lessons learned

Dean Mercado's Marketing Minute


Find out 5 steps to positioning yourself as an obvious expert in your field in this week's Marketing Read more

Dean Mercado's Marketing Minute


There is more to your brand than just good looks! Listen to this week's Marketing Minute to hear Read more

Dean Mercado's Marketing Minute


Do you procrastinate with your marketing because of fear of failure? Check out The Marketing Minute for a dose of Read more

•••

Top 3 Business and Marketing
Lessons Learned in 2011

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Dean Mercado in Success Leave a comment

“Wisdom is understanding not only what to overlook, but what not to!”

What a year!  2011 certainly yielded a big stick!  After 4 years of a depressed economy, we saw many businesses, big and small, either get tossed for a loop or knocked out of the game completely.  Rest assured, just like how nature always has a way of getting things back in balance… so does business.  And for those of us who withstood the thrashings of 2011, I do believe this means increased opportunity in the years ahead!

For Online Marketing Muscle and me… 2011 was chock full of considerable wins and significant lessons… some lessons were awesome… and others will sting for a while!  What follows is my top 3… my hope is that you pull some value out of them as well.  Here goes: Read more


Top 3 Business Lessons Learned in 2010

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Dean Mercado in Success 5 Comments

“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” — Sir Winston Churchill

Dean Mercado - Internet Marketing Coach & ConsultantI am a firm believer that while we must learn from the past, that past should not only consist of our own experiences but those of others as well… this is why each year I share some of the key lessons I’ve learned (or relearned) with you.  So without further adieu here are my top 3 for 2010:

#1 – Beware The Runaway Barter
While barter can be a tremendous catalyst for both increasing business
and affording the small business owner things they may have difficulty paying for otherwise, barter can also be a major detriment as well.

The 2 biggest potential downsides are:

  1. Excessive willingness to barter can devalue your products and your brand.  This is critically important because it can quickly train your prospects and clients to not want to pay you with money… and cash flow is critically important to the health and success of a small business.
  2. Allowing the barter to become lopsided where one company consumes more than the other and thus creates a huge gap in the amount one company owes the other is very dangerous.  Why?  Because things happen!  Businesses no matter how well their intentions, go out of business all the time.  Try collecting on the barter owed you then.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do believe that barter should at least be considered as an option for doing business, I’ve just learned the hard way to be smarter about it.  A better practice that we learned from our CFO, Stacy Luft this past year was to set a threshold for how much barter credit to extend each client and to reconcile barters monthly whenever possible.  Now that’s sage advice!

#2 – Embrace The Silence
We simply live in very noisy world.  A world where the pace of life seems to be speeding up as well.  It’s no wonder stress levels for many are through the roof.  Facing those kinds of challenges, how can a small business owner productively get things done?  Let alone come up with new and innovative ways to grow the business.

Well for me at least periodic quiet time has become critically important aspect of my game.  This is the time when I step away from our computerized world and clear the brain.  I meditate… I journal… I think… I do whatever it takes to get quiet so that I can focus long enough to enable my “A” game to shine through.

#3 – Commitment To Being Strategic

Every week without fail, we held a formal executive team meeting where we both reflected on what transpired the past week as well as planned out the future ones.  In our planning we’d set goals and determine our strategies for achieving them.  We’d talk through our open projects as well as properly reflect on recently completed ones in an effort to grow from our experiences.  We’d hold ourselves accountable and course correct as a business as needed.  Bottom line… our productivity and results both individually as well as as a team skyrocketed!

All in all 2010 was a solid year for us… one that I feel will become a critical stepping stone for much more future success!

So how did you fare in 2010?  what lessons did you learn?


Top 3 Business and Marketing Lessons Learned in 2008

Posted on January 15, 2009 by Dean Mercado in Success 4 Comments

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” – Vince Lombardi

Well yes another year has seemingly breezed by but 2008 was a very different kind of year for so many reasons. The biggest one that comes to mind was all the doom and gloom surrounding conversations about a failing economy. It seemed like so many people were using the supposed failing economy as an excuse to crawl under a rock and die. “Oh no one is spending money right now so they won’t buy my services… it’s that damn economy.  Oh no one is giving me leads anymore… it’s that damn economy. This damn economy is killing me!”

I’m saddened to say that I’ve heard it all this past year!

That venomous message seemed to permeate every orifice of our being – as scary as that sounds!

So as usual as each year passes by there are so many lessons we can learn and grow from each year. And for me there were 3 core ones that I’ll share with you here:

#1 – Don’t Buy Into the Bull
Yes while it’s true that the economy had been in quite a state of flux in 2008, that didn’t mean that I had to sit idly by and suffer. That was completely against all I stand for as I firmly believe that we create our own reality. So my mantra quickly became “if it is to be, then it’s up to me!” It’s up to me to as Ghandi once said “to be the change I wanted to see in the world”. I knew it was time to step up my game in a big way… and I did!

Let someone else do the worrying… Let someone else do the blaming… Let someone else become the ‘victim’… not me… I refused. My credo for 2008 quickly became “When the going gets tough, the tough get marketing”. I decided to live or die by what I do best… marketing! Hey guess what? I’m still here so I guess it worked.

#2 – Focus on My Fastest Path to Cash
No matter what, money does make the world go around; therefore it was critical that I earn my share.

Now you must have heard the saying that ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’. Well my experiences over the past year confirmed for me that this doesn’t have to be the case! The grass can be plenty green right here! I just had to learn how to nurture it better. So this past year I focused diligently on nurturing and growing my most promising and lucrative profit centers. The few that I did choose to do were to be done great. My focus became razor-sharp at marketing, selling and delivering those specific services and those only. Everything else went into what I call the ‘parking lot’ — a repository for items worth consideration at some time in the future — just not now.

#3 – Greater Health Leads to Greater Wealth
I honestly can say that taking the time out of my already hectic schedule to focus on my physical health was the single-most smartest move I made all year!

As my physical health improved so did so many other critical areas of my life. My brain felt sharper… I became more focused… I had more energy… my self esteem climbed through the roof… heck even the air smelled fresher, need I go on?

What did I do differently? Well 3 main things: weekly chiropractic care, regular massage therapy, and I became much more conscious of what I was eating. Hey I lost 23 pounds in 2008… that’s no small feat! However with the right regimen, the right coaching, and a strong desire… it really did happen easily. Big thanks to both my wife Andrea and the team over at DREAM Wellness for all their guidance, support, and care.

So in closing, I’ll tell you that sitting around blaming stuff outside your control will not get you the things you want in life. Tough times will certainly test your will! How bad do you want it? Because I’ll tell you this challenging economy will weed out the weak – that’s for sure! And you know what; maybe that’s not such a bad thing. That’ll just leave more for those who are willing to play a bigger and better game. I intend to continue to raise my game… how about you?

Copyright 2009 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.



1 2   Next »