Settling the Global Warming Debate in 90 Seconds

It won't be long before Al Gore has a new movie, "Ice Age Strategies".

Bye Bye, wait

Another tip on how you can grow your small business is to try harder to keep your existing customers.  My Video Log today addresses this...

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Transcript:

How to grow your small business this is Mike Oliver founder of Explorer 4 and O4BO.com "bye-bye but wait" sometimes you lose customers it's true they may be leaving for reasons you don't know knowing those reasons may help you lose fewer listening to a customer that is leaving may turn them around what to do send them an email saying sorry cinema survey to find out why offer a chance to talk to the boss as you offer a discounter or some other incentive or like maybe a T-shirt what to say a Charles is here no longer buying from us I'm sorry we did anything to displease you can you take a minute to help us improve so we don't lose any more viable customers like you to spell out our search our survey and here's the URL thanks for your patronage and truly sorry to see you leave your volume is small congratulations just do it manually and personally otherwise you might want to use one of the tools on the
Explorer 4 and 04 VO we use a tool and capture events and automate the process for ourselves and our subscribers some of the tools Varro customer I/O a letter which is one of the ones we use segment and you can see more@04VO.com here's some more links you can Google these guide email marketing the a Weber block better emails converting email copy and 04 VO at me and that's today's block

Grow your small business with free stuff

Wow to grow your small business is Mike Oliver founder Explorer 4 and O4BO.COM in the new VLOG

Transcript - this might be the best ways to grow your small business is to give away free stuff! That doesn't sound logical but it's a time-honored procedure its it works!  It gets the word out.  It gets people aware of you. Most people love free stuff.  If you get something to people they will use, it will be better.  For example T-shirts are good because people will wear them and when they do you get free advertising. I will talk a little bit about how to do it but the basic idea is to give away free stuff.

Anything of value was okay but don't get carried away.  You don't want to lose a lot, you want to consider the cost of the stuff you're giving away as your form of advertising budget.

So how do you do it?  First to use graphics not just text.  You want something you recognize.  I started giving away T-shirts. You want an image and you want that image to be something that people will look at and then you always want to include your company name or your link to your company if you have a website because you want the advertising to be effective is not just a matter of looking at the T-shirt are looking at the graphics on the teacher you want them to get a message.  You want to use a logo but until the Brad's is established you don't you just use the logo.  For example: if I wear a Pepsi T-shirt then people say "ah Pepsi" but if you where a young "Joe's bar and Grill"

If people that don't already know "Joe's bar and Grill" they won't recognize it. At Explore4 we give away a free listing with the logo.  It's the same concept, give something away free so people will see it.

You start with whomever you know, friends, business partners, prospects, current customers and anyone asked. For you want to use it as an incentive to get someone to read something or make an action item.  Then keep track of who you send it to don't just give away T-shirt and then never follow up.

If it's a T-shirt get them to send you a photo of of that T-shirt or with them within on.  If it's it's like our free listing blog on or post on social media that you have a new listing.  That makes it even more valuable. here some related links:

• http://sujanpatel.com/marketing/how-giving-away-t-shirts-made-me-over-500k-in-revenue/
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/09/jason-sadler-makes-500000_n_914959.html
• http://www.printfection.com/
• http://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/
• http://www.explorer4manila.com
• http://www.o4bo.com

Evolve or Die

In today’s blog post is “evolve or die.”  

Transcript- So it’s is your choice really, you either evolve and I am talking about your personal life or your family life or your business, or you die.  Evolution is part of nature.  Some will dispute this, but most species, people will agree, the species either revolves or it dies.  Here’s one that didn’t make it (Dinosaur) is your business the same way? I believe it is.

I think that there is ample proof that if your business isn’t growing then it is stagnant or if it’s just barely growing then eventually other businesses around you will love will start, they’ll grow will take customers away from you.  If you’re not growing faster than that and you’re going to eventually die.  

So is success a straight path?  You know why it is easy, “I’ll just make it and I got a great product and great location, nothing is going to stop me”, well if that’s true congratulations!

I think that most people’s path to success has some bumps in it. I think there’s going to be some decisions you have to make then which way you go, one ways to success the other way is not.

And some of you are probably on circle road that goes around and around and around and so therefore you’re never going to reach success and like I said earlier if you don’t evolve your going to die.

So is the curved road the path to success?  If you are like most companies you reach curves in the road, you have to zigzag to go up the hill.  You have to find your way so there’s options.  You choose door number one or door number two. 

There are choices everywhere just liking the matrix movie.  Yes this place was is just how you pick the right one.  The thing to do is to take each one of those choices and use it as an opportunity to come up with an idea, something you can use to make your company grow.  Is at a website? Go online or to stay off-line in and just depend on signs and flyers and not maybe print advertising or is it business networking?  With business networking what you do is you connect with the businesses around you. Some of you already buy from someone, already buy from you and is sure that they understand what it is that you do what your products are, what your values are, what benefits of your service is and so forth.  So that in the business networking if somebody says to them why you know I need a “class A widget” and if they know you sell “class A widgets” guess what? Is a discover and talk to “Holly” he’s got the best “class A widgets you can find” them they’ll come to you same way around if you know where to find a “class B widgets” and somebody asked you about “where I find widgets” using it only sell “class A widgets” but this store over here sells “class B widgets” and if you can’t afford a “class A widget” going to see him and get a “class B widget”   Even your competitors will start to work with you, to refer customers to you and it’s just a matter of doing the business networking!

So we can help. The Explorer4 websites give you a free listing with a logo so that people can find you.  We do networking events where we have a seminar where we teach about business networking.  We teach about web advertising.  We teach a lot of different things and if you want us to do it for you we can do it for you for very little.   We are talking about a full website with email and accounting software and customer management software for less than a part-time employee!

So, one of the sites we have one for each of the regions there’s more than then just here but if you go to any one of them you’ll find the others.