red barn consulting

time blocking

Want to be more efficient? Block your Time.

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If I want to get something done and be efficient – it needs to be in my calendar, that\’s how I block my time.  If it’s not there it doesn’t exist.  I take my calendar to the next level and use the Time Blocking Method.

I learned this little trick over a decade ago from Chris Brogan –  – I block out 45 minutes in my calendar to do certain tasks.  For me, 45 minutes is manageable and not overwhelming.  Chris uses 20 minute blocks as an FYI.

Here’s how it works.

When I get my new planner each year – yes, I have a paper planner and I use a digital calendar for my phone – I go through the entire year and block out any major things that I know about.  Business trips, family vacations, holidays, etc.

Next, I dive into the days – it always starts with self-care.  If I don’t take care of me, there is zero chance I can take care of my clients.  Trust me on this one – it’s important.

Every day from 5-7 am I have “Me Time”.  This is critical because I’m not one of those jump out of bed and run around like a crazed woman.  I need to ease into my day.  Some days – like today, I began working at 4:30 am because I felt like writing, but most days 5-7 includes drinking my coffee, reading, meditating, exercising, journaling – whatever feels right on that day.  I rarely – I mean rarely, change this routine unless I’m traveling.

I’m a morning person – so next, I get the MOST important things on my calendar for the beginning of the day.  Usually the creative things and meetings.  I’m not a fan of afternoon meetings because my brain isn’t as sharp.  Here’s a time hack – use a calendar scheduling tools such as Calendly or ScheduleOnce – ONLY offer the times you WANT to have appointments.  I’m a bit flexible on this especially if it’s a prospect – if the ONLY time they can meet me is at 2 pm and it’s a client that fits our niche 100% I’ll meet them at 2 pm.

I also try to book days to work on my business versus in it.  Mondays are my work on Red Barn Days.  Depending on what is going on at Red Barn I may have some client phone calls or work – but I TRY my best to never schedule appointments on Mondays (or Fridays).

Tuesday-Thursdays are all hands on deck client workdays – this is when I work IN my businesses.  Fridays are flex days for me – sometimes we work a half-day – sometimes we don’t work at all.  It depends – I leave these days open and again, try not to schedule client appointments on Fridays.

The secret is to be structured AND flexible at the same time.  I don’t lose it if my time blocking has to shift – but I do try to honor it.

As for the paper planner and digital – why both?  I’m a pen on paper person – always have been, but I also need to have the efficiency and transparency of a digital calendar for business  So I keep two.  It works for me and I don’t mind keeping both current. The paper calendar allows me to write notes and it also acts like a journal and a place for me to dump ideas – my digital calendar is simply for tracking my appointments.

Hope this helps shed some light on how to be uber-efficient! Do you think being efficient is a blessing or a curse – read more here.

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Social Media – Quality vs. Quantity

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Does even thinking about posting to social media stress you out? How many times to post, what to post, when to post, etc.? Are you putting content out just for the sake of putting content out on social media? Are your followers just not engaging and your audience isn’t growing? When it comes to social media posts, quality beats quantity every time.

The norm has always been that consumers expect companies to have content readily available to consume – blogs, social media, enewsletters, downloadable ebooks, white papers, etc. They still look for this type of content, however just having a large library of stuff isn’t enough – consumers want quality of resources from companies they do business with – not just fluff.

First, we need to back up and define what quality means to consumers – it’s targeted, more personalized, highly creative messaging. Content that is focused on better understanding and interacting with your clients. Even small brands can easily produce content that looks just as good as the big dogs.

When a prospect is looking to learn more about your company, yes, they will Google you and visit your website, but they will also look to see what social media channels you are on, the type of content that you post, and how long ago you posted. Just throwing posts up that your customers and prospects don’t care about is not going to help you engage with them. However, one good quality post on Facebook can do way better than five poor quality posts.

Some tips to posting high quality content are:

  • Photos – they don’t need to be done professionally, but make sure they are well lit, not blurred or grainy.
  • Videos – also need good lighting and good sound.
  • Sharing Blogs – need to be interesting and relevant topics but also have good spelling, punctuation and grammar. It should be around 500 words or more to keep readers on your website for longer which is a good SEO signal to Google.
  • Sharing 3rd Party Content – share content from reputable sources that don’t require signing up for memberships. Articles from newspapers, magazines, etc. are usually good sources
  • Your content – only 20% of your content should be around your business – if you are constantly pushing a sale people will unfollow you

I get asked a lot about the best times to post on social media. There is no concrete answer to this. You need to post when and where your audience is going to see your posts. Why post on Twitter if your audience is on Facebook? If your audience primarily engages in the mornings, don’t wait to post until the afternoon.

Don’t get hung up on the numbers. Many people will engage in campaigns to buy likes or followers. This might seem great in the short term, but these people are most likely not your ideal clients and will never engage with you. At the end of the day, your goal is to be seen as an expert, a trusted advisor, and of course to get traffic to your website as that is where the sale is. If your engagement is low, then ask yourself if it is the quality of the post or is that the content isn’t resonating with your audience.

When it comes to social media posts quality will always beat quantity. You aren’t Gary V or Jenna Kutcher – you don’t need to keep up with the quantity of posts that they put out daily – they have teams of people who do this for them. For the DIYers – just focus on the quality. That’s all you need to do.

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customer experience

Marketing Trends 2020 – customer experience

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What we do as an industry has dramatically changed over the past decade.  We’ve shifted from trying to convince people to buy, to do, to act, to honing in on our customer’s journey and customer experience.

CX will rule Marketing and Advertising in the next decade.

The Customer Experience (CX) is king. People no longer want to be told what to do, instead they want to be educated, they want to be wooed and they want an AMAZING customer experience – one that they willingly will pay more for.

Read that again:  They will pay MORE for a better experience.

Not that cheap, one and done is gone – there will always be price shoppers, but the trend is more on “show me what’s in it for me” as in the customer not the vendor.

So how do you have a Fab CX?

  1. Put yourself in YOUR customer’s shoes. You need to know them inside and out.  What makes them tick, why do they buy from you – and why do they not?  Knowledge is complete power here.
  2. KNOW your Value Proposition and make sure your team does too. It comes from the top.  Empower your team to make decisions on behalf of bettering your client experience.  Be it a refund, sending flowers, giving a bit more – the list goes on.  In the end you’ll not only increase client retention – but employee retention. Happy Employees = Happy Clients.
  3. Over Deliver – I mean OVER DELIVER. Just woo the socks off them.  Be Chewy – train your team to LIVE your value prop and DELIVER. DELIVER. DELIVER.
  4. Share your happy client stories – but let it be focused on them – not you. There is an art to it as to not look self-serving.  Again, put yourself in their shoes

Marketing today is less about telling people what you do and more about showing people how you can improve their life and help them – even if it doesn’t involve what you sell.

CX should be at the core of your 2020 business and marketing strategy.

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collaboration

Why Collaboration is EVERYTHING

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I learned very early in my career that finding a mentor is key to success – learn from others who have been down the path you want to go.  I also learned that being a mentor to others is not only gratifying it’s important to the success life cycle. So what does that have to do with collaboration?

 The Cycle

You don’t need to reinvent wheels – you simply need to take the design of the wheel, the research already done on the effectiveness of the wheel – and put your own spin on it.  The magic happens when that original wheel inventor actually learns a thing or two from you and your new spins on his/her design.

This is called Collaboration.  In the process of gathering intel and learning you are SHARING your wisdom in return.  The cycle of success keeps moving and growing the more you collaborate, learn and share. 

Starting

  • The secret to mastering the success life cycle is knowing who to collaborate with. It begins with YOU.  You must clearly define what you want, where you want to go and what you want to be.  Write them down.
  • Next you need to find others who have successfully achieved what you want. Social media is a perfect example of how this happens ALL THE TIME.  Want to run a marathon?  Head over to twitter, Facebook and Instagram and Google and search out expert marathoners. Become obsessed with learning everything they do from what they eat, how they train, how much they sleep and what they wear.  Adapt it to your lifestyle and go.  Ask questions, give feedback to others – soon you will be the expert and sharing your stories to help others!
  • Consider IRL collaborations. Meeting people face to face or IN REAL LIFE trumps online connections 90% of the time – if you are very intentional who you are connecting with.  It’s all about having a solid support system – the inner circle of folks who you deeply trust and feel comfortable sharing with.
  • Let go of your ego. Being a newbie or a learner is not a sign of weakness, nor is being a mentor to others a sign of superiority.  This is about collaboration and serving.  Egos should be checked at the door.

If you want to win the long game – don’t do it solo.  Know success is a journey – there will be ups and downs, having a support system will get you to the finish line a hell of a lot quicker than going solo.

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Bryan Gross

Bryan Gross and Myra Quick talk college grads and entering the workforce

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Bryan Gross, VP for Enrollment Management and Marketing at Western New England University, and Myra Quick, Founder and CEO of  Fast Forward Learning and Development and the creator of the Mastermind Program Crosswalk Coalition, talk about student readiness when it comes to heading out into the real world and getting their first jobs. Do students have the core competencies needed that employers are looking for? Are students really getting the ROI on their tuition dollars to get them a job in their related fields?

\"BryanBryan Gross currently serves as the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing at Western New England University. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the American International Recruitment Council where he serves as chair of the membership committee. At Western New England University he is a member of the President’s Cabinet and the chair of the University’s Enrollment Management Committee. Bryan is passionate about the strategic value of aligning a University’s admissions, financial aid leveraging and marketing strategies in order to produce optimal results in today’s competitive enrollment marketplace.

His prior positions have been as the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management at St. John’s University in New York City and as the Associate Vice President for Admissions at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, CT.

He has also presented multiple times at regional and national NACAC and NAFSA conferences on topics related to best practices in domestic and international recruitment and new approaches in digital and social media marketing.

\"MyraMyra Quick is the Founder and CEO of Fast Forward Learning & Development, HR Specialist (PHR, SHRM-CP) public speaker, trainer, and fierce advocate for higher education students and employers looking to hire them. Seeing Both Sides . Myra has lived in the HR world for let’s just say “a long time” and she knows what employers are struggling with and what they are looking for in employees. She’s also worked in higher education for “a long time” and she knows what students are learning, and more importantly how many are struggling post-graduation to get a job that is relevant to their degree. She began seeing the disconnect and the need for Competency Based Education (CBE) years before it was the hot topic and education workshops.
There is a disconnect – and a big one.  Myra noticed most schools focus on delivering well-rounded graduates, but not well-rounded future employees. Many colleges and universities have legacy cultures – as in “this is the way we’ve always done it and this is the way it should be” and are unwilling to change those cultures to teach students what they want to learn and give them the exact skills they need for a specific job. AHA moment – the solution has always been crystal clear for Myra. Competency Based Education CBE is the answer – for non-traditional AND traditional students. She launched Fast Forward Learning & Development and the Crosswalk Coalition Mastermind to facilitate change and help bridge the divide between employers and students.
The struggle is real – the future is hopeful. Like many working mothers, Myra decided to finish her degree and was looking for an alternative that would not only fit her lifestyle but give her the biggest bang for her buck. She chose Bay Path University’s Saturday Learning program allowing her to fast track her degree. It was perfect. Bay Path also introduced Myra to one of the major disruptors and change agents in higher education – Dr. Carol Leary, President and CEO at Bay Path. Myra saw how Dr. Leary literally changed the course of the then college’s future by embracing change, connecting deeply with local businesses which included secured funding and taking an almost extinct school to one of the premier 4 year universities on the east coast.  Myra knew Dr. Leary was on to something bigger than Bay Path – and the rest is well, history.
It’s simply a passion. Let’s just say, she isn’t letting go anytime soon. Myra is passionate about ensuring that every student that enrolls – traditional or non-traditional – in college receives the core competencies they need for success once they graduate.  Not only is she passionate about Competency Based Education, she is passionate about the future of our private 4 year schools who are facing a daunting future with declined enrollment. She believes shifting the way we educate will help right the decreased admissions, save schools, save communities and save jobs.

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Angeline Holub of SometimeSaturday

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\"AngelineAngeline Holub is the brains behind the brand SometimeSaturday. On a daily basis she shares the things that make her feel most confident, so you too can consistently be the most confident version of yourself.

Confidence is tied to community. The two go hand in hand. You can dominate each day in a killer pair of shoes but if you have no one to share your victories, celebrate your success, there will always be a piece of the puzzle missing. Every woman needs a tribe. A group of women willing to go to battle on your behalf. Angeline is determined to help you find your tribe. Whether you live in Texas or the other side of the world, she has set out to serve those looking for friendship.

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Art Mulligan of Senior Advocate Services

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\"\"On today\’s episode of Entrepreneur Masters, we talk to Art Mulligan of Senior Advocate Services – www.senioradvocatect.com – \” Advocating for You\” in assisting Families with Healthcare choices for parents. (Assisted Living Communities, Nursing Home Comparisons or continuing to live at Home.) Senior Advocate Services is a Lifestyle Benefit that can assist employees with understanding and navigating the Medical Event Challenges that may occur in their lives or the lives of their children, parents or grandparents.

 

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website-mistakes

The great website debate

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We\’ve been doing a ton of websites lately and talking to even more people about the types of websites they need, how to access the back end of them, and basically the process of building a website. I’ve seen so many companies bamboozled by people who take advantage of the unknowing and the website naïve. It pisses me off and makes me sad.  So I’m going to offer a Website Nightmare  – Please don’t do this EVER checklist.

Here goes:

  1. Be very, very, very leery of someone who says you need a custom built CMS site – you don’t. What will happen is that person who designed the site will eventually disappear and you will be left with something that can’t be updated, fixed, and it’s just God AWFUL to maintain. There is NO need with all the WordPress prebuilt CMS templates out there.  No need. Don’t do it unless you are a HUGE corporation with in-house coders that can collaborate and work with the developer. Small businesses – use WordPress.
  2. Don’t get sucked into industry driven “templated” sites – that are often prefab CMS systems. You pay a monthly fee – but they own everything. Stop paying them and you have no site. Try to move it to another vendor – you can’t.  Once again you are at their mercy.
  3. Don’t use CANNED content – typically from industry driven companies who promise the Best Sites for REALTORS, Insurance, Financial Advisors, Manufacturers – the list goes on.  Canned content is useless – don’t do it.  You need to tell YOUR story, not someone elses.
  4. You should ALWAYS OWN your site – always.  Once the designer is done doing their magic – you have all the logins, passwords et al. The intellectual property is YOURS not theirs. From photos to copy to design. ALWAYS.
  5. If it sounds too good to be true – it probably is.  There are many overseas designers who do an amazing job and they will be far more cost effective than using a local person – the problem is they usually come in “pools” – and if you have a problem – good luck getting someone on the phone.  Who you worked with today will be different than who you work with tomorrow.  Now if your site is for a one day event – go for inexpensive. If it’s for your company – go local.
  6. Cost – it varies depending on what you need.  Some websites DO cost $20K, some should only cost $3K, some will cost $100K. Do your homework.  If someone is half the price of everyone else – RED FLAG. Danger Will Robinson – you probably aren’t comparing apples to apples.

Don’t get bamboozled. We’ve seen too many people stuck with something they can’t update, can’t move, can’t…well just can’t do anything with and they end up spending money completely redoing it.

Questions – call us. No BS from Jenn and I – we’ll be up front and honest with what you need versus what you have (or what you’ve been offered!)

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Tina Kadish

Tina Kadish – Freedom Strategist at Life is Ideal

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\"TinaOn today\’s Entrepreneur Masters we welcome Tina Kadish – Freedom Specialist at Ideal Life.  She shares her story how she was \’downsized\’ out of corporate and faced with \”what next\”? Learn how she discovered her passions and now helps others do the same.

 

 

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