A Great Symposium!!

Ted and I were fortunate to have been invited to Sobel & Co, CPA’s 5th Annual Business Symposium on October 26th. Wow – what a great event it was. It’s not often that we attend a business seminar where we walk away with information that will help us improve our business, and also get valuable tips that we can put into action immediately!

Managing Member of the firm, Alan D. Sobel, was the first speaker who discussed “Leading Your Business In Uncertain Times” – his presentation was exceptional. Alan spoke about Yellow Light Leadership from the book of the same name, written by Bruce Pasternak and James O’Toole. His point was that in uncertain times corporate leaders have great opportunities to make the right choices by using good judgment and sharpening their decision making powers. In fact, the research finds that the CEOs whose companies did best weathering the recent downturn were practicing old-fashioned, pragmatic management by the numbers and staying focused on the core business of the company.

The Keynote speaker of the event was Charles Green, author of Trusted Advisor and Trust Based Selling, speaking about “How Smart Companies Make The Sale”. Did you know that most purchasing decisions are based on the buyer’s trust in the seller? He shared numerous anecdotes of how companies won large orders or contracts based on the buyer’s perception of how much they could trust the seller. The other important take-away was that most sales people do not LISTEN! The more we listen to our clients and prospects, the more they will trust us…hence the more they will want to buy from us. So fess up — how well do you really listen? I know I am going to hone my skills in that area starting today.

Thank you Alan and Sally Glick, Principal of the Firm and Chief Growth Strategist, for an excellent and informative symposium. Visit http://www.sobel-cpa.com to learn more about a wonderful accounting and consulting firm offering a broad range of professional services. (And bragging rights here – MarketShare developed their website

Have You Looked at Your Company Website Lately?

It’s pretty much a given that most companies, even very small ones, have had a website for the past few years or longer. The problem is, after a while a website, like many things in life, starts to look a bit outdated.

We recommend to our clients that their websites should be revisited and revised about every three years (if not sooner).

• First of all technology is changing so rapidly that you want to be sure your site meets the newer standards of web design, development, interactivity and search engine optimization/marketing.
• Secondly, many smaller firms do not update their sites regularly with fresh content. This is the key to having a robust and searchable website. Your website should be a resource that clients and prospects turn to when they need information. Regularly updated content is what makes this possible.
• Thirdly, you want your website to be representative of your company in every way. If your website looks tired and outdated, what will prospects and clients think about your entire organization?

Don’t take your website lightly. Take a good long look at it today. Scroll through all the pages. Is it fresh? Is the content valid? When was the last time you added something new about the company? A new photo? A press release? An event? In business today, your website is the portal to your company – as much as your sales and customer service staff are. Treat it well and it will work for you 24/7/365.

MarketTalk – 1st Blog Entry

Welcome to our new Blog, MarketTalk, and to the re-launch of our website.
As with any new venture, getting it off the ground can be a formidable and sometimes frustrating task, and this project was no different for us. Even though we design, develop and produce many websites for our clients throughout the year, and have probably produced hundreds of websites over the past 15 years, our own was a real challenge. We birthed our new child with lots of planning, preparation for its arrival and “intense labor”. Now our “offspring” has arrived and we are all very excited!! We want to show off the new arrival, so please stop by and say hello www.marketsharecomm.com

Staying current in today’s fast-paced business climate is an absolute must for companies, for without moving forward you are really going backward. So take a deep breath, make a strategic plan and jump in with both feet. Add that new product, plan that new expansion, hire a new salesperson, revise your branding, and update your old website or develop a new one! And if you need any help along the way, don’t be shy. Just give us a shout – we’d love to get involved. Once you get started on a new marketing project like we did, you’re going to be wondering how you ever lived without it.