Big Business

Today i just want to acknowledge all the monumental achievements of a great businessman Mr kerry Packer.

He was someone who didn't ask why?, just how? He made things happen. He created his network of friends, family, advisors, partners, aquaintences and even enemies all of which in some way or other helped him grow the empire he has today. He was a charasmatic man yes, had a way with words and wasn't afraid to tell it like it was yet he was always a fair man, a generous man and a very pro active, forward thinking man.

He didn't dwell on the past or worry his new idea may not work. He'd call in his advisors, talk it over, gather the support team he needed to give it a go.

Above all Kerry Packer has passion. He was driven by something. He was focussed and never gave up.

I'm sure we can all learn a lot from him and hopefully aquire half the success he came to know.

PASSION! can do many things, Passion could be many things from sport, a hobby, a need to be secure, a promise to a wish. Passion is what drives a person forward, stops them living in the past and i think we all need to discover that PASSION within.

To a passionate man i say THANKS!

GETTING CREATIVE

As with the last post i mentioned Blog comments this time on a more positive note i'm happy to have read a few peoples comments stating that my blog has helped them.

One in particular asked how can you have so many ideas?
This has given me an idea :-) me being an ideas person and all. I'll create a site on how to be more creative, How to come up with many ideas.

I know a bit about this being the creative type myself so i'm sure i can give you all some tips on the subject.

To start with i believe you need to become quite self aware! By this i mean know yourself! Know what you like, don't like, how colours, shapes affect you etc.
How does this help?
Well when you are aware of how things affect you and what feelings are stirred in you, good or bad you can hone in on your instincts, intuition if you like and use that to guide you.
By being in touch emotionally with your surroundings many, many ideas will come your way and you can be pro active in the way in which you produce ideas.
I warn you though, there will be many that are no good, too expensive, wrong time etc, etc it is then a process of eliminating the ideas that don't suit your needs or are not viable at this time.

Start an ideas diary! - This is a great tool.
If you get into the habit of writting down each and every idea that pops into your head you will have them down before you lose them and at a later date can add to them, flesh them out and analyize them properly. Once you get started you will have so many TRUST ME you'll need a diary.

Write feelings, colours, shops you liked, pictures, shapes anything and everything it's amzing where your ideas will come from.
I believe ANYONE can be creative. Some may need to work at it others don't.

It can be a wonderful tool when used correctly and a pain in the neck when not.

Most creative people tend to jump from one idea to the next or procrastinate which i do regularly so you might have to wait until i get my two websites up and running before you get to see this new one otherwise i'll never do any.

Write, Write, Write and see the creativeness inside you explode. Tis FUN!!!

Bye for now.

BLOG COMMENTS

Ok,
I have just read most of the comments left by my blog readers and find that almost all are directed at getting thier own website noticed.
That's fine if it's worthwhile us being directed there and preferably if it is in line with my topics.
If not please don't bother! I WILL delete them. If you have a site that may help others in the related field i'm posting on then by all means tell us.

BLOG SPAM is NOT ok.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

May you all have a safe, fun filled christmas and a busy, business building New Year!

Lesson in BAD business

A recent experience of mine has lead to this post on how NOT to run a business!

I wanted to buy a unique product online which i won't name purely for my not wanting to be sued otherwise i'd absolutely LOVE to name them.

I paid via credit card online and sent the order off. That's where my trouble started.
I recieved a phone call to say my payment had not been honoured by the bank.
As i use a debit visa i thought "No problem, a direct debit probably came out i'd forgotten about"
No, The bank tells me i had funds in the account and that a request was never made by the business.
So this time i ring back and try my dad's card. "Sorry" Was the reply we cannot accept that this is really the card owner (I put him on)
Now this is an ONLINE business offering payment by credit card online or by phone!
INFURIATING!

So i have put the order in online and been rejected again with the excuse being "We cannot be certain of the ownership of card"

I was by now so irate that i cancelled the order entirely.

The problem is this. This was a Birthday present for my Nan. She is extremely hard to buy for, loves her garden and this is so unique she's probably never seen it or would never buy it for herself yet she will ADORE it!

So as i cannot buy it from any other source (Patented) i am trying again.

This time i've paid via direct deposit and faxed the order off. I'm awaiting the reply.

My message to all, including myself is to be completely able to accept online payments if they are offered.

Before offering, check they work, obtain the relevant insurances and at least make it easy for the customer to pay another way if this is not possible.

To top it all off this business has a P.O Box only so i could not even drive the 45 min trip to pick them up.

It has now taken over 2 weeks to get this product, by the time i hopefully recieve it i'm sure it will be 3 weeks.
All i can say is that it is extremely unprofessional which is a shame as they have a great product and the market cornered for now. Word of mouth referrals will come thick and fast once people actually see the product but not after my word of mouth that's for sure.

Surely the loss of future business would not be worth it?

Anyway i see it as a great lesson for the running of my own online busineses.

UPDATE
I have my product!
Not only do i have it but i have a sincere apolagy along with another product to the same value free.
Now that's better.
I must say this has not only been a lesson in how NOT to do business but also in how to fix mistakes.
I'm happy to refere my friends though i will advise not to buy online.

Feed the hungry FREE

This is free to do just click each day and 1 cup full of food will be given to the needy.

Make it your homepage so you never forget to click.


http://www.thehungersite.com

STEP 7

MISSION STATEMENT

I wrote up my mission statement for my new web based business.

To do this i needed some specific information which was harder to come by than i first thought would be.

I had to find out EXACTLY what i was selling?

(Surely you'd think i would know already?)

You see nobody actually sells a product! What you are selling is an emotion!

ASK YOURSELF THESE VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO FIND YOUR PRODUCT

• Why would someone buy this product?
• What do they think they want?
• How must they feel to want this?
• Therefore what emotional need are they trying to fulfill?
• How does my product relate to this?
• Can i fill that emotional need?
• What other products would fill this need?

EXAMPLE

PRODUCT: Anti wrinkle cream

• To hopefully erase wrinkles or at least soften them
• To look more youthful
• Unrecognised, less attractive, lost youth
• The need to be recognised, to be wanted physically
• The cream would make them believe they were more youthful looking
• Yes by giving back a feeling of youth
• Many, varied but based on youth.

MARKETING STRAGEDY:

• Use of youthful images, lifestyle,
• Use specific words relating to youth
• Target other industries relating to youth for example gyms

and the list goes on.

As you can see by asking questions you find more questions needing to be answered.

In the above example a lady wanting an anti wrinkle cream is more than likely trying to recapture a youthful appearance. In todays world youth is like gold! Wanted, craved by all now wether or not we agree with this is irrelavant. All we need to know is WHY she buys this particular cream? What does she hope to achieve with it? And theirin lies the key to selling the product.

FULLFILL THE NEED NOT THE WANT

How does this relate back to my mission statement?

I needed to find out the needs of my primary customer to be able to understand what it was i was trying to sell. Knowing the need rather than the product means you can comunicate at an emotional level with your customers and better understand how to service those needs.

My mission statement tells the story of who my business is, what we sell (the emotion) and how we best hope to achieve this. It is a personal thing and must tie in with the beliefs, values and long term goals of the business.

My partner and myself have written a personal mission statements as well as the business one and therefore we will be able to follow this blueprint to the business a lot better being that it is based on us and our desires.

Complete unfinished tasks

I have completed unfinished tasks from "Scared" post.
Domain, hosting, name reg, letterheads, biz cards etc. I have written my mission statement which is explained in STEP 7. And decided on a merchant account for my new business.

I'm on a roll.
Finally! You need to keep the momentum going if you wish to get there as many a time i just stopped.... and you lose interest on what usually is a great idea. Many a time i could have made it with many a new idea but just lost that momentum and here i am starting again.

So my new business is moving along nicely. Cashflow is non existant still as i haven't launched yet but week by week as each new expense comes along i clear it out of the way only to find another.

I start paying my graphic Designer this week $200 at a time until final payment is made and site launched.
I'm happy to pay for a designer (freind of a freind) uni student to design my site as that will be the main point of contact and hopefully sales for my business until i jump into party plan at a later date.

As for AuzzieStart i am working on that now.
finding it harder than first thought as i am building the site myself so i am re thinking this and may use a generic web hosts template and add my own bits and pieces. Not forgotten though just been working on my other income streams. haha i wish! one day anyway.