POSITweet: What Businesses Are Thankful for NOW

This week's POSITweet posed the following question: What is your business thankful for? We got some interesting answers.
Amanda Bunting Comen of the Center for Women in Charleston, SC, a non-profit that helps women succeed in many aspects of work and life, commented that she is grateful for members and supporters of the Center. In a time when many non-profits are feeling an economic pinch, it is uplifting to focus on all of those people who care about the Center and continue to support it. We have been a business member of the Center since our early days and can vouch for its value and effectiveness. Check them out at www.c4women.org.
Reese McFaddin, owner of Workplace Benefits in Charleston, SC, tweeted that she was glad we still have health insurance options. With all of the many changes to that industry in recent years, it is comforting to know that someone can still find an affordable policy. Review their offerings at www.benefitwork.com.
Lyn Mettler, President of Step Ahead Web Strategies and Mettler Public Relations in Mt. Pleasant, SC, is grateful for her clients. With so many people cutting public relations dollars, having work to do is a blessing she doesn't take for granted. Because effective, well rounded public relations is important in any economy, visit her web sites at www.stepaheadwebstrategies.com and www.mettlerpr.com.
Terry Hoffman, owner of Digital Blade LLC in Charleston, SC, commented that he is grateful for referrals from friends. Most people find out about his computer support company via referrals. www.digitalblade.com.
Ginny Carson, owner of graphic design firm Decorum LLC in Charleston, SC, is thankful for opportunities to help her clients navigate the challenges of the current market. Because standing out from the crowd is more important than ever, she enjoys really getting creative to make her clients look awesome. www.decorumllc.com.
Michael T. Maher, director of the Charleston Civic Design Center (http://www.charlestoncity.info/dept/content.aspx?nid=345&cid=10744) in Charleston, SC, is glad that forward thinking urban design is needed, available and accessible in Charleston. (He's also grateful that he took the job and came here in the first place so that he could meet his wife - ME!)
Thanks to all of you who contributed to this Thanksgiving edition of POSITweets. We hope you have a remarkable Turkey Day!

POSITweet: Provide it for free? Depends.

The POSITweet question for this week was - should you provide goods/services for free as a loss leader or should you charge for everything?
The answer is - it depends on what industry you're in.
For service providers, it is extremely difficult to create value by providing free services. Clients tend to value services that they pay for. Period. Providing a service for free tends to communicate to others that you do not value your own work. Why should they, when you do not?
Also for services, clients who want freebies tend to be the worst clients. Because they have nothing invested in actually implementing your services/advice, they tend to question it or outright not take it. Then, they turn around and blame you for providing bad service.
Freebie service seekers also tend not to understand what they're getting for nothing. The charge comes from getting someone to give them something for free, not from actually receiving something of value.
For products (and this can include web applications), it is easier to build value by providing freebies. It may be the only way to get someone to try your great new thing.
Providing products for free does require a thoughtful strategy. Who are you targeting? How many loyal customers do you hope to generate? What are the budgetary limits for free items? How can your product gain advertising plugs for free products provided? With the right assistance, these questions can be answered quickly and easily.
Many people have become hooked on a new product they tried for free. Ever heard of Twitter?
Congratulations to Cheryl Smithem for tweeting in the answer that most resembles how we think. (We won't say the "right" answer.)

Make Economic Turbulence Work for You

Ever hear the adage about things seldom going according to plan? It is likely the story of my entire life in one cliche.

One thing I always wanted, though, was to own a small business. I didn't plan for it to be a small business advisory services firm until a few years ago. I'm grateful for the path, however it deviated from my "grand life plan."

Economic turbulence can quickly exhaust the best laid plans of any small business owner. More than ever, down turns are times for forceful, thoughtful, dynamic strategic planning. Use the tips below to help focus your growth planning for 2009.

Be positive. People want to be around positive thinkers and doers, especially when much of what they're bombarded with is negative. It is also invigorating to identify other small business people who are finding ways to grow and succeed regardless of the economy. Some of their good fortune and positive energy may rub off on your business, creating positive returns for you.

Reconnect with your network. During times of economic prosperity, it is easy to become overloaded and forget those sources of good leads in the past. Likewise, it is easy to focus on the most immediate thing. Over the next couple of months, make meaningful reconnections with five people. A person may not refer to you any more simply because you've fallen off their radar. Remind them that you're there.

Objectively evaluate all business opportunities that fit your small business' goals and targets. Now is not the time to make snap judgments or underestimate who is standing in front of you. Take the time, especially if things are slow, to focus on building new bridges and relationships that will continue to serve you, regardless of the economic environment to come. In the next sixty days, make a list of five people who could be effective mutual business partners and make forming a relationship with each of them a reality.

Focus on your profile. You may have more time to experiment with social networking tools for business. Be available to contribute to any reputable media outlet that can use you as a source. Submit for awards and recognition of your skills. If you identify one new means of raising your profile in the next sixty days, you will likely be an expert at it quickly. We have referral outlets who can help you.

Thank people for leads and new business. Sincere recognition of the help others contribute toward your own success is just another way to be positive. With the prevalent doom and gloom out there, personalized thank you's are welcome surprises in any in box or mail box. Wherever you are, adopt this little piece of Southern grace and charm immediately.

Thank you to all of you who help me succeed, who read my newsletter, who pass it along, who recommend me to others, and who value my services. POSITUS wishes you a remarkable Thanksgiving.

Announcing POSITweets

In an effort to continue to embrace the 21st century, POSITUS is rolling out POSITweets, a weekly business advisory question-and-answer community on Twitter. (If you don't already follow us on Twitter, you can do so here http://twitter.com/andrawatkins.) If you haven't fully embraced Twitter yet, that's ok. Our POSITweets will automatically feed into Facebook and onto our POSITUS Points blog (www.posituspoints.blogspot.com to subscribe) for commentary.
Here's how it works:

• We post a small business challenge or dilemma (for example, Is it better to do THIS or THAT?)
• You post your answer (i.e. It is definitely better to do THAT.)
• We recognize the weekly winner and award POSITUS swag.

That's it - Question, Answer, Swag. Look for POSITweets this week.

We Got a Face Lift (on our web site)

Visit our improved web site at http://www.positusonline.com/. We have new Web 2.0 tools, where you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and more. We've also spiffed up our service offerings, added some new visuals, and have lots of new testimonials. You can easily subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter from any page. A link to our blog, http://www.posituspoints.blogspot.com/, is also available, where you can get additional free tips, learn more about what we do, find out why we're a different kind of consulting firm, and get regular updates on our awesome clients. You can subscribe to all of these cool tools right from our site. Let us know what you think!