On this morning’s Business Insanity Radio Show, I talked with Stan Phelps about enhancing the customer service eexperience. He is one of the founders of the Purple Goldfish Project . A Purple Goldfish is any time a business goes above and beyond to provide a ‘little something extra’.  It’s that unexpected surprise that’s thrown in. It adds to the customer service experience.

We discussed:

1. The myth of meeting customer expectations.

2. Why everyone wants to go to heaven but few want to pay the price (and what this has to do with customer service).

3. Value is the new black.

4. What is a Marketing Lagniappe (LAN- yap)?

My other guests included Terri Lee Ryan who is a seasoned headhunter and writes a popular blog for Chicago Tribune ChicagoNow site, Get Employed!  An avid writer, her first published book, Life Is Just One Big To-Do List. My last guest was Stephen Balzac, “The Business Sensei”, president of 7 Steps Ahead who talked about why leadership is so often ineffective in this kind of economy and how the best leader looks nothing like your favorite movie business hero.

Listen now!

Today, I started my first blog post for AllBusiness.com on their small business blog.  The site gets millions of visitors a month and is one of the premier business sites every month.  I am privileged to be joining Rieva Lesonsky on the blog.

In the first post, I look at the guidelines you need to have if you decide to have a partner in your business.  Check it out!

It was a  rather silly habit I got into a year ago.  Pictures everyday on the website, Daily Mug Shot.  But, I have always loved flip books so why not give this a try.

So here is 365 days of mugshots.  It is amazing how your appearance can change over a year.

Take a look!

One of the ways that South By Southwest (SXSW) picks their panels is to ask the community what they would like to see at the mega-conference.  This year I submitted a panel called, What We Can Learn From Small Town Entrepreneurs. It is based on the upcoming book with Becky McCray.  We will discuss:

How society has changed.  It is cycling away from big: big companies and big retail.  Geographic advantage is shrinking, and competition is everywhere.  In order to thrive under these conditions, it is essential that every business build a community.  Businesses are increasingly using social media to build their reputation and market their business.  Companies spend their marketing dollars to find and participate in online communities based on a specific interest.  In fact, social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are frequently compared to the old time country store, where everyone knew everyone, and friendly conversations lead to doing business together.  Small town entrepreneurs have been building communities to grow their businesses for hundreds of years.  We will unlock the secrets of rural entrepreneurs that can now be used to help anyone build a business regardless of where you are located.  Why small town entrepreneurs?  If every customer can talk to every other customer now, is there anyone who knows how to do business this way?  Small town businesses.  If building community is the new way of marketing, who is still living by community and can teach us?  Small towns.  If the old country store is the model for social media, where do we find them?  Small towns.

If you are interested, vote here for our panel.

I am also presenting with Dave Peck “K.I.S.S. and Your Brand.”

My friends, Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker at SOBCON have also suggested all the panels we should vote for at SXSW.  Check them out.  Lots of great stuff from Liz, Terry, Carol Roth, Jeannie Walters, Lisa Petrilli, Jonathan Fields, Becky McCray, Sheila Scarborough and Scott Stratten.

It’s kind of like Chicago, you can vote more than once!

Many business owners think that the only marketing strategy they need is to build something faster, better and cheaper.  At that point, all customers will run out and buy their product.  The reasoning goes that if I sell them something that is better, they will forget what they are currently using and buy mine the next chance they get.  This is a poor marketing  strategy that is doomed to failure.

Take Waterless Urinals for example.  On the surface, it seems like an idea that most buyers would want to accept.  The need for water is eliminated and this solves a big problem.  The executives that created a marketing plan for the urinals never saw their biggest barrier to entry coming: The Plumbers Union.

In a recent issue of Wired Magazine, they describe the sheer competition from plumbers that Falcon Waterfree Technologies had trying to get their urinal approved for sale.  Why would plumbers want to prevent this product from coming to market?  Simply because it required no water and no plumbing and they were concerned it would affect their business.

After an 8 year battle, the compromise was to let the waterless urinals be installed, but building code would still require the water pipe to the urinals but capped off and not used!  Seems absurd but it worked.

What incumbent is lurking around your new product introduction that may oppose you?

Many small business owners are trapped by their landlords.  During the start up or a growth phase of any company, the owner tends to lease more space than they need.  They get trapped in the fantasy of growth mode with large offices, big build-outs and expensive rents.  The landlord knows just what to feed: your ego!

When a business is flat or shrinks, the large rent expense looms large on the income statement.  With many business owners personally guaranteeing their lease, they lose the flexibility to move to a smaller space when things go south or sideways.  This has been especially true during the most recent recession where many companies are paying rental rates far above market, or have too much space for the current size of their company.

Before you rent any space, think about whether your rent is a marketing or overhead expense. It is only a marketing expense if you are a retail store (location, location, location) or you need to have a Madison Avenue/Michigan Avenue address so your company will be credible.  In the vast majority of non-retail business, you need less office space and less of a location than you may think.  Small businesses are notorious for spending too much money on rent!

In fact, in more and more cases, small businesses can use the tools of technology to not have an office at all and work together virtually.  Great teamwork can be built using various online collaboration and video conferencing tools without incurring the expense of an office.

What if you are already trapped with a high rent? Ask your landlord for a reduction.  Show them your financial statements that you really can’t pay.  You  should not be in business just to pay rent! You will be surprised how  accommodating your landlord will be since they will not be able to rent the space to anyone else at the same price.  Another strategy is to extend the lease with less space at a lower price.

In our internet connected world, rent is never a good expense unless it is a marketing one!

On Business Insanity Radio today, award winning web consultant, Jim Kurkal has his first book hitting the bookstores next week.  It’s called Attention!  This Book Will Make You Money: How to Use Attention-Getting Online Marketing to Increase Your Revenue (affiliate link).  This is Jim’s first book after 15 years of experience.

I loved this book since it is full of actionable items for the small business.  On the podcast, this is what we talked about:

1.  Twenty-six ways to free your mind and market your business differently, including holding a grudge and wearing funny hats!

2.  The  universal truths of selling on the web and how to take advantage of them.

3.  Developing a compelling hook and why we are in the content business.

4.  How to make money from online videos and social media.

5.  Why easy always wins: People only come online for two reasons – to solve a problem or get entertained!

6.  Why Mark Cuban hates Jim Kukral (actually, we did not talk about this so you need to look it up in the book).

Listen to the podcast and read the book!

My two other guests were Ren Carlon with his book, “Profitpreneurship: Creating a business that produces outstanding financial results” where we talk about how profit is sanity and sales are vanity.  Ren discussed how to create a company that is focused on making a profit rather than just building something bigger with more employees.

Lisa Canning, who is the founder of Entrepreneur The Arts talks about how she teaches artists business skills so they can make a living from what they love doing.  This is very important work since most artists (and doctors) really lack skills in this area.  Also, many artists give up their passion because they are unable to financially support themselves.  Listen to the podcast !

You are stuck.  You feel it, right?

The dream is not working any longer.  Sales are down.  Customers are leaving.  You can’t find good people.  You are no longer getting along with your partners.  You have lost that fire.  Sound familiar?

Countless small business owners started their business with the expectation of fame and fortune.  The dreams so clearly depicted on the covers of magazines, with the likes of Donald Trump and Bill Gates, don’t come true for most entrepreneurs.  Waking up from the illusion of overnight success can be debilitating for many entrepreneurs, and many stall before ever achieving the first major success.

So how do you get unstuck?  We consult Carol Roth, Business Strategist and Mike Michalowicz, the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Where ever I go, people always ask me one question: What are the 5 steps to success? They want to know exactly what steps they need to follow so they can get to financial success.

Do the 5 steps exist?  We ask our experts, Carol Roth, Business Strategist and Mike Michalowicz, the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur:

Click here to view the embedded video.