... COVER CONTINUED
paying it off literally gave me an extra 4.5 percent return on that investment … guaranteed.
being selfish and greedy, only talking about what you want and how they should pay you money?
like boardin’ jets/ I like mornin’ sex/ But nothing in this world that I like more than checks (Money)!” Except for the “diamonds on my neck” part, Cardi and I agree on these points. But it’s hard to get large checks if you don’t understand money. Now, the question is this: Where do you start? There is a ton of info on finance but, at a minimum, you need to know how to read a P&L statement and balance sheet. Recently, I came close to buying a new company, and I would have made a terrible mistake had I not understood a P&L statement and balance sheet. You need to understand good debt and bad debt and realize that some of the information out there about which is which is just B.S. For example, I paid my house off years ago. So many financial experts told me that was dumb, but was it? This house is where my kids sleep at night. I was paying 4.5 percent interest, which means “How can you make MONEY DECISIONS if you DON’T UNDERSTAND MONEY?”
I don’t need to hope the market goes up; I’ll get my return every year for 28 years or until I sell the house. I also now have an asset that is paid for.
Don’t misunderstand me: I want you to promote and make offers. I did it in this article when I told you to attend my bootcamp, but I also added value while I was doing it by explaining why it is important. Just to show you I’m not against offers … If you don’t have a newsletter, we have a killer promo for March. You should sign up for one as part of your foundational marketing strategy. Another foundational issue that plagues many is the front desk. How are your phones answered? Are your employees polite, or are they short with callers? Do they say “please” and “thank you,” or do they treat callers like pests? This matters. This is a foundational part of customer service in your company. Do you want the big boat, nice house, fancy car, dream vacations, and fat checks? Start with these three areas. Dig deep and put in the discipline of a few extra hours a week now so the future is brighter tomorrow. Plan on doing and learning what others won’t. This is the key to your future. It really is up to you to put the key in the door, turn the handle, walk through, and get to work.
If the crap hits the fan in the economy, I don’t have any bills to speak of and can simply coast.
I can look at my own business’s P&L and find areas that are out of alignment and adjust those, saving money that would otherwise be lost.
You have to know the numbers. You have to understand money math to make big money moves.
LACK OF FOUNDATION If you’re playing the long game, you are building a foundation for your business. You must capture and nurture leads. As I mentioned above, I dodged a bullet on the purchase of a business recently. One of the business’s assets was a list of 28,000 names and emails. When I scrubbed that list, it dropped by over 70 percent . Some of the people hadn’t been contacted in 15 years. Only a few hundred had been contacted in the last 12 months. It’s not good enough to simply have a list; you also need to nurture it with online and offline marketing.
–Shaun
How often do you communicate with your customers and prospects? Do you add any value, or are you
P.S. You may have noticed that I’ve been focused on relationship marketing and nurture campaigns for the last few months in many of my articles and emails. This is because we are heading toward a downturn in the economy soon.
This relationship marketing stuff will blunt the blow, but only if you start now.
2
www.thenewsletterpro.com
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS TO HELP SMALL BUSINESSES SUCCEED.
208.297.5700
Made with FlippingBook Annual report