 This morning, I got out of bed at 8:17am and was immediately swept with guilt. How could I sleep so late? How dare I waste precious hours I could be devoting to my business or our home while our girls were still sleeping. My husband had arrived at work this morning by 6am. How could I be so unfair? HUH!?! This is exactly what my self-talk was straight out of bed. I had gotten the girls asleep by 9:30 last night and read for awhile before dozing off, having set my alarm for 6am. I had hit snooze for 2 whole hours! I’m so lazy! Ummmm….no. Thankfully, quite quickly, my brain snapped back with reasoning. I was up at 1am for quite some time soothing my 4 year old who had had a night terror and wet her bed. She was screaming, we were changing pajamas in the dark, and I was pulling bedding off her bed after tucking her into ours (next to our 2 year old who had climbed in sometime prior). Then, spent most of the remainder of the night curled up at the foot of the bed trying to sleep like the family dog. No wonder I was tired.  But then… were these excuses? Was I justifying my being lazy? Isn’t it incredible the things we put ourselves thru for no reason? I got to thinking… I have just spent an additional 20 minutes worrying about justifying my failure to meet my self-established expectations to myself! Not only that, but I started my day with negative and self-sabotaging self-talk of which was not benefiting myself or anyone else. Why is that? Do I feel guilty for running my business from home full time while my husband goes off to a job each day he may not love? Do I feel guilty for having a job I love when so many don’t? Have I read one too many “How successful people live life” articles that tell me I need to get up every day at 4am and spend 2 hours exercising and meditating before I get to work? I’m not arguing that a morning regimen is or isn’t the key to starting your day right. I also don’t believe that in most cases you can be successful while sleeping in or doing whatever you want for the most part. I commit a large amount of work to my business. I have mentors. I work night and day. However, if you are pushing yourself to constantly do something that is only bringing you stress, I do not believe that is a weakness you need to commit to overcoming. I agree with Dean Graziosi in that you have to double down on your strengths. If you are giving it your best effort, truly giving it your best effort, than progress will be made. Forcing yourself out of bed at 5am every day to workout will no doubt bring you some progress. You may or might not get used to it and learn to enjoy it. OR, you might see faster and more consistent performance if you workout during that hour in the afternoon after work before you make dinner. Only you can make that decision. But, as Les Brown so eloquently tells us, “Someone else’s opinion does not need to become your reality!” Push yourself. Do your very best. Recognize what is necessary and what just sounds good. Work hard. But do not talk down to yourself. Do not start your day with disdain for yourself. Do not sabotage. You will never accomplish great things while you are beating yourself up. Believe in yourself!  If you haven’t read it yet, Millionaire Success Habits by Dean Graziosi has a chapter that guides you through writing down your current story. The story that might be holding you back and keeping you from your best self. Then, it guides you through writing your new story. The true story. The true future. He’s been giving it away for free. I suggest you grab your copy! TheBetterLife.com
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You may have heard us jargon-y marketers talking about Landing Pages. You may or may not know what they are, but it is likely you have seen one.
A Landing Page is a web one-page for a specific campaign or offer with a solitary Call to Action. There are several different types of Landing Pages, but ultimately they are all geared to steer the audience in one direction or guide them onto the next step in a funnel toward purchase. Here are the different types of landing pages: Splash Page
A Splash Page could be defined as a front advertisement page. It is giving you the option to take part in something, but has a clear exit from the page. A "continue" or "skip" is common. This is typically a page used as the gateway to the website you are intending to view. Below is a classic example:
Squeeze Page
A Squeeze Page is most commonly a pop up on a relative page that is meant to capture information of the viewer. It has minimal text and often offers something in return for information. In this case, a Free Planner in exchange for an email address:
There is only one option or exit. Enter the email and press the one button or click X (or in some cases, "no thanks.") Squeeze Pages are used to entice a new visitor to hook into the brand and start being nurtured into a qualified lead (someone likely to be ready and willing to purchase)
Lead Capture Page
Think non-pop-up and often, but not explicitly non-offer Squeeze Page. A Lead Capture Page is not a pop-up, but rather a full page devoted to collecting information for a lead. The information gathered also tends to be more. Rather than just an email and possibly name. A Lead Capture Form will often ask for full name, phone number, email address, and more. The visitor is willing to fill out this information because they have come to this page with the intention of wanting more information on your product or service or with the express intention of seeking communication with the company on what they have to offer.
These pages can, in theory, be used at any of the funnel stages, but is more likely to be avoided at the first stage. The visitor is more likely to be attentive to such a page when they have already been qualified as interested and involved in the right industry or lifestyle or has been qualified as a sales lead who is looking to try out the product or service. 
Above is an example from Hootsuite that gives the option to download a report that qualifies the need for the service they are also providing a demo of. You can click on either button and the same full lead capture form pops up asking for information including: full name, business, title, industry, company revenue, phone number, email, and more.
Click-through Page
A Click-Through Page is a bottom of funnel page that initiates the user process. The audience on this page knows who you are, what you offer, and needs what you have or something similar and is in the decision phase.
The Click-through Page might lead you to applying for a loan, inputting information on an insurance quote, starting a free trial of an online software, or leads you right up to a sale by even taking payment info for when the free trial runs out or may offer you a discount if you buy now.
Sales Page
This is the hardest one to optimize. Where the other pages are often to-the-point and might be able to be entirely read without scrolling or with just a few turns of the mouse-wheel, a successfully optimized sales page is almost painfully long. It is basically a 5,000-word click-through page with everything you can possibly say to sell the product or service. There are several options to click-through to the payment page and buy now through-out. Many times you don't see the price until you scroll all the way to the bottom or click-through.
This page is optimized to speak directly to the customer you are targeting and appeal to their very need for what you have to offer. It will highlight testimonials, examples, what they will get out of buying, what is included, why it's important to them. Here is an example of a comparison from Instapage: 
Landing Pages on Point
There are many options for where to get started. We mentioned Instapage above. Leadpages is another. And, there are MANY.
It is important to understand the benefit of using landing pages to guide your audience thru the sales funnel as well as the benefits of landing pages for tracking, reporting, and analytics on lead generation and conversions so you are able to optimize your sales cycle. 
Hello! I’m Ashlee and I am a Holistic Nutritionist and Wellness Influencer with Simplholistic. I work full-time at Simplholistic to create protocols, recipes and videos that help women live a seamlessly healthy lifestyle. Women’s hormones and gut health are what I specialize in, particularly autoimmune disease.
I grew up in Alaska with my mom, brother and sister. My family was pretty broken and lacked ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirits. We lived paycheck to paycheck but my sweet mom did everything she could to watch us soar and excel. Looking back, all of the hardships and financial suppression brought me to where I am now. We can play the victim in life but I prefer to use my difficulties as rocket fuel! Where it all began: When I was 16, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Celiac Disease and a host of other immunological deficiencies. I knew NOTHING about nutrition or alternative medicine so, NyQuil and antibiotics it was. It didn’t take long for my body to start shutting down. Luckily - shortly after - I found the world of holistic healing and changed my life forever. I enrolled in college for nutrition for myself and couldn’t put the books and research papers down. Since then, I have healed myself (still working on it!) and helped thousands of women to remove the barriers keeping them from being well. The Passion behind the business: My job is incredible. Each day I get to see “infertile” women become pregnant, PCOS clients gain their energy back and highly immunodeficient women get their livelihood back. I get to facilitate healing for women all around the globe and watch them KICK BUTT once their back to their best selves. The Motivation on the hard days: My clients, followers and family members. I believe God gave me this gift and unique ability to retain massive amounts of nutritional and scientific data for a purpose. If I decided to throw in the towel, who knows how many women would miss out on being well. Learning Lessons: You can hustle but if you aren’t working smart, you are going to burn out. If you want to work for yourself, treat it like a real job. Clock in and out. Have a lunch break and don’t allow yourself to work 80 hours for no money. MAKE A PLAN. Seriously, everything needs a blueprint. It doesn’t matter if you have the best solutions in the world, if you aren’t marketing them properly or getting them seen, you won’t make money. The Experienced Advice: I need a team. You can make it some distance by yourself but outsourcing is key to success (and sanity). My profession is nutrition work, not bookkeeping or handout design. Just outsource and don’t look back. What 3 words describe you? Adventurous | Dedicated | Inspiring Who is your idol & why? Jesus is my God. In media, I look up to people that stick to their guns regardless of being looked down on; specifically, those who choose healthy habits and aren’t willing to sell out for money. To what do you contribute your success? My hard work and smart-working attitude. I am a dreamer and when the Lord gives me a passion, I chase it. What is the first thing you do each day? Give thanks for another breath, have a glass of filtered water and hit the yoga mat or gym. What is your top goal over the next year? To impact and reach over 1,000,000 women. Through social media, events or my private practice. I want to see lives transformed daily. See more on Ashlee and her business at: www.simplholistic.org
 My name is Vanessa Jordan and I am a Destination Wedding and Personal Branding Photographer based out of the Nashville area. I recently launched a YouTube channel to provide education to other small business owners on graphic design, photography, branding and so much more! I love to teach and this is such an exciting endeavor for me in addition to working with incredible clients to capture their biggest moments to be cherished for years to come. I grew up in the South Eastern part of Wisconsin, within a 30 minute radius of the Milwaukee area. Life was pretty great honestly. I was a very creative child that had big dreams. I was always knee deep into a project and LOVED to perform. I danced, twirled baton, acted in plays and musicals. I'm not sure where my entrepreneurial spirit came from because most of my family works for a business or are teachers. As much as I loved kids, there was something telling me that I wasn't meant to be a traditional teacher. And now that I think about it, I think that feeling of not being a "Traditional teacher" has lead me to now teaching small business owners how to be their own graphic designer and be able to stand out in a saturated market. I got into the photography industry by taking a photography class in college. Along with my graphic design degree, my university required students to take other classes in the more "traditional arts classes". Once I got behind that camera, I feel in love. I enjoyed getting my roommates out to explore the city adn let me take pictures of them. It was so much fun! It wasn't until after I graduated college that I felt that was something was missing from my day to day life. I was getting drained at my corporate job and I was looking for something more. That's when I started my business and I haven't looked back since. I love having the ability to tell a story about my clients and capture their true beauty and personalities. Back when I was in high school having my senior pictures taken, I felt embarrassed, certainly not beautiful and frustrated during my session. The lady who was taken my pictures made me feel uncomfortable and none fo the pictures really looked like me and showed the true me. I strive to make sure NO ONE feels that way because they shouldn't! It's hard to get in front of the camera and it can be very scary at times. I want to showcase their true selves so when they look back on those moments for years to come they will remember some really happy memories, not ones filled with uncomfortable feelings. The Key to Resiliency What keeps me going is the happiness I bring to others. Once I send off the email that my client's pictures are ready I get a novel long email of how amazing they are and how I captured their personality so well. It makes me so happy that I get to bring them so much joy. It makes me know what all the hard times are worth it. Lessons Learned The greatest lesson I have learned is that your business is not like everyone else. You are on your own path and that's completely ok! You will grow and reach different milestones as others which is what makes your business different from everyone else. Accept the fact that you are not going to be like any other business, so there is no need to compare. Be happy to collaborate, not compare. Advice for Others I would say, if you are passionate about what you want to start, then do it. Don't second guess it. Learn all that you can and always be in the mindset that you can learn new things. You are never the expert at everything and that's ok! What 3 words describe you?
Bubbly, fun and bright Who is your idol & why? My idol is actually two people, they are Kelsey and Becky and they run a YouTube channel called The Sorry Girls. I have been watching them ever since they started and it is amazing to watch how their channel has changed over the years into what they are best in. They have started a podcast which I am OBSESSED with and all of their content is so fun and intentional. They are not creating content just to create content, it always has a purpose and reason. To what do you contribute your success? I am constantly learning. I am always reading, listening to podcasts and watching YouTube videos. There is ALWAYS something new to learn and a way to build my business even more. What is the first thing you do each day? My first thing I do each day is go on Instagram and then do yoga. I find that doing yoga helps wake me up and prepare my mind mentally for the day ahead. What is your top goal over the next year? My top goal over the next year is to get to a point where I can be part-time in the corporate world and full-time in my business. See More at: www.vanessajordanphotograph.com 
Hi my name is Dr. Matthew Hodgden. I am a physical therapist. I help people get their life back. I do this by digging deeper into people’s stories to find out what they can no longer physically do but wish to do. We then find out why they are no longer able to do these things; it is usually due to: pain, loss of motion, or just fearful of trying. We then develop a plan to correct the impairments that are holding the person back from trying these activities and then meet these goals in order to fully restore an individual’s value of life. For example, I just finished up with a client that woke up 5 to 6 times at night due to pain; we were able to address her issues and, in only 4 visits, she is now sleeping soundly -- waking up refreshed and ready for the day.
I grew up in a split family my entire life; my mom, whom I primarily lived with, was in Holloway, MN (near the SD border) and my dad lived in Nimrod, MN (closer to Brainerd). Although I had 4 siblings, I essentially was raised as an only child by my mother and step-father which provided opportunities for me to learn how to push myself to always learn something new. The healthcare field has always been my direction of path as I was the youngest first responder in the state of MN at the age of 14 years old. After that, I became an EMT and went on to attend Paramedic school. My father owned his construction company, so at a young age I also saw the benefits of being my own boss and, therefore, owning my own business has always been a dream for me. I was originally planning to be a heart surgeon due to the family history of heart attacks before the age of 55 in my family. I was fully qualified and very confident that I would have been successful with this path but heart surgeons have an 89% divorce rate and I had been in a committed relationship (that eventually lead to my wonderful wife and now amazing two children), so I chose a healthcare career that allowed me to also balance well with my family life. The Physical Therapy profession allows me to get to know my patients, really make them healthy, and have a great quality of life.
The Passion I love that I get 45 to 60 minutes with my patients. This allows me to understand and get to know them on a personal level. It is too often that you go to a healthcare facility and get 5 to 10 min to explain everything going on. Things are always missed. The 45 to 60 minutes that you get with a physical therapist allows for memory and recognition of issues that the customer may not even be fully aware of. The Struggles Hard work -- this is the definition of who I am. I have previously worked numerous jobs at a time in order to reach my goals. While in road construction my maximum hours of work was 122 hours, there are only 168 hours in a week so I have always worked hard and I am determined to meet my goals. What is the greatest lesson you have learned as a business owner thus far? Patience -- I have very little as I want to meet my goals and the customer's goals as quickly as possible. Customers, however; want to make valued and educated decisions on where they spend their money. I just want to get the person better, but the customer may not feel the value or the unknown is worth the attempt to get better. If you could go back and give your “starting your business” self a piece of advice, what would it be? All the trial and errors of marketing and what works and doesn’t work in my particular business would have, of course, been extremely helpful. I am still learning. I will always continue to learn how to reach the customer, explain what is physical therapy, and how the value of physical therapy is worth it. 
What 3 words describe you? Hard-working, Determined, Efficient Who is your idol & why? Not a single person, more of a concept of a successful and knowledgeable individual. I have never idolized anyone, as nobody is perfect and we all have our flaws; however, the concept to be seen as successful by family and peers and to always have a passion to learn something new is what gets me moving every day. To what do you contribute your success? My family, I have always pushed myself to be better and to learn something new, but it is full-heartedly my family that has been by my side pushing back when I go through hard times. My mom, stepfather, in-laws, and most importantly, my wife, are the reason I am who I am. What is the first thing you do each day? Just like anyone else, 5 AM comes way too soon. When waking up, I wake up with a shower. The joy of the morning, though, is waking up my 5-month-old (more like picking up, as he wakes himself) and moving my 3-year-old into the living room as she snuggles into daddy because, just like her mommy, 5:45 AM is way too early. What is your top goal over the next year? Average 6 new clients per month – total of 72 new clients in the year 2019. To do this, sub-goals of developing a strong marketing brand, reassessing my website, giving high quality care to get customer referrals, and walking away from my full time salaried-security job are essential. See more at: http://www.bodikey.com/ https://www.facebook.com/BodiKeyPhysicalTherapy/ 
My name is Ryan Wempen. I run Kato Moving & Storage. We are a professional mover for the Southern MN area to or from anywhere in the world. We have our own fleet of moving trucks and team of professional movers. We will go to your house and pack, load and move to your belongings to your new home. We also move business offices, pianos and safes.
A majority of our moves are “local,” meaning they are within 50 miles from house to house. Then, we do many moves each month that are more than 50 miles whether within or out of state, we can do them all. We are a Mayflower agent which is the largest mover in the country. We also have over 1000 self-storage units at 3 locations and several warehouse locations for keeping your belongings. The History I grew up in St Peter and moved all the way to Mankato (10 miles away). My dad worked/works for several non-profit businesses as the business manager – so I did grow up seeing him have to figure out how to keep these businesses shifting to stay viable. He was always plotting a plan to grow or improve the various places he was involved with. I think this did teach me lots on how to make adjustments as needed. I have 3 brothers and a sister and all of them have businesses, rental property, or are running businesses in the area; so we must have all picked up some of this growing up. In my first business, which is still in operation, Sellers Minnesota, an estate sale company; we ended up moving or cleaning out many self-storage units over the years, I got interested in buying a location. So, after a few failed attempts, I finally got one purchased. After growing this business, I used this location to grow my locations. I ended up buying a moving company because they had some self-storage I was interested in. I did feel this was a great addition to my group of companies because it allowed me to shift some of the heavy lifting from myself to the professional move crew. The Motivation I love that every day is different. I have to work hard and long hours but it does not feel like going to work because I like what I do! We have a great team and that also makes each day fun to talk to the crew. The Tough Days I like the pressure days, so no hard days for me. Most Valuable Lesson Learned Be honest, fair and take care of the customers and employees! If you could go back and give your “starting your business” self a piece of advice, what would it be? I should have gotten something purchased earlier! I made small attempts for almost 10 years before pulling the trigger for real. Trust yourself and go for it. What 3 words describe you? Honest, fair and busy! Who is your idol & why? I really don’t have 1. I do like several well-off people that I look up to: Locally – Kyle Smith, Tailwind, Mankato, MN – Low Profile, great for the community Warren Buffet – very level headed, tries to do good, gives a ton to charity To what do you contribute your success? Luck has to be included, level headed, try to do the right thing always, hire and trust good people, good timing within the general economy with my purchases and buying at the right price rather than falling in love with any project and forcing it to happen. What is the first thing you do each day? I check emails and make sure I know all meetings for the day so I make all appointments. What is your top goal over the next year? This year my plan is to be stable within all current businesses, focus on good business and correcting or making needed improvement to all. I plan no purchases or additions this year. For more, visit: http://www.katomoving.com/
I know you feel this, yes you. I know you have felt guilt about the lack of time, money, attention, or focus you have lacked due to your entrepreneurial adventures. I also know you feel like you have to continue because you want better, you need better for yourself, for your family. I bet you're still smiling. You're thinking, yes, I feel that way at times, but it's good. I like being busy. I like that I am working toward something. I am setting an example for my kids. It is not easy, but good will come of it.
Oh, I'm going to have to go first, eh? Alright, let's go: I unraveled today. 
Fully and completely. I'm talking no shower, PJs all day, ugly cry, alone, raccoon eyes, desperate pleading, irrational thinking, cray cray sorrow. Why? No reason. Ha! But, kind of seriously. You ever just put your head down and go and work and be all the things for so long that when you finally sit down and do something unproductive, all the feels begin to flood? No? Just me?
Alright, well, if that's true, and it is just me, than here is the reals in the background of all my efforts to look at least semi- put together in Hot Mess Land. Here it is, all laid out: I constantly feel guilty. As an entrepreneur with a full-time job, all working from home with a 2 and a 3 year old, I am so grateful to always be available to them, but feel like I am constantly trying to get time alone. Or, busy working on something. Or, just dying for a moment alone to do something meaningless. But, how dare I be too busy for my children, right? What kind of mother is too busy for her kids? And, (intentionally sarcastic) what is wrong with me that I want some time alone? I mean, let's be honest. There are constantly "bad dads" depicted like this on TV and in movies. The busy business dad who is reading the paper and doesn't have time to play with his daughter or is distracted when his little boy is trying to tell him something. How could he not recognize that his kids need him? Doesn't he care? Ugh! Guilt! Constant guilt. Two thoughts on that:
I also have suffered from serious money guilt. Went years without buying clothes after gaining serious poundage during back-to-back pregnancies. Seriously, holes strategically under other things. Pants "buttoned" with a hair tie. Hole-y maternity pants over a year after giving birth. I refused to spend money on me. I looked like crap. I felt like crap. It was a particularly crappy time. Three years of my life passed in a blur of pregnancy, newborn, nursing, rinse, repeat and at the end of it, I was 60 pounds heavier, depressed, and lost. All money I made went to bills and the kids. I didn't dare spend on me until I was a mess of irrational tears because I felt like a huge turd. And, I was making money. Decent money. Not great, but livable. Less than my husband, but that's another rabbit hole.
I'm not the only one who does this. Arianna Huffington is considered one of the world's most successful women and talks at length about taking care of yourself. As Huffington Post was booming, she found herself in the hospital with serious injuries following a fall caused by pure exhaustion and was awakened to the need for her to take care of her well-being. She talks about it in her book Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder. In case you were wondering, the first two are Money and Power.
1. Disappearing Act
Ever get exposed to a new business and do some research before you book or shop with them? We've all come across Facebook Business Pages that haven't been updated since 2014. I don't know about you, but when I see that, it screams to me "I don't care about you or my business!" You don't have to post on every available social media platform. You don't even have to post the industry suggested 1-3x per day. Just post regularly and consistently! One quality post that is customized for the audience of the one platform you are posting on daily is an outstanding start. Better than many!
2. Its Not All About You This could be airing political opinions, making it the family page, or making it a personal blog. First, I have seen businesses close over standing by political opinions. Just don't. Even when you think you are making a decision about what is right...its just not right to everybody and if family and friends will avoid you so they don't have to hear it, trust me when I tell you everyone else will too (even if they agree with you). Second, this is a bit of a gray area, so let me try to do my best to explain: your customers want to know about you and your life. I promise you they do. This is part of trust building in relationships. That said, you have a personal Facebook page. Posting your daily pic of your kid, spouse, dog, car, vacation, etc. is NOT for your business social media. Specifically written, relative, applicable content that highlights your life, but is professionally put together as a business would, is another story. Here are a couple good rules of thumb to help you think about your posts:
3. Fluff City
Sometimes this is the cause for the mistake above, and an effort to avoid the mistake above that. In an effort to be consistent when we don't have time to commit to our social media causes that "oh, crap" effect of posting a-little-too personal opinions, turning our business page into our personal page, or overly focusing on unoriginal, inspirational quotes and random pictures of cats, views, etc. There is an acronym for posting engaging content on social media: A - Authentic I - Inspirational R - Relatable
4. The Salesman
It is so very easy to fall into the habit of thinking of just the here-and-now when creating content. Keep in mind that what you are posting will be on your page for quite awhile, unless you remove it. We see so many businesses start posting about an event that same week or the week before and post nothing but that. Sales, events, free estimates, quotes, sales, sales, sales, Sales, SALES! This isn't teaching your audience anything. It doesn't build trust. Its the social media version of cold calling. Its like wearing a t-shirt that says "Trust me, I'm a doctor." It's icky. Stop it. Here are some ways to step up your game:
5. Lacking the Goods
What is a Branding Consultant and why on earth would I need one? Oh honey, let's talk. In the past, only big business has been concerned about branding. They utilize entire marketing teams to focus on their branding to ensure their name is chosen before the competitor. Pepsi versus Coke, chances are you have a giant opinion on which is better. A branding consultant of sorts probably assisted in that opinion yours without you knowing it. In this age of mass entrepreneurship, branding is more prevalent to establish market advantage and is also likely why you hear the title Branding Consultant more often.
Here's what they do:
This is why you need one:
Advice on selecting the right Branding Consultant for you:
Feeling like you might want to try it out? You can set up a Free 30-minute Initial Consultation with J. Fre Consulting HERE! Speaking of Branding, are you still using YourBusiness@gmail.com? Knock that off. It's cheap and easy to look professional by having YourName@YourBusiness.com as well as Info, Social, Billing, SuperHero, etc. @YourBusiness.com. Click the button below for a Free Trial, then use this Promo Code for 20% your already affordable paid plan: 9AJ6YRX9LH43AW4 
Poor employee experience rears its ugly head in many forms. The most common is, arguably, high attrition. It can also show itself in the form of attendance issues, lack of interest in advancement, negative attitudes and drama, or consistently mediocre performance. If your company culture has tanked, here are 3 tips to getting it back in gear:
Work Together Talk to the team you have now. Ask them where the company has opportunity for improvement. Give them several avenues to share their opinions and ideas. Make your leadership team and HR team available in time slots for employees to sign up and chat. Put out several ways to share anonymous feedback for those who don’t feel comfortable talking about their opinions, or fear retaliation. Make it easy for them to make suggestions. Then, wait. It will take time for some to feel comfortable enough to share. But, eventually, if you show this is ongoing and not a fly-by-night attempt, you will earn the trust and engagement of many of the game players. If you are super committed to gaining the feedback of your employees, incentivize it! Put guidelines around it and make it easy, but the most process improvements or thoughtful suggestions made might earn a gift card or another small incentive. You’ll be astounded at the culture that builds around encouraged collaborative improvement! 
Make it Personal
Be intentional about your purpose in change. Create a mission, make a plan and stick with it. This will encourage consistency in the message which, in turn, will build trust in a shorter time frame then an ever-changing ideal. It may take serious time, especially for those cultures that are particularly tainted, to turn around and become a positive flow of engagement. Do not give up! A true commitment to creating a positive employee experience will involve every employee at every stage of their employment. It will look very similar to and be as intense as creating a business plan. In fact, it is a business plan. It is not a bunch of fluff to try to make people happy. It will take the true and authentic vision for the company and embody that mission through unified focus on a complimentary culture. It will not be for the faint of heart. You cannot make changes by throwing a few pizza parties or handing out bonuses. Be prepared for the long haul. The results will amaze you! 
Give it Time This is not a project or an initiative. This is a commitment to lifelong change for a positive work environment and company of growth. A commitment like this will be an investment and a struggle at times, but the results will only be as long-term as you commit to them. If you make a short-term effort, that effort will likely backslide, and things might end up worse off due to lost trust. You will not become Amazon or Zappos overnight. You might not even ever come close, but you will set your own path and see definite results. Lowered attrition saves on recruiting, on-boarding, and training expenses. Positive cultures breed productivity. If you take those savings and increases, reinvest them back into your team; suddenly you have a long-term, sustainable culture to be proud of. SUMMARY Taking employee experience from not so desirable to a positive company culture is a long, hard road with abundant destinations. The keys to setting forth on this journey is to work with your current employees, designing a set plan to reach goals, and being patient with the process. For a plan of action to improve the opportunities in your current culture and processes, please visit J. Fre Consulting HERE to book your Free Initial Consultation. Join the conversation at facebook.com/JFreConsulting! Remember to nurture those Customer REAL-ationships too! Check out this eBook on shifting to a Customer Focus: Click Here! |
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