere, does it give them information at their fingertips? Ask your salespeople what they think of the software and how it could be improved. PS – Post it notes do NOT count as a CRM tool and frankly neither do spread sheets.

Your sales process – Your sales process is about more than just the software you use. It’s all of the admin, handoffs, interactions, and other hoops salespeople need to jump through to get things done. If your sales process isn’t as efficient as possible, it can massively drag down your sales numbers. Look at every part of your sales process to see if it could be improved. BTW – all sales systems and processes should be written in manual format and managed to. Sales is indeed….a process whether you are selling widgets or wombats the process is essentially the same.

Your training – Great salespeople are made, not born. Yes, they need to have the right attitude, but they also need the right skills. That comes from training. Provide training on your products and services, the psychology of selling, negotiation skills, and whatever else your salespeople need to become experts. Training needs to be ongoing – it isn’t one and done. During your weekly sales meetings (yes you need them), have debriefs on accounts won and more importantly on accounts lost. What can the team learn?

Your incentives – People need to be incentivized in the right way. This isn’t just pay and salary, it’s opportunities for career advancement, providing constructive feedback, having a good work environment, and ensuring your employees are cared for. Can we say equity? Many salespeople have an entrepreneurial spirit – at least the top dogs do. If your company structure allows for it – why not offer some equity based on performance?

Your management – Is your management process as streamlined as it could be? Remove as many layers from management as you can and give your salespeople more autonomy. Assign well-performing salespeople as mentors to help teach new hires the ropes.

If you’re able to tweak and improve some or all of these areas, you’ll start to see big improvements in conversions and sales. Spend some time, effort, and money on these vital functions now, and you’ll create better equipped, motivated, and trained sales reps who can sell more stuff!

When salespeople fail, it might not be their fault Read More »

Ready to be an entrepreneur? Only if you can answer these questions

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You’re a wide-eyed entrepreneur, dreaming of the next big idea and how it’s going to change the world. And you could be right — Perhaps you’ve got the genesis of the next Facebook, Apple, or Tesla in the back of your mind. Don’t be fooled though, being an entrepreneur is tough — It’s not just about the ideas, it’s about the flawless execution, the product, the hustle, the market, and more than just a little bit of luck.

It’s also about asking, and answering the right questions. So much of being an entrepreneur is about making the right decisions, and that comes from asking deep, penetrating questions of yourself, your business, your industry, and your customers.

Here are some of those questions you should be asking — Think about each of these deeply, see how they spin off into other questions, and answer them as best you can. These questions will help you validate your ideas, understand if your products can survive in the market, and see if you’ve got the resilience to succeed.

Questions about your products and services, or “What is it that my business does best?”

A great business starts with products and services that meet a genuine need and offers them to your customers in the best possible way. These are the questions you’ll need to answer.

  • Do I understand who my ideal customer is, and what they need from my business?
  • Have I validated our products and services to check that they solve a genuine problem?
  • Have I tested, tweaked and refined our products and services so that they are as good as they can be?
  • Do I have a consistent brand and visual identity that builds trust?
  • Do I know the best channels to make my customers aware of what we offer?
  • Have I built a community of early users?

If you can answer these questions confidently, you will create products, services, and brands that meet a genuine need, create trust, and add value for your customers.

Questions on your knowledge and expertise, or “I don’t need to make every decision myself.”

As a startup, you will want to have access to knowledge, and experience from several different sources. Use this expertise to guide you when you’re making decisions.

  • Do I have investors that I can speak to that can share insight and knowledge?
  • What are my co-founders and employees good at and how can I best use that expertise?
  • Do I understand the results of my decisions and the impact they have on the business?
  • How should I react when growth slows or stalls?
  • What is the best way for me to delegate tasks to others?
  • Am I collecting the right metrics and feedback and using them to help decision making?

Remember that there are people that can help you, and they want to see your business succeed as much as you do.

Questions about the culture, tools and processes to let you scale, or “We’re doubling business every quarter, and we’re on top of it.”

If you want to be successful and grow rapidly, you need to put the right culture, tools, and processes in place now to help you scale up.

  • Do I have a simple business structure that can be easily expanded as needed?
  • Am I communicating regularly with my people to let them know what’s happening?
  • Have I built a culture of trust and am I listening to my employees?
  • Are our business processes and tools as simple as possible?
  • Am I tracking progress and do I have realistic targets in place?
  • Do I have the best employees, freelancers, or outside experts in the right roles, with the right amount of accountability and ownership.

Good hiring and communications practices, combined with a simple organizational structure, active feedback and the right processes and tools will help your business thrive.

This is only a taster of what you want to think about, and starting to answer these questions will help you firm up the right ideas and approaches in your own mind.

One of the first things you’ll need to think about is “How do I share my business, ideas, products, and services with the world? How do I get my message out there?” That’s something we just might be able to help with.

Ready to be an entrepreneur? Only if you can answer these questions Read More »

How to Get New Bank Customers with Beautiful Content like Blogging

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We all know that switching to a new bank can be…well, painful. The more accounts you have, and the more you automate the banking experience, the higher your retention rate. That’s great for your existing customers, but it doesn’t help when it comes to attracting new people to your business.

Most banks offer similar products and services, so creating a unique value proposition isn’t easy. What’s the secret sauce? How do some banks increase their retail numbers without putting lots of pressure on their service teams?

It’s all about telling a story and making it personal. Your customers and prospects want to feel like you’re speaking to them, that you “get them.” It all comes from your content – Understanding what you write and where you publish it are important, knowing WHO you are writing for is critical.

Let’s dive a little deeper…

Know your Target Client Profile (TCP) – What’s the demographic of your current customer base? Who are the potential customers you want to add? Where do they live? What is their socioeconomic background? Are they business customers? Retail? It’s critical to have a deep understanding of exactly who you want to reach – Their interests, aspirations, lifestyle choices, financial understanding and more.

Think like your TCP – Your content needs to be relevant to your TCP. What is most important to them? What’s going to grab their attention? How will it help? Will it answer their questions? Does it provide genuinely useful information? What will they read? How will they read it? When will they read it? A 20-year-old and an 80-year-old are going to have very different needs and ways of accessing content.

Create great thought leadership and product content – Thought leadership content is where your customers will get the most value. It’s about giving them insight, valuable information, and resources to help them understand and manage money better. When you combine that with information on your products and their benefits, you create a solid content strategy.

Share short, sweet, accessible, and relevant product information on your website – Your website is the place for your product information – make is easy to find and mobile friendly. Your bank’s website should also highlight your staff with pictures and bios. It helps your customers to relate to you, and people buy from others they know, like, and trust.

Blogging is the Grand Poohbah of content – Every bank should have a blog – It’s where your thought leadership and awesome content lives It’s where your staff can shine, and it’s what you will share on social media.

Keys to Blogging Success

  1. PLAN – Have an editorial calendar based on your TCP and your value proposition – Who are you going to write for, and what are your going to write about? Create five or six content areas where that you’ll develop. They might be: Your culture and team – Stories about your employees, what makes them tick, and what they bring to your business. Retail customer information – Speaking to your retail customers directly about the things that matter to them. Retirement planning, mortgages, insurance, loans, real estate, the economy, tips for protecting your home in winter, safety, etc. Financial education and guides – Creating guides, checklists, tools, and resources to help you customers get the most out of their money. Business customer information – Talking to business owners about what matters to them including business bank accounts, small business financing, insurance, etc. Community – The work you’re doing in the local community including sponsorship and other activities. Financial news – Talking about the economy, the stock market, and other interesting areas.
  2. SHARE – Build your brand and expand it through stories. The more people who see your name and your team, the quicker they will connect.
  3. CONNECT – People leave banks because they don’t feel the love. Intriguing content that speaks to them helps them feel connected, which makes them more likely to switch.
  4. REPEAT – For content to really hook your prospects, they need to see it over and over again. Be constant and consistent. Post regularly, share on social media, and get your name and brand out there.

Good examples of banking blog content

Here are some ideas on the type of content your retail audience would find useful:

  • Financial planning and budgeting — Financial planning in everyday life and making sure you’re saving enough. Budgeting for big life events.

• Dealing with loans and overdrafts — Responsibly managing credit and debt, including understanding interest, minimum payments, and credit limits.

• Investing — Ways to invest money including bonds, the stock exchange, index trackers, mutual funds, and other investment products.

• Retirement planning — How to plan for a good retirement including IRAs, 401Ks, and other pension plans.

When you can bring together great content with a good understanding of your audience and share your content in the right way, you’ll start to create momentum. You can capitalize on that, use it to win you new customers, and keep them happy.

If you need help writing your content or want to bounce some more ideas off us – give us a shout – that\’s what we\’re here for![/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]

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10 Habits of Hyper-Productive People

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I\’m Jenn (that\’s not me in the picture). I’m known at the Red Barn as the Ops Beast – and I didn’t get that name by procrastinating. I take pride in being efficient and quick while still maintaining the level of quality needed to do my job. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not perfect – but I’ve learned where I excel and how I like to work.
I’m sure you’ve seen articles before in your social media travels on habits of hyper-productive people – it’s a list of must-do’s to follow in order to conquer the world, your to-do list, and your inbox all before lunch. But let’s be honest – how many people follow all those guidelines – and I don’t know about you, but I’m NOT getting up at 4am.

So, lucky for you, I’ve created a condensed list, with my two cents of course…

Common must-do’s in order to increase your productivity.

Work backwards – no really, it works. If your end goal is to create a presentation for the Board, break down the timeline and task list into smaller, manageable subtasks with specific dates that will allow you to get the project done on time. You won’t feel so overwhelmed and you’ll be able to cross the subtasks off your list making you feel more accomplished!

Prioritize Your To Do List – Handle your most pressing issues first. I know it’s easy to get pulled into helping others or taking care of something that’s easy to knock off the list, but handling the Must Do’s first, will help ease stress and eliminate a last minute panic to meet a deadline.

Take a break – as often as you need to. I know this seems counterproductive, but your brain will thank you. Struggling to get through something that your brain just doesn’t want to do is basically torture. Take a break, get up and move around, and let your brain reset and refocus. You are bound to make less mistakes and use less time and energy in the long run.

Manage your energy – Your energy is just as important, if not more important than your time. If something on your to-do list requires a lot of energy and focus – do it when your brain and body are at its peak. For some this is first thing in the morning (like Cindy), for others it might be later in the day. This also works well for creative types – if you aren’t creative in the afternoon, don’t leave those types of tasks for when you don’t have any creative juices left in the tank.

Stop obsessing over email – if your inbox is flooded with emails every few minutes, stop checking it constantly. Set up a rule on how often you will check it. We think of email as a tool, but it can be ridiculously distracting. A good rule of thumb, if you can’t explain something in a few sentences or it will take multiple emails – just pick up the phone instead.

Stay healthy – Get enough sleep, exercise, and proper nutrition. This one is HUGE for me. I make sure I get at least 7 hours of sleep, eat fairly well, and have a set schedule of when I go to the gym. Unless it’s an emergency, I don’t compromise on these. They keep me sane and energized so I can embrace the Beast within!

Say No and Learn to delegate – These are NOT my strong suits – so I commiserate with you. It’s a process but learn to say NO if you simply don’t have the time to help others or take on additional tasks. Also, learn to delegate when possible. It’s hard to give up control, but if you don’t, you’ll burn yourself out.

Stop multi-tasking – trust me on this one. You are way more productive focusing on just one task at a time vs three. The time it takes you to bounce back and forth between multiple projects, is time that could have been used towards completing just one of them. Your brain needs to refocus and adjust each time you switch gears – plus it leaves you open to making more mistakes.

Plan for tomorrow– before you leave for the day, update your To Do List and regroup on what you need to accomplish tomorrow. When you get to the office tomorrow – you can get right down to work and crossing things off the To-Do list.

Create your own system – What might work well for me, may be a disaster for you. And that’s OK! It’s about progress, not perfection. Try making a few small changes each week and see how they affect your productivity. Remember, it takes at least 21 days to create a habit, so don’t throw in the towel after 21 minutes.

You’ve made it through the list, hopefully you’ve picked up a few tips and tricks and are ready to start down the road to a more productive YOU! I’d love to hear some feedback on what works, what doesn’t, and any additional tips you might have. Now get into Beast mode and start tackling that To-Do list!

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6 Steps to Creating an Effective Marketing Strategy

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Winging it just doesn’t work when it comes to marketing – ever. You need a strategy, one that is well thought out and you need an action plan. That means you can’t just say – yea, I’m going to toss some posts up on Facebook, pay for a couple ads in the newspaper and hope I sell something. Trust me that “plan” will more than likely fail.

Here’s what you should consider (hint hint – what you really need to do right now!)

#1: Figure out who you are – why do people buy from you?

What sets you apart from the competition – what makes you special. No, you can’t say “Because we are awesome, have great customer service and well, we are awesome!”.

It’s time to write your value proposition statement, your narrative statement, and your mission statement – whatever you would like to call it. It’s time to write it. Here’s how to get started – write these things down and from the “words collected” formulate your statement.

  • What is your niche market – what do you do differently than your competition?
  • List some words that describe your company culture
  • List some words that describe your product or service
  • What are your company’s SWOTs – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
  • What are you selling: Convenience, Quality, Cheapest Price – you can’t do it all – decide what it is and Rock it!
  • What do your customers really want?

All of your messaging & content will be centered around this statement.

#2: Who are your customers?

I call this determining your “Target Client Profile” – again let’s make a list:

  • Make a list of your top customers and your favorite customers – they could be different. Your top customers are the ones you are generating the most revenue from. Your favorite customers are the ones you love and wouldn’t mind spending happy hour with on a Friday afternoon.
  • Determine the demographics of both these groups: Age, Sex, Socio-Economic Background, Location, lifestyle – etc. the more detailed the better
  • B2B folks – are they in a certain business niche? Size of company, # of employees etc.
  • B2C folks – How much money do they make, what types of cars to they drive, what type of jewelry do they wear – again – the more intel you have the better

Now – take all that information and create your perfect customer profile – ones that pay you the most AND the ones you like the best.

All of your messaging & content will be targeted to this group.

#3 What do you want to Achieve? – what are your Marketing goals & KPIs?

This is pretty simple – what do you want your marketing to do for you? Increase sales by 20%, increase brand awareness for a new product by 10%, hire new employees? It can be whatever you want – but it has to be measurable as we will assign KPIs to it – or Key Performance Indicators. This will tell you if your marketing is working or not!

All of your goals will be set around getting your relevant content about your mission to your target client profile.

#4 Determine your Customer’s Journey

You will want to have a marketing strategy that targets all stages of the customer’s journey

  • Investigative stage – your prospects are considering buying what you sell and they are out there getting information
  • Consideration stage – they have narrowed it down to a couple vendors but haven’t made a decision
  • Negotiation Stage – This is the buying stage – the deal isn’t closed yet
  • The Buy – enough said
  • Post Buy – keeping them happy and turning them into Brand Evangelists and referral sources

Look at your business – and look at your customers’ journey. Are there certain triggers for each section. If you are in retail – we all know Black Friday is a BUY day – but leading up to that day – how will you touch your prospects during those other stages? What is your messaging? Who is your target client?

#4 Determine your Budget

This will vary based on your goals and your business. There is NO magic number here. You can definitely market on a budget – but you can also make a bigger splash with a lot of dollars. Think Geico

#5 Determine how you will get your messaging OUT

What “channels” will you use to get your messaging out. Based on your Target Client Profile and your mission – who will you be targeting in each of these venues (you don’t have to use all of them!). Be conscious of your budget – Super Bowl Ads might not be realistic! Ideally you want a good marketing mix – in the end, if the content isn’t relevant to the audience, it won’t matter where you put it!

  • Digital Marketing
  • Emails
  • Social Media
  • Website
  • Video
  • Print Media
  • Radio
  • TV
  • Word of Mouth
  • Networking

#6: Set up your Editorial & Content Calendars

I like to be proactive, it’s so much easier that way!

For our clients here at Red Barn, we:

  • Create a 1 year calendar – with an overview of our content strategy that aligns to our mission and is targeted at our Target client profiles
  • Create Quarterly buckets for content ideas and KPI’s around them
  • Create monthly content calendars – this is specifically what we are going to post on social, blogs to be written, web content, radio content, bill boards, etc.
  • Determine the workflow on how it will all happen
  • Leave room for opportunistic happenings etc.

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