Archives for December 2015

Got Your Shopping On?

December 26, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Now’s the time to shop for the things you wanted but didn’t get, exchange the gifts you got two of or were the wrong size, or just get out of the house and enjoy your vacation time.

This is the time of year we eat and drink too much, sit around and watch basketball and football, and assess 2015 and prepare for 2016.

Not sure if you saw this coupon on Facebook or not.

It was an intriguing social media marketing approach. Tried it but didn’t get a coupon so not sure if it is just another scam. There were some good elements in it though.

40% Off

Target is a retailer that has a good variety of products for sale – from clothes to groceries to electronics and housewares. And in the world of 10% to 20% coupons, 40% is enough to catch your eye.

“Simply Invite 2 Friends to Get a Coupon”

It seems so easy. Just click the link and share it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc. If two people click the link, you get the coupon. Another version of multi-level-marketing or the good old pyramid scheme.

“Holiday Shopping Spree”

Timely. With people doing post-Christmas shopping – exchanges or purchases with Christmas cash, it ties in to what people are thinking and doing this time of year.

Here’s another holiday offer from Guitar Center.

So what are some of the good elements here?

“New Year Sale”

Tells you what to expect. Kind of worn out as a phrase but we’ll see what else is there.

“After-Christmas Sale – Deals Up to 68% Off – In-Store – Today Only”

There’s a lot of good stuff here – probably should have been a bigger part of the ad instead of the New Year Sale headline.

“After-Christmas Sale” – This is more in line with shopping instead of New Year Sale. People aren’t thinking of the New Year as much as spending Christmas cash.
“Deals Up to 68% Off” – That is a really big number and a non-rounded number to catch your eye and get you thinking, “What item is 68% off that I could get?” Keeps you clicking further.
“In-Store” – Tells you you need to get to the store to get the item for that cheap – so no internet shopping from home.
“Today Only” – Good urgency. With Guitar Center coupons though they have them all the time so the urgency has worn off somewhat due to the volume of emails when you subscribe to their e-newsletter.

Alright, what else is on the page of interest?

“Don’t See The Deal You Want? Call Now”

A good way to get another chance to get them off the couch. Have a salesperson answer the call and tell them about other offers that might interest them further. Another way to draw them into a purchase.

So as a business owner, what holiday offers are you making? Are they showing some great deals? Some timely tie-in? And a little urgency?

Or are you looking to make that end-of-year purchase to make your holiday season brighter?

For me I’m kicking off my “2016 Goal Attainment Challenge”. For those of you who read this blog regularly, you’re probably the type of person who makes things happen. Who wants to improve yourself and make next year even better than this year.

If that is you come join me. There’s only six days left and we already have a good group of nine people signed up to participate. You’ll have weekly check ins, a monthly progress check, online forum for cheerleading successes, sharing challenges for others to help with, and accountability conference calls to help you overcome the inertia we all feel once we get past the excitement of the holidays. You choose the goals you want help achieving.

It should be fun. If you’re not yet on board, accept the challenge today.

[2016 Goal Attainment Challenge] Will You Be Able to Cut a BB with a Samurai Sword?

December 20, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzhs1Z8Rwnk[/youtube]

After joining us for the “2016 Goal Attainment Challenge” you may not be able to cut a BB being shot at you, with a a Samurai sword. But you may massively exceed whatever goals you’ve previously set for yourself (or never bothered to set in the first place).

Why?

Because there is follow up, accountability, cameraderie, and celebration to keep you motivated and on track.

How many times have you set New Year’s goals. Only to have them fade from your memory after a month?

How many times have you joined a gym only to stop going a month or two into the membership?

Have you ever felt stuck in your job or wanted to be your own boss but it was always something you would get to later?

Tried to lose weight or start exercising regularly only to slip back into your old habits?

Well if you’ve experienced any of these things then the “2016 Goal Attainment Challenge” is for you.

None of us are superhuman like the Samurai on the video. But you do possess everything you need to attain your goals. And coupling what you have already inside you plus the accountability, feedback and a group of people who are struggling to best their inner demons who constantly try to derail them too, you’ll likely see more progress that you’ve seen when you’ve tried before.

Now this is not magic bullet. You still have to do your part. You won’t hit your exercise goals just sitting on the couch watching TV. If it was that easy we’d have a nation of super-humans sitting on the couch.

Or if you want to progress in your career, there will be steps you need to take to increase your chances of success.

Or if you just want to try something new and exciting in the coming year, this will be your motivation to go for it.

Life to too short not to challenge yourself to new heights…and have fun in the process.

And if you’re motivated to reach your goals this year then email me today. By doing so you won’t pay any fee to join this test (beta) group of 20 people. I do ask for your feedback and commitment to give your all so I can later share your success story with future participants.

I’m excited to get this rolling since it is something I’ve always felt has been missing for everyday people like you and me to achieve their goals. There are lots of programs for certain goals.

Weight Watchers for weight loss
Alcoholics Anonymous for stopping drinking
Mastermind groups for business owners
Personal Trainers for exercise

They all help hold you accountable and cheer your success. But this is a little different.

This is specific to setting and achieving 2016 goals. And it doesn’t leave you on your own or with a friend to struggle along. You have others in the group to cheer you along. And call you out if you’re not putting in the effort or slacking off 🙂

Ultimately, if you want to look back on 2016, in a more positive light than you have in past years, then come join us. You’ll have fun and achieve more.

Five of the 20 slots are already filled so contact me today before it fills up.

Just Say No! to Horrible Bosses

December 19, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

Now you probably don’t have a boss as bad as those in the movie, “Horrible Bosses”. But what can you do?

First lets learn more about what a good boss, a successful manager, looks like. Hopefully you can be a boss who demonstrates a better way to manage that empowers your employees to achieve more, work harder for your company goals, and enjoy themselves so that they refer more like-minded people to constantly improve the team and the results.

Who wouldn’t want that? So read on…

We’ve all had good managers and bad managers and those in between.

Good management, like good business, is built on trust. When trust is there, more work gets done, done right, on time, the first time.

Old school yelling and kicking desks is out. Team feedback and involvement is in.

Looking over the infographic it is amazing that 71% of employees aren’t fully engaged. And 60% would work harder if their relationship with their boss improved.

Think about that.

Imagine how much more your group or company could accomplish if the engagement was increased another 10-20%. Do you have bosses who are supporting their team’s efforts to drive to greater success? Or do you have bosses who are tearing apart their teams or ruling with an iron fist? Looks what you’re leaving on the table.

The other interesting fact was that a third of the employees would prefer a better boss over a raise and a third make them feel underappreciated and unmotivated.

Wow! So which third are those people in your company? What could you do to improve their engagement?

Replace a bad boss (I don’t recommend murdering them as the movie suggested)? Usually this is the best approach because typically bad bosses are not coachable (because their world view doesn’t typically open them up for coaching – those that are coachable often are already good bosses and may just need fine tuning).
Leave the bad boss. If you have a bad boss who isn’t retiring soon or likely to be fired soon, you may be better off finding a new job that gets you out from under their tyrannical rule. Why suffer if management won’t resolve the issue.
Take it to HR. Sometimes this works but is definitely a potential political risk that could doom your career within a company (even if they all know the person is a horrible boss who may be breaking all kinds of harassment and hostile workplace laws). People are strange that way and they often don’t want to be confronted with a situation that requires a solution that they aren’t prepared to pull the trigger on (like having to find a new boss when the boss’s boss hasn’t been engaged and doesn’t know how do do what the boss is responsible for).

So as we’re nearing the new year, are you in the 2/3 or 1/3 group?

If you’re in the 2/3, who has a good boss, congratulations! Know that you have a great opportunity to show your stuff, increase your skills and knowledge, and contribute to a great team. Recognize that and make the most of your time there.

If you’re in the 1/3, who are struggling under a bad boss, what options do you have?

Well a lot of that depends on you, your skillset, the options within your company and industry. It also depends on where you are in your career and your connections.

But if you’re not happy and not learning in the environment you are in, and if you have a bad boss that is driving that unhappiness, you can either suck it up (hoping that the end is near) or you can look for other opportunities elsewhere.

Often what holds us there, like an abusive relationship, is fear of what is out there, and a certain comfort knowing the bad you’re dealing with and knowing how to react. Those two things often hold people back from pursuing something more fulfilling.

But recognize that life is short. Too short to suffer for very long under a bad boss or in a bad work environment.

So what are things looking like for you heading into 2016?

Maybe now is the time to re-evaluate. As the holidays and time off work approaches, how might you figure out your priorities and goals for next year.

How did your goals progress this year? Did you achieve most of them? Or did you get distracted from them or just plain forgot them this year?

When you were successful in achieving your goals, did someone hold you accountable?

Well 2016 is not the time to suffer with a bad boss, or suffer through another year of underachieving. You’re better than that.

Want to achieve more?

Join me for a beta test of a new goal attainment and accountability program I’m testing out. I’m kicking this off on January 1st so join now. I’m also limiting this beta test to 20 people. If that is you, let me know now before I close it down.

Here’s to a successful 2016! And an end to horrible bosses everywhere.

Why Bill O’Reilly is Right That Americans Should be Cynical

December 17, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

Bill O’Reilly crusaded to pass Kate’s Law”. This was a bill that would mandate a five-year prison sentence for any illegal immigrant who is deported and then re-enters the country illegally. This grew out of Bill’s frustration with the impotence of the Federal Government and a reaction to “Sanctuary Cities” that protected illegals from deportation.

Bill honestly felt that the bill would slide through Congress, no problem.

But it didn’t.

Why?

Because everything inside the Beltway is political. There is no right or wrong. Everything there is about winning re-election or getting some political gain for the politician and his/her interest group that gets them elected.

And in this case closing the border is a “third-rail” issue that no one wants to touch (except Trump).

It used to be that Congress always had an overriding concern for Country that political gamesmanship would never break. Yes, there could be differences of opinion on how grave a threat was and what should be done about it. But you would never believe that our Congressmen and women would put the American people’s safety knowingly at risk.

But that has all changed. You see it on both sides of the aisle. Republicans used to stand up for national defense and a strong economy. Not so anymore. Democrats used to stand up for union members and the downtrodden. Now they just use them as pawns. And their constituents pay the price.

And that is the reason Donald Trump has such a following. He attracts from both parties. The disenfranchised who feel scared for their safety and their future. They see terror attacks and are working two jobs to pay the bills – if they can even get a job.

And their cost of living keeps going down as the middle class is squeezed out. Whether it is because of double-digit health insurance increases. Or commuting long distances to get a decent paying job to keep the creditors at bay. Middle class Americans are suffering.

Is Donald Trump the answer? I wouldn’t put all my life’s eggs in his basket. No future President is worth that risk. But he does hit some major points around security, jobs, and crushing the career politicians’ way of doing business in Washington.

And Americans are not willing to continue down this road to hell. The rise of the outsider is upon us.

As an entrepreneur, are you suffering the same fate as our middle class? Are all the rules designed to keep you from succeeding? Why follow the same path that is the design of your destruction?

As you see Trump, Carson, Cruz and Fiorina show us, there are alternative ways of looking at things. And sometimes an outsider’s view is all you need to break those bonds that are holding back your success.

Need a guide through this “Mad Max” world? Let me know.

Predictive Analytics – Your Future Opportunities

December 16, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

A while back I was clicking on the like button on Facebook.

Something I often do while getting ready to start my day.

It is an upbeat way to start my day – acknowledging what others find fun and interesting enough to share with their world of friends and family.

A like here on a sunset picture. A like there on a party photo. Or someone on vacation. It is just nice to feel part of something bigger than yourself.

So one time I came across an advertisement on Facebook while I’m clicking like buttons.

It intrigued me since it matched up to something I was interested in. Namely analysis.

I’m somewhat of an analysis junkie. I like to find patterns in things. And better ways to do things. Or how to get more from the same or fewer resources.

And I have a competitive spirit that likes to win.

Trust me…this is going somewhere.

So I clicked on this ad from Villanova University. I don’t know much about Villanova other than they had a good college basketball team back in the 90’s when I was watching lots of college basketball games when Dick Vitale announced the games. He made the games exciting.

So other than basketball, didn’t know anything about their analytics masters degree but I thought I’d check it out. Who knows, might be another career for the future.

Well I quickly learned it wasn’t for me. Besides the hefty price tag (and no, I have no intention of loading myself down with a bunch of student loan debt that I think is a crock anyway), the program was designed for Fortune 500 level companies. And I know that is the last place I would fit in.

I just don’t like to be a cog in a wheel. I thrive more where I can make a difference. Where you can see the results.

But I do love the analysis.

So today I came across one of their emails (I know I should probably unsubscribe…but you never know where good ideas are going to come from next).

And their email talked about the opportunities in analytics and how companies are embracing the power that data…and the analysis of data…has to grow businesses.

Here it is: Predictive Analysis – The Future of Business

But even though I don’t want to go down this road for big businesses. I love to apply those same principles to smaller businesses who can benefit from some key insights that data brings that they might not ever notice.

Many of the growth opportunities are right in front of their eyes. But they can’t see them because they either aren’t collecting the data. Or they have the data but don’t know how to analyze that information and turn it into actionable growth opportunities for their business.

Those are some of the things that excite me most. Seeing people grasp the power that is in front of them and then using it to the fullest.

Is that you? Are you seeing what your data could be telling you? If not get me involved. You might be surprised where your opportunities may be hiding.