Does Remembering Passwords Drive You NUTS!!

Are you sick and tired of trying to remember passwords?

Now with security such an important issue on the internet, it is important to keep your data safe …. but how on earth do you remember all those passwords - particularly now when such a lot of suppliers are asking for mandatory and complex passwords that contain capital letters, numbers and sometimes even characters that were only ever used to represent swear words :-)

The solution I use is called PassPack

It's a free password manager.  It works equally well for business or private use.  I know there are many more options but this one is currently working well for me.

It is a relatively simple to use tool that allows you to organise your passwords in a simple, yet secure environment.

It Lets You Decide Who You Share With

What I most love is that the free version allows me to share whatever passwords I select with my virtual assistant.  So if I change a password for instance, I only have to update it in one place and next time Melissa needs to log in to set up a newsletter or update a blog post - then its really easy for her to find the password and go to work.  Its not so easy for me to remember to update all the passwords I change :-) but user error will always plague any system!

Its As Safe As I Need

You can read about the security measures Passpack use to protect your data here then decide if its right for you.  It sure beats those little notepads so securely stored in an unlocked top draw!

I am a great believer in putting the right systems in place and then believing I am safe.

Even at The Cute House I have a full back to base security system and if it goes off the burly security guards from Central Highlands Security swing by and figure out what set the alarm off.  I've never had any trouble in a town where petty theft is rife.  Is that luck or is that the crims simply move to an easier target?  I had to smile - there was a piece in the paper about a string of cars being broken into in a certain street.  At the end of the article it did mention the cars who had items removed also co-incidently were the ones that weren't locked!   I still can't believe people need to be reminded not to write the pin on their ATM card - DUH! 

But in a world where the cat won't meow unless you enter an 8 digit secure password, it sure becomes stressful trying to remember them all.

Gone are the days when you could use one password for everything - not only does that sort of lapse security leave you wide open for unwanted visitors into your electronic world, that strategy falls short when you are asked to add capital letters and numbers.  

You type it in believing you will never forget, but just try to recall it under time pressure!

It's just not safe anymore to have your dogs name, kids birthdays or maiden name.  Even a really thick crim could go to your facebook page and easily find that sort of information in a flash.  But sadly even the crims in the striped t-shirt and black eye masks are a thing of the past.  You are most likely to be hacked, packed and sacked by a spotty faced kid in a darkened room or a machine these days.  Both are REALLY smart and in the flash of an eye can read your facebook page and go party with your credit card.

In business we really need to get serious about the security of our data and one way is to use a system like PassPack.  

As always discern which system is right for you

Passpack works for me because it lets me log in automatically - safely share with others and I'm able to access it anywhere with an internet connection, plus it does heaps more cool stuff.  There are also a lot of my peers who use and recommend this system, which always gives me a sense of added safety.  I do need Oli to come around and install some of the more advanced features for me - but even at its basic level - it makes my life a lot easier. 

You can take the tour here

Full disclosure:  I get no affiliate payments or rewards from this company - at the time of writing I recommend it because its the solution I use and find helpful

A New Way To Voice Your Business

Technology can be a great friend to us in business.  This blog post was written or rather spoken into speech recognition technology and then edited.

As this technology becomes easier to use it makes posting a blog a really simple exercise.

All you need to do is simply talk what you want to say and the technology transcribes that into text for you.

I downloaded a free Dragon Dictation app to my iPad - pressed the red button and the inbuilt microphone picked up my voice and the software converted it (mostly OK) to text within seconds.

I just spoke into my iPad and then e-mailed the document to my main computer for editing - how cool is that!

You can edit in the app screen but I think its always a little easier to do it on the big screen.

What I find though with my funny Kiwi accent is that it can sometimes get the words horrifically wrong but I figure I was going to be typing it anyway and that can be fraught with error!  Plus I always find it easier to edit text that has been written for me, rather than writing it from scratch and then editing it.  After I email the text to myself, its simply just a matter of going in and editing something that is already 90% written.

I could see how technology like this could really help you if you are a two fingered typist.  It would help you do things a lot quicker and also be able to get the message out faster and in your unique voice. 

I think it's brilliant and as time goes on the technology will get better and I'll learn the words it has trouble with and adjust the way I speak.  With each step forward it will mean less time at the screen, less time at the desk and more time having fun at what we love to do, which is helping people.

You can also use the technology to do posts to Facebook.  That's really easy - press the red button - state what's on your mind - edit from the iPad and press the share button.  You would of course need to be connected to the internet to have it post, but the software runs on mobile phones as well.

I daresay there's lots of ways you can use this software and I'd have to say wow - pretty cool - pretty fun!

The only downside is that it just records in short bursts and so you have to record little bite sized chunks and send them through.  I'm sure there's a paid version somewhere that will allow me to make longer recordings, but until it totally frustrates me, I'm happy working one paragraph at a time!

Are you the irritating or cool kid on the facebook block?

This cracked me up today when I received it from Tina Forsyth in Canada. She is promoting social media training and one of her people wrote this to her:

"This [video #1] really resonated with me I am in that social media car right now. I thought my GPS was programmed then disaster struck. Those storms we've all been having knocked the satellite out of orbit and my GPS has crashed. I started off following people I tried engaging with them but its like I'm that irritating kid all the other kids hide from. Tina and Lena, I really need to be one of the cool kids and master my social media online - will you both help me?"

There were long periods of advanced "uncoolness" for me when I was a child and this funny but very true observation really resonated with me.

As a quiet observer of social media I've seen a lot of "suckiness" - "trying to push into the cool gang" - "try hards" and "skites" - the latter we were never allowed to attempt as kids - over tooting your own horn was seriously frowned upon.  As I've grown up, I've come to realise a bit of shameless self promoting is definitely ok when you really have something to celebrate..... but everyday - pleeeazzee!

Social media to me seems to imitate life - the internet in general is amazing in the way it does this.

Yesterday a friend was sharing the massive cull she had in her 5,000+ facebook list stating she couldn't be meaningful with that many people. I'd confess I don't know this person well but she sure went up many notches in my eyes with that one simple post.

As I sit looking in, I see yet again how being in your truth shines through and how having the guts to cull your list when everyone seems to be racing around friending everyone in sight and liking for the sake it, is the flavour of the day.  Their shallowness shows in these activities as much as they would if you ran around a cafe shoving business cards in the face of total strangers.

I've had a few of those float through my life over the years in many different guises.

When I was playing in bands you used to get it a lot - people loved to hang with you just because you were the band.  They never got to know you or figure out who you really were, they just wanted some of whatever they thought you had, to rub off on them.

At one point there were so many people in the band corner where we used to sit between sets, that the band couldn't even get in!  Curious because they were the worst seats in the house and you couldn't actually see the band properly from that corner anyway.  The actual band members eventually had to sit in the kitchen because there was no room for us.  The band corner was still pumping though, but they hadn't noticed to actually BE with the band you would need to move to the kitchen, but they could go to work the next week and tell all their mates they were in the corner "with the band".  Such is rock and roll!

But the people who truly were "with the band", were the ones who helped us pack up two ton of equipment at midnight and load it into the van in the rain, or consoled us when we bombed - those people's names I remember years on.  In fact I can remember every line on their face, every challenge they encountered and every tear they shed, because they just weren't there in the good times, we had a two way relationship and we were there for each other for the long haul.

It may take a little longer but being yourself, building meaningful relationships and speaking your truth, not just what you think everyone wants to hear will bring much longer term results.  I'm starting to observe a lot of people culling their lists - not just facebook but all lists.

Infusionsoft my new CRM system recommends culling your list every six months.  That was a very hurty place for me considering how hard I worked to build it.  But I figure they know more than me, so I've been putting pressure on my list to see who remains standing.

Remember that old saying from the 60's - it always had an accompanying butterfly picture :-)

If you love something
Set it free ........
if it comes back its yours
if not it was never meant to be

In a three month period I have lost a few, certainly not as many as I expected which is lovely but curiously the ones who left had never actually transacted anything major with me.  My new CRM system tells me a lot about people and guess what - most of the people who flew the coup were all the ones who had floated in, picked up the free stuff and left when the pressure went on.  So very rock and roll!

The other few were people who came on early in my ramblings and my message has changed and no longer serves them because they aren't therapists.  The rest have stayed put, I guess because the message is still meaningful or I've done things in the past that allow me some slack.

I've come to the conclusion, whether its business, life or facebook - shallow relationships don't always create long term gain.  It seems to me there will always be a place for smaller groups of loyal people, and from my experience, they are the coolest kids on the block!

Teleclasses Add Value on SO Many Levels

What are Teleclasses?  Quite simply - learning on the phone!

These days the technology is simple to use and generally free of charge, so starting out is very easy.  It's like anything - the more you do them, the better you get at them.  So I just encourage people to start somewhere and then figure out the finer details once they are confident in delivering their messages over the phone.

Teleclasses have been around for ages but they are still not widely used by therapists and I really want to change that, simply because teleclasses are such an easy way to get your message to many more people.

The benefits of teleclasses are wide and varied but here are Top Ten I love the best:

1.  Amazingly cheap (no room hire or travel costs)

2.  Convenience (you don’t need to leave home)

3.  100% efficient use of your time (no need to factor in traffic or public transport)

4.  Location friendly (you can do them from home or the office or the beach!)

5.  You can work with a greater audience because it is not location specific - you just need a phone or broadband.

6.  Classes are recorded so your participants can listen again until they fully grasp the concepts

7.  You can sell the recordings on your website or create CD’s and create passive revenue streams

8.  You only need a landline telephone

9.  No fuss  - you can do the class in your pyjamas if you like

10. Its fun and easy!

Anyone can do it - well almost anyone!

If you want to know more about teleclasses you can go here 

I run regular classes so you may wish to jump on board and learn how and then start to find the benefits of running your own teleclasses for your community.  Click here for details of the next class

Reversing Your Discount Theory

Most people approach discounts as a way to fill distressed space.  But the masters of discounting take a completely reversed approach to the way they price their products and services.

I remember working in a hotel and they got a new marketing manager who promptly went down to the front desk and stopped the receptionists selling unbooked rooms on the night at a cheap price.  Her logic was - people who haven't booked in advance - they don't have a room booked - they are in pain because all they want is a room - now is the time they will pull out their credit card and pay top dollar because they don't want to phone up or walk to the next hotel to see what is on offer.

Now yes, some people will shop around, but generally if someone is in pain and they want their pain fixed there and then - they will pay whatever it takes to get a result.

I learned a lot about marketing in my other life as a hotel financial controller, because this type of logic showed up directly in the profit line of the hotel's books. 

The airlines and hotels are the masters of  discounting - watch what they do and try to mimic them with the way they sell.  They all discount well in advance - not last minute.

Discounting at the time of consumption is K-Mart territory.

Charging full price at the time of consumption is the domain of hotels and airlines.

As therapists we want to be like the latter not the former.

Its not widely known outside the industry but Hotels and Airlines start to discount a room or seat around 18 months out at events like ATO (Australian Tourism Exchange).  All the tourism brokers from around the world come in and bid on blocks of rooms.  They get the rooms at rock bottom prices but only have access to those rates for a negotiated period of time.  Anything not sold by then, well the hotels take those rooms back and up goes the price.

That's why the tourism industry can do those knock down deals that encourage you to book and buy early.

Then once the hotel knows how many rooms they have left from that discounting exercise, they will put the price up and start either trying to advertise the rooms themselves or they will try to sell them off to other buyers.

All the while the prices go up.

Then closer to the consumption date (the day the room gets used) they offer what's left out on discount sites like Wotif.

Then have you noticed how hard it is to get a deal close to the day of consumption.

If you walk up to an airline counter and want to fly NOW - the price of that ticket will be astronomical, because they know you need to fly that day and that you have few choices at that time .... so they hang out to sell that ticket at a high price.  It also messes with their admin if they have to change the loading of the plane, so guess who pays for the cost of that admin - yep you guessed right - the late booker.

This is the model therapists could consider adopting.  Fill early at discount and fill last minute at a high price.

This is why packages work so well - people buy their session up front and you can then manage any space left over spaces weeks out.

But those packages need to be discounted off what hotels call your "rack rate".  "Rack" is rarely charged to anyone, except if they are trying to book on the day of consumption.  "Rack" is rarely charged but it is always there.

Your price funnel needs to reflect that "rack rate system".

So your top end price will be really high - no one really expects to pay it, but there is always a chance someone will be desperate enough to pay it.  Then your package rates are what you DO expect people to pay.  Then you have another rate, which is the discounted rate, which only gets given out if you haven't sold the top two rates.  That would be what's called "back filling" - dates and times you always struggle to fill.

Wotif is a great example of last minute discounts - I LOVE Wotif but I also know if I want a specific hotel and room type on a specific date - then I better book up front with the hotel and pay the price.

Build on Expertise NOT on Price


The aim of any therapist should be to be building as fast as they can toward being seen as the "go to person" for their particular area.

If people perceive you are head and shoulders above your competition and you are seen by them to be "the best", they will pay more and expect to wait to see you.

It's a delicate balance in the early days between filling those empty diary spaces by opimising your cash flow AND building a high end practice.  But when you start discounting too much, people start to see you like K-Mart - cheap, hi availability and open all hours.  Won't take you long to figure out that will wear you out personally.  
The ideal is hi end, hi demand, hi attendence in the limited spaces your treatment room is open.  That way you are in optimum health and giving 120% to your clients and are not worn out trying to make a dollar seeing heaps of people each week.

In order to push prices higher further down the track, you can't be out discounting every week - and if you do, you need a reason to discount - one airline has Friday Fare Frenzy and its is totally random.  You will notice they RARELY discount their hi end business class seats in these types of offers, they are "back filling" cattle class and keeping the hi end part of their business in tact.

I'd recomend you create a "cattle class" type of treatment for the discounted spots - I say that with love of course, I'm not encouraging you to treat your people like airlines treat their customers - but do have a clear definition between a full fare treatment and a discounted treatment.  That way when your diary is full, you simply pull the discounted treatment off the menu and all those full fare high paying, high tipping, fabulous "A" type clients don't even notice anything has changed.

"C" type clients will always just find someone else - "A" type clients stay loyal and will often book the same spot each week or month and are happy to pay for the privilege of having the same regular time slot.

I want you to have a highly abundant practice full of clients who know and love you and are willing and able to pay your fees, treat you with respect and keep coming back.

Some Different Ways to Discount

There are many different ways to discount your services without cheapening your brand.

If you want to fill some empty spaces in your diary fast, a lot of therapists are posting what I would call "cheap and dirty" offer on discount websites.

In fact it seems to be all the rage right now.  This site is a broker for the discounters www.allthedeals.com.au and will give you a list of all the different sites that allow you to advertise.

Indeed it is just another great way to pull new people into your practice.  It's most certainly a spray and pray tactic in that you spray out the message to a vast number of people, praying that it hits your ideal client.  Spray and pray tactics give you little control.

Its also a PUSH tactic meaning you have to push into a crowd to get a result.  My system much prefers PULL tactics where you build relationships that pull people toward you.

A pull tactic is much easier because eventually it surrounds you with people who know and love you and they want to love you more.

Push tactics often solve short term problems and fill gaps in your diary, but they may not sustain the business well, because you haven't qualified the people yourself.

A pull tactic means just by being you, you have drawn people to you via your opinions and by your ability to show your expertise in a particular area.  This takes longer and so a pull strategy is a long term way to get clients, but it a sure fire way to ensure you end up with a practice full of clients who love everything about you.

The difference is subtle but a pull tactic requires a bit of time to build the relationship, but once people who have experienced you a few times are ready to work with you, they require very little conversion because they have already decided that they know and love you.

These people may have been sitting as prospects on your newsletter list or have been following your blog, or they met you at a speaking engagement and became a facebook friend.  In these instances you have given them a taste of what you are all about before they phone you and they feel as if they know you.  If you build any sort of relationship with a prospect, the chances of them booking something with you, goes up the more they relate with you.

So internet advertising (that isn't targeted) is a lot like a virtual letter box drop - you are marketing to total strangers who have no idea who you are.  The pluses are that it doesn't cost a lot to get to a heap of people, but your advert may not bring huge results because the people looking at your offers, won't know you and may not be the type of people who want and need your services.  But if you only want to sell a couple of spots each week in this discounted category, then its another way for you to get the message out.

However, you need to consider if you are cheapening your brand.  

You also need to remember your current clients, paying top dollar may find these sites and wonder why you are overcharging them.  So as always discern if a service like this is right for you.

Using the discounters will potentially bring a lot of tire kickers, people who consume the cheap massage and then never return - that is a big risk in these types of offer.  But if you have your rebooking patter down, and encourage them to book again before they leave after the first treatment - then you have a potential loyal customer in your midst.  It's the strength of your re-booking patter that will determine the long term value in advertising on discount websites.

I believe you have to be careful about discounts - you can end up sounding like K-Mart if you are constantly discounting, and people just end up wanting to pay less and less for your services.

I'd consider other ways you can discount, without just slashing prices.

Maybe consider a discount club, where your current people may pay say $20 a year or month to join - up to you to decide the fee.  But the joining fee would get them access to your "last minute club" for a year.  The difference being that the available spaces in the club spots may be a bit random and they don't get to have regular times with you.  That way you are only offering discounts to certain "last minute" types who like to book last minute.  This type of strategy allows you to fill what is known as "distressed space" - someone has cancelled an appointment or you just have a gap in the diary.  The other plus is that you get back some of the discount back via the membership fee.

You could also consider a "come on short notice" deal for specific types of people - small business owners like me who have control of their own schedule or hospitality workers who have the whole day to themselves or are finishing work at weird times.  These types of people could come in your downtimes.  All you have to do is email or text them with your downtime specials and they can jump in and grab them. 

Its about getting creative with your discounts and making sure you don't end up with a bargain basement style practice.

How to build your authority on-line

The fabulous Gihan Perera gave a wonderful list in his weekly newsletter today of the things you need to have in place to build your web presence.  Gihan has shared so much valuable information over the years and I can personally say, he is spot on with everything he recommends.

This an an excerpt from Gihan's article "How to build your authority on-line"

"Don't start with social media - that's the third step in the process.

The first step is to build a high-quality Web site, which identifies your ideal site visitor and their key problems, and leads them to the solutions you offer.

But that's just for starters. Many people won't find your Web site first - they will find you on-line in other places. So build up a body of work that demonstrates your expertise and authority. In particular:

• Publish a high-quality e-mail newsletter every week or two weeks (or every month at worst).
• Post regularly to your blog.
• Write high-content articles that address your market's problems, and publish them on your Web site, blog and article directories.
• Write a special report or "white paper" discussing the key problems of your target market.
• Create short, high-quality educational video clips and publish them to YouTube.
• Publish a regular podcast, which is an audio newsletter.
• Create short, high-quality educational slide shows and publish them to Slideshare.com."

This is only a brief overview. If you'd like more details about this process, you can learn more from Gihan's generous gift of a chapter of his new book "Fast, Flat and Free: How the Internet Has Changed Your Business".  You can download a chapter for free here