Try to say yes

I worked once with a boss who loved his job, loved his company, and worked very hard.  As he had progressed up the corporate ladder, he took on tough jobs and accomplished most of them.

As he moved up, he picked up a bad habit.  From his perspective, responsibility was saying “no”.  The tough decisions forced him to say “no”.  Over time, he became known as “No Joe”.

As I have worked over the years, it has become increasingly clear that saying “no” kills more innovation, creativity, drive, and discussion, than any other word.  It’s almost equal to just saying “go away”.

My suggestion to all business leaders is find a way to say yes.  While no is unconditional, yes can be conditioned.

Yes, let’s try it.

Yes, with limited resources.

Yes, with clear goals and trigger points.

Yes, but a little bit slower.

Yes, please flesh it out a bit better.

But, “yes” is hard because you have to listen and help construct a plan.  “yes” takes time.

However, “yes” continues and “no” ends.  Only with a string of “yeses” can a company thrive.

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Know your Credit Score before you Talk to a Bank

Knowing your credit score before you talk to your bank can save you significant time and consternation.  In this excerpt from a CANTV inteview that we did with Meghan Kearns from Harris Bank, Meghan emphasizes the importance of a credit score.   She also relates a couple of examples where she worked with clients to recognize inconsistencies that held up the loan process.

I host a weekly cable access TV show for SCORE.  Meghan will be a guest on CANTV 21 Hotline show tonight at 6:30.  If you live in the City of Chicago, please watch it live.  If not,  you can check it out on our BLIP.TV channel http://scorechicagocantv21.blip.tv/ in  a couple of weeks.

What’s the Best Name for my Web Site?

Small business people often ask about picking out a name for a website.  In many cases, the name that is a 100% match for the business (mycompany) is already taken.  So the company asks should they take out mycompanyinc or mycompanyco etc.    Alternatively, a company has a long name  mysmallbusinessisbrilliant.   They ask about if customer expects a shortened URL.

In today’s world,  customers will go into Google, Yahoo, Bing etc and put in your company’s name in the manner that they think of your company.   Remember, the average search phrase is 4 words, so you have some latitude in matching.

Here are a couple of suggestions.

Most importantly understand how your customers think about your business.  If you are Hilltop Garage in Big Mountain, Iowa make a list.

• Hilltop Garage in Big Mountain
• Hilltop Garage Expert Foreign Car repair
• Bob at Hilltop Garage
• Bob over in Big Mountain at Hilltop Garage
• Bob’s Hilltop Garage

Second, when building your website, don’t just think about the URL, but think about the Title, Description, Keywords and Headings on each page.   By putting the appropriate words in these areas, Hilltop Garage will have a better chance of being found.  In the title of the home page, Bob should consider having “Expert Foreign Car Repair – Bob Smith Hilltop Garage Big Mountain, Iowa. ”

Remember, you don’t have to limit yourself to one URL.  Bob could beHilltopGarageBigMountain, but he could also purchaseBigMountainHilltopGarage or even BobsHilltopGarage.  It is fairly simple to route alternative sites to one main site.

When you do pick a site, use that  URL in your email, Twitter, Facebook etc.  Instead of being hilltopgarage@globalemail.com Bob should bebsmith@hilltopgaragebigmountain.com.

If you do have a site, go back and look at your titles, descriptions, keywords and headings.  If you are not sure where they are, ask your web developer.  When it comes to social media, pick one and get started.