Last week, our article was about how storytelling has worked for thousands of years to get a message across and have it stick. I got to wondering why it works so consistently, so I did a little research and here’s what I found.

Stories are fun or interesting or engaging or profound or touching or scary or, well, you get the picture. But why they ‘stick’ in our heads was an interesting question to me and my research taught me about the physiological and chemical changes that happen in our brains when we hear a story.

In a previous article, we took a look at making a five-year plan for your business. The next step is to put that plan into action. What resources do you need? What steps do you need to take to get started? To make it even more challenging, you’re also trying to predict future events you might not fully be able to control.

Getting started is pretty simple though, and it begins with writing your plan down. There are many good reasons for writing down your business or marketing plan. This makes you take the time to think your plan through and will make you feel more confident in it.

One of the most fulfilling things you can do is share your knowledge and experience by mentoring someone who is passionate to learn what you know. Sharing what you know as a mentor can be just as powerful for you as it is for your mentee.

There are different scenarios for the mentor-mentee relationship. Sometimes mentors and mentees are actually employed at the same business, and the relationship may develop informally or by mandate. Other times, the relationship develops between two people who are not commonly employed and don’t work together in any way. On occasion, you’ll find a paid mentoring program such as our Infusionsoft Mentor Program. Often the relationship is initially pursued by the mentee when they have defined a need and know you have the skill and experience to help them meet that need.

We all love our gadgets. From our classic kitchen appliances to the latest and greatest cell phone app, we’re surrounded by them. They’re great when they work. It’s when they don’t work that things begin to get complicated.

Technology giveth and sometimes technology taketh away it seems. 

It’s about a month until Q4. Do you have your marketing strategy ready to roll? Without a plan, you’ll flounder for one more quarter and be in exactly the same position at the start of Q1 as you are today.

We just created a simple checklist for you and your team to put some clarity and organization around your Q4 marketing, with an eye towards getting better results for you.

Get the checklist.

Here’s to a brilliant Q4!

The antique shop on the corner is really neat. You go through the door, and on your left there’s a 1910 Victrola, beautifully preserved. Overhead are some ladies’ hats and clothing from local merchants, proudly handmade. Everything in the store calls you back to a simpler time when craftsmanship counted and automated machines weren’t stamping out cheap, shoddy products by the millions.

While the stroll back through time might be fun, don’t let that yearning for yesteryear fool you into thinking automation and quality can’t go hand in hand. Automation frees up time, money and resources so you can concentrate on your business. It means one less hat you have to wear during the course of a busy day.

On your way to the office, you notice a fellow in a flannel shirt hanging out at Starbucks, his tablet in hand. A block down you spot a middle-aged woman in a café staring keenly at the contents on her laptop. You pass a park and smile to yourself when you see a young couple kicking back in the grass with their headphones on. If only you had the day off like them.

In fact, those people are all hard at work. With real-time global communication and mobile everything, the ‘office’ has gotten a lot bigger these days. Instead of staring at dull walls and cubicles, you can get things done in an environment that relaxes you and helps you do your best work.

Featured Resource this week - Infusionsoft

The Sales & Marketing Software for Small Business.

Customer & Marketing management: Manage and automate all facets of your customer relationships. Infusionsoft revolutionizes the way small businesses drive and manage their growth. With a robust dose of marketing automation, Infusionsoft replaces your diverse incompatible systems and provides you with an "all-in-one" solution that leaves you with more time to strategically grow your business.

Check out others who we recommend - solid vendors and products that could benefit your business today.

Featured Resource this week - Copy Doodles

Handwriting and hand-drawn enhancements have been used for years in advertising and marketing because they are a proven way to grab attention and increase response and readability. There is NOTHING out there that matches the quality, expertise and level of support you get when you become a CopyDoodles member.  Their extensive library of direct-response marketing graphics features thousands of hand-drawn CopyDoodles, which can be easily downloaded to your computer and placed on any of the online or offline marketing pieces you are working on in a snap.

Check out others who we recommend - solid vendors and products that could benefit your business today.

Do you remember all those predictions for the future? Some of the wilder ones included flying cars, colonies on Mars and personal robots to cater to your every need. What about your prediction for your business? Where will you be next year, or in 5 years?

While the future is always a little murky, it’s important to create long-term goals for yourself and your business. The best business plans are more than just documents you create and stick in a drawer somewhere. They’re more than just simple vision statements. Instead they’re living roadmaps for reaching your goals.

Featured Resource this week -

 One Click Upsell

If you sell products, services or entry to events, using Infusionsoft's order forms, and you are not leading the new buyer to an immediate up sell, YOU ARE LEAVING MONEY ON THE TABLE!!!

Check out others who we recommend - solid vendors and products that could benefit your business today.

Featured Resource this week -

Change the RULES of Mobile Marketing.

Before now, mobile marketing was severely limited. You could only send a single text in response to a single incoming text message. This caused people using mobile marketing to settle for less than effective marketing strategies.

Check out others who we recommend - solid vendors and products that could benefit your business today.

Featured Resource this week -

Change the RULES of Mobile Marketing.

Before now, mobile marketing was severely limited. You could only send a single text in response to a single incoming text message. This caused people using mobile marketing to settle for less than effective marketing strategies.

Try Automated SMS for Only $1!

Check out others who we recommend - solid vendors and products that could benefit your business today.

Featured Resource this week -

Sherrie at SLS Event Planning and Consulting LLC, organizes, sets up, and manages various corporate, public, and private events and meetings.

We’ve known Sherrie a long time and have confidence and respect for her amazing event planning skills, so please give her our regards when you call.

Check out others who we recommend - solid vendors and products that could benefit your business today.

If you work within the current craze of open office space, or even in a home office or on the beach, you know what it’s like to try to focus when there’s activity and distraction surrounding you.

Kerry and I have separate adjacent offices but they’re not hermetically sealed so sound travels and it’s easy to get distracted. When you’re trying to do creative work or focus for productivity, it can be downright annoying when the noise around you breaks your concentration and you have to start again.