Monday, January 12, 2009

Anticipate and Beat Them There

I was listening intently to my 5th grade son's basketball coach last week. He's a wonderful teacher, and even though I've played a lot of basketball in my time (with the brain still thinking I can do all the moves I did when I was 17!), I learned a lot in his 15-minute instructional time...things that have direct application to our business.

The coach was teaching these aspiring players how to play good defense. He said, "You need to anticipate the path the opposing player will take and then beat him to the spot where he will be going."

Apply this to your business...anticipate the direction technology will be taking and beat your competition to it! Possibly you've never thought about starting your own blog. Now's the time to anticipate what it could do for your business and go for it. On your business blog add value to your customers by teaching them something during each of your posts. If you own a jewelry business, post a piece about the versatility of a certain necklace, etc. If you own a home decorating business, post how a piece can be utilized during Christmas and how it can also be used in decorating for spring. If you own a scrapbooking business, teach people one idea on how to quickly organize their Christmas photos.

Teach your people and then ask a question to get them to respond with their own ideas.

You see, the very things I'm doing with my Dynamic Performance business, are things you can duplicate and apply to your own....and if you're willing to anticipate what might move your business forward now, you'll beat your competition to the finish line!

So...let's practice. Write a short comment that you can use as your first blog entry and post it as a comment on this blog.

What product will you feature?
Briefly explain how it can be used in different ways.

I challenge you to read each others' posts to make your own blog entries better and get additional ideas!

Success to you!
Tonya

"Helping Consultants Get Back to the Basics!"
http://www.TonyaGrimes.com

2 comments:

April barker said...

Ok, I've never tried blogging before or using one of my products like this before but I thought that I would give it a shot!

The wonderful versatility of Bamboo! We offer a collection of Bamboo towels in the Bath section of our catalog. One of the unique properties of Bamboo is that it's anti-microbial and anti-bacterial. This means that these towels never get smelly when wet too long!

Not only do our beautiful towels absorb more water than their 100% cotton friends, but they are incredibly soft and silky as well. This makes them perfect for use in your bathroom but have you ever considered using them in the kitchen as well?

I know my kitchen wash cloth gets smelly and germy within days of being used but with Bamboo wash clothes, you'll have a germ free wash cloth for a whole week! They make great hand towels for drying your dishes because they are so absorbant and again, WILL NOT SMELL!

What about getting a bath sheet to dry your dog after his bath? These multi-functinal towels can be used in many areas of your home!

Ok, well you guys can tell me what you think.

April

Tonya said...

April,
Congratulations on taking the step in writing your first blog post. I'm proud of you. When you put something down in writing, it helps to clarify and solidify your beliefs about something...or in this case, the benefits of a product. You'll be in a better position to sell your bamboo products at your parties because you'll remember what you wrote.

If you start your own blog and want to capture someone's attention, begin your entry like this:

Do your kitchen wash cloths get smelly?

That question provokes attention because everyone has this problem....well, all of us who use something other than bamboo. I have the "smelly kitchen rag" problem and knew there just had to be a solution....and you provided the answer.

So, first peak interest by stating a problem, or by presenting the problem in the form of a question. Then dive into stating the benefits of how the products will help to solve a person's problem.

Take the next step and start your own blog...invite your customers to visit your site. You can even encourage them with free products to leave testimonials for you.

That's great marketing! You can have a super product, but if you don't know how to market it effectively, it doesn't matter how good your product is!

Tonya