Inspired Marketing Marketing Tips, Tools, and Resources
to Build your Business

May , 2014
In This Issue
Who is BoomerBizBuilder?
My photo

Trudy Van Buskirk, owner of BoomerBizBuilder is a woman's business and marketing coach, trainer, author, writer, and resource (she knows people, books, etc). Her focus is helping people start their own business. She also teaches boomer women and those with disabilities to tell their stories as a way to connect.

As a woman who started and ran several businesses (see the About Me page on her website), Trudy can help with your business and suggest what marketing to do or do it for you then train you on how to  "do-it-yourself".
Think About This Question .....

Do you treat people with kindness no matter what?

Follow-up Links

Marketing Tools

Do you have lots of "organizing ideas" but never get around to designing the forms you'll need to implement them?
 
I've already done some for you. You can start using them right away! 
 
They only cost $9.95 each. Each comes with instructions.  And the best part is that they're done as spreadsheets so you can use them repeatedly.  
 
 Check them out.

Contact me by email to buy copies for yourself. 


You are receiving this newsletter because you have in some way subscribed to my community.


DO YOU LIKE THIS NEWSLETTER?
Please pass it along to your friends, associates and clients who you think would appreciate  it.  Click on the link after the newsletter.

It comes  once a month from Trudy Van Buskirk. of BoomerBizBulder.
 
Join Our Mailing List!
 

It was a beautiful spring day here in Toronto and many people were out walking and window shopping. I was in the Beaches doing a couple of errands. I use a walker and have difficulty shopping in some stores so I'm even more aware of the customer care given.

Sometimes service was someone opening the door for me (I asked and met many "strangers" that way) and once it was asking the person at Tim Horton's to carry my tray over to my table. But in both cases I had to ask. Why should I?

Customer service should be great everywhere and in every business for everyone and not just those of us with disabilities. It should be your focus as a business owner before, during and after a sale.

Read on and learn more about my opinions on customer service as a business owner. 
Customer Service IS Marketing

 

I'll repeat the title - "customer service IS marketing". Think about it. Everything you do before (marketing), during (sales) and after (customer service) is all customer service.

 

It's how you're known and what makes you and your product or service unique. Don't separate customer service and just do it after the sale -- do it all the time.

 

I've written a dozen blog posts in the last few years that I put in my category called Client Service and three of them have customer service in the title.

 

Here are those three:

 

 

We all shop for products which is "retail therapy" for some of us :-) But how aware are you of the service you receive? You always remember poor service and some even tweet about it so others know. But do you recognize good or even great service?  

 

You should get it everyplace all the time. Read more.. 

Women go back to the same hairdresser. Why? You get exactly what you ask for every time. Hairdressers like bartenders listen to you - they're a captive audience. When you find a shop that has an environment that you really like, you stay.  Read more of this post.
Don't you like (and therefore smile) at people who use your name and smile when they talk with you. How do you feel? Pretty good, right? That's another thing that is easy and inexpensive (smiles are free). Do it all the time but read on to find out when it worked for me.


Go to my blog to see what other posts I've put in the client service category and read a few.

 

Keep learning, and until next time.    

Trudy Van Buskirk
Born to Read Book Review

Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
by Malcolm Gladwell

We all know the tale of David and Goliath. The metaphor of someone small winning over a giant is often used to describe us as small business owners succeeding against big business.

But do we know the actual story? In his first chapter Gladwell tells us the details of what actually happened and why. It's a real eye-opener. To quote Gladwell "Each chapter tells the story of a different person - famous or unknown, ordinary or brilliant - who has faced an outsize challenge and been forced to respond. Should I play by the rules or follow my instincts? Shall I persevere or give up? Should I strike back or forgive?"
 
He talks about a middle school parent who volunteered to coach girls' basketball (he had grown up in Mumbai where he played cricket and soccer); class size, education and wealth; a college student's pick of the "right" school; dyslexia and success; the London bombing and what we can learn from it; the Civil Rights movement; the Irish "Troubles". He uses an ordinary person in each of them to describe courage.

As usual he uses facts in each case to back up what he's getting across to us.

Malcolm Gladwell offers a new interpretation of many things - being discriminated against, coping with a disability, losing a parent, or suffering from many apparent setbacks. 

The book makes one think! As it says on the dustcover "... how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity."
 
Buy this book, read it and do what he suggests in it.
A Quote For You ....

Treating people with kindness

One theory says that if you treat people well, you're more likely to encourage them to do what you want, making all the effort pay off. Do this, get that.

 

Another one, which I prefer, is that you might consider treating people with kindness merely because you can. Regardless of what they choose to do in response, this is what you choose to do. Because you can.

 
by Seth Godin
Trudy
Phone 416-778-9976 or email me at [email protected]  
PRIVACY STATEMENT: I will not distribute your e-mail address to anyone - ever. I respect your privacy and *do not* give out or sell my subscribers' names and/or e-mail addresses.

PERMISSION TO REPRINT: You can reprint material from the Inspired Marketing ezine in your own newsletter. Just ask permission by sending an email to  [email protected] . If you do, please notify me when it will appear AND please include this paragraph:
Reprinted from Inspired Marketing by Trudy Van Buskirk of BoomerBizBuilder, a f*r*e*e ezine published to educate and communicate Tips, Tools, and Resources to build your business or your professional practice.

TO SUBSCRIBE FR*E*E: go to http://www.boomerbizbuilder.com  and receive a report *70 Ways to Grow Your Business for Under $100* at no charge.

Some of you don't receive my monthly newsletter regularly because your email provider deletes it. Put [email protected] on your white list or good guys list so you can get all my tips.