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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

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Kicking and Screaming … I Can’t … You Can’t Make Me! Rantings of a Two Year Old, or Was That Me Resisting My Destiny as a Small Business Owner???

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Andrea Mercado in Success 11 Comments

“I can’t … I can’t do it!”  That’s my two year old daughter’s latest thing.  Anything I ask her to do, she says “I can’t”.  So I tell her “You can!  You can do anything!”  Oh wait a minute…   Do I believe that I can do anything?  Sometimes not so much.  So now I think it is time for me to start setting an example.  How can I tell her she can do anything if I don’t think or operate like that myself?  I have been guilty of the “I can’t” excuse a lot in the recent past.  My most popular one was “I can’t leave my comfy job and my nice guaranteed paycheck!”  (By the way, nothing in life is really guaranteed, is it?  Oh yeah, that death and taxes thing right?)  I secretly begged God that my husband would give up the idea of having our own small business and that he would just get a “regular” job.  At the same time, I prayed that he was right and that we could really have the “dream lifestyle”.  The dream lifestyle for us is to be at home more often than not so that we can raise our kids ourselves.  We also wanted to be able to have work that we really enjoyed and that gave us the satisfaction of doing something that made a difference for others.  I worked in New York City for 18 years; commuted on the train four hours a day.  I was bored out of my mind and miserable.  I was standing at the edge of a cliff, looking over and wanted so badly to take the leap, but I kept backing off (metaphorically speaking of course!).  It was terrifying.  What if we lost everything?  What if we had no food and I couldn’t buy makeup?   And I’d have to wear my glasses because I didn’t have the money to buy new contact lenses!  Or worse, maybe we would have to move in with our parents?  But seriously, it really was very scary.

Then I got pregnant with my daughter.  Because of some complications I had she was born two months early.  So while I was peering over that cliff, someone came up behind me and pushed me off!  No warning, no time to prepare … I was out!  I didn’t go back to my comfy cushy 9-5 job in New York City.  I wouldn’t leave my baby with someone else only to see her for an hour a day if I was lucky enough to get home in time.  Two years later, I now know that it was the best thing that ever happened to me.  I could never go back to the life I had before, nor would I want to.  Being pushed into that decision was like ripping off a band-aid that you know has had its last legs in one fell swoop.  It stung for a bit, but then after a while it started to feel better and better.  It’s not easy making those kinds of decisions.  There is so much unknown in running a small business, but I knew that if we wanted something different for ourselves we had to do something different.

In the movie Steel Magnolias, Julia Roberts’ character has a line that goes “I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.” (Sorry guys for the “girl movie” reference).  If you don’t take a chance or make some kind of move you will never know what you may have missed.  Take a chance, make a leap!  Take a small step towards something you have been thinking about for years.  It doesn’t have to be an uncalculated or drastic move like picking up and leaving your job and starting a business.  I wouldn’t recommend that to just anyone.  But maybe you just start doing some research about what you might like to do.  Or maybe you already have a small business and it’s getting out there and really promoting yourself the way you know you should be doing.  Look, I’m taking another leap right here!  This is my first official article and blog post for Online Marketing Muscle. It’s scary because I don’t know what people will think of it.  Do I write well enough?  Do I make sense?  But I made the decision to just go for it.

Another great quote I always call to mind is “I’d rather regret the things I have done than the things that I haven’t .” — Lucille Ball Sometimes you need that push off the cliff to get going.  Maybe you need to hire a coach for your small business.  (Hint, hint … Dean Mercado is an awesome marketing coach!)  OK, that was a plug, but hey, it’s my article.  I can do anything!


3 Simple Steps to Create the Business of Your Dreams – A Business that’s On Purpose

Posted on January 1, 2008 by Dean Mercado in Success Leave a comment

Imagine for a moment that at this same time next year, you have accomplished everything you’ve ever wanted… and more… for both yourself, and for your business.

Is that possible? Why of course! In order to accomplish that though, there are three very important components that you’ll need to put into practice:

First, be crystal clear on what it is you want.

As crazy as this may seem, in my many years of experience as a marketing coach and consultant, this is the number one breakdown I see entrepreneurs and small business owners make time and time again. They simply don’t know what they want! And believe me, it’s very difficult to get what you want if you don’t know what it is.

Essentially they’re like a dingy floating aimlessly in the ocean… instead of rowing towards a specific destination… a destination they choose… they let the tide push them around at will… all the while hoping the tide will push them somewhere good… not really knowing where that somewhere good is until they get there… and the sad truth is, is that since they’ve not chosen their destination, there’s a strong chance that they will never get what they want.

I don’t know about you, but that scenario scares me a bit. It scares me enough to dedicate ample time on a regular basis to get crystal clear on what it is I want. And the interesting part about this is that what we want, will and does change in one way, shape, or form over time… and that’s okay… that’s a good thing. There’s nothing worse than blindly continuing on a path to something we once wanted, only to find out that when we’ve gotten it, it wasn’t what we wanted any longer… as a matter of fact, we’ve wanted something different for quite a while… we’ve just negligently avoided revisiting our desires. Implementing regular checkpoints along the way should prevent this from happening.

Second, put a solid plan in place to achieve it.

I don’t care if you only take 5 minutes and jot it down on the back of a napkin… I’m a firm believer that every business needs a plan… for me, that’s both a business plan and a marketing plan. The business plan at a minimum should dictate the “who”, “what”, “when”, “where”, and “why” your business exists and your marketing plan should spell out the “how” you will get it done. The marketing plan must directly support and tie into your business plan… there’s no place for autonomy here.

As far as I’m concerned, a plan is not a plan unless it’s written down… just having it in your head doesn’t work effectively… I’m sorry to break it to you. Additionally, it’s not a viable plan unless it is shared with and supported by your team. Just like sports, business simply happens better with a team approach. Accountants, Coaches, shipping companies, your staff… these are all members of your team… get them involved… give them a chance to help you further your cause.

Third, diligently work your plan.

It’s not enough to create a plan and then file it away somewhere to collect dust. You need to diligently work that plan… making adjustments as needed along the way… all the while keeping your eye on the prize… that is, what it is you want.

So in closing, please know that there are no shortcuts here… you need all three of these components to purposely manifest what you want for your small business. If you’re unclear on how to approach these three steps, don’t be shy, get some help… bring in a coach or a consultant to help you make it happen. Bottom line is don’t be a victim of circumstance… create your business on purpose!

Copyright 2008 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.


Marketing Case Study: "So Sarah, What Do You Do?"

Posted on September 30, 2007 by Dean Mercado in Networking 1 Comment

Recently I was at a business networking event and as I usually do, I was going about my business and working my plan of what I wanted to accomplish while there. For me, my goal was to connect with at least 10 prospects for my coaching program. And then it happened… again.

We make eye contact and I walk over to introduce myself. Hi I’m Dean Mercado a marketing coach with Online Marketing Muscle… blah, blah, blah.

She goes ahead and tells me her name… and for our purposes here I’ll just call her Sarah. A bit a small talk ensues. And then we get to the often asked and much dreaded question, “So Sarah, what do you do?”

Sarah’s face begins to turn red as I can see the nervousness start to come on. Then she broke out into this whole what seemed like a dissertation that spoke of everything except answer my question… Sarah, what do you do?

As she trudged on and on about what she does… the hole she was digging kept getting deeper and deeper… it was clear that she wasn’t sure what she did or wanted to do as her business. And in her unsureness, she made it very difficult for me to understand what she did. So instead of cutting and running, which is probably what most people would have done, I decided to play along and began asking some probing and clarifying questions.

As her long-winded answers finally started to take form, not only was Sarah involved in businesses in two totally unrelated fields, but she couldn’t clearly communicate to me what she did in either of them, or why I should care.

So being a marketing coach, like a reflex, my “coaching hat” turned on and I gently asked if she was open to some coaching… she eagerly said yes… and we spent the next several minutes helping her get clear on what she did as a business and why someone should care.

The good news is that feedback from Sarah at the end of the networking event was very positive as she felt she made some solid connections that could pan out for her — she was genuinely grateful.

The bad news here though, is as an avid networker, regardless of the networking event, I run into people like Sarah all the time. I recognize it so clearly because I used to be just like her — completely confused about what I did or who I did it for. All the while trying to get several business opportunities off the ground at the same time — none of which I might add did very well. It wasn’t until I chose one to run with and got real clear on what I did and who I did it for that it began to take off.

So in closing, the moral of this story is if you’re not crystal clear on what you do and who you do it for, there is no way I’m going to be — and a confused mind certainly doesn’t buy.

Copyright 2007 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.


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