Business Coaching

In the spirit of giving thanks, we thought we’d share some heartwarming testimonials.

At ActionCOACH, we pride ourselves on the fact that we’re not business consultants — we’re business coaches. We’re not hired to fix things and leave, but we’re hired to coach, mentor, advise clients and be a sounding board for all questions and concerns. All problems are tackled together.

Listen to hear what these ActionCOACH clients are thankful for, and how ActionCOACH helped their businesses!

Apple is beginning to market its iPad to seniors.

Apple probably never really thought about the need to tap into the market that’s age 65 and up, but with the iPad, it makes enough sense that they’re trying.

Think about it: senior citizens have lots of time, money and curiosity…if they also want to take the time to learn how to use “newfangled gadgets.”

Why not push beyond its traditional customer base — the younger, tech-savvy crowd?

According to an article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the iPad’s “book” size is appealing to an older crowd, and it’s forgiving of mistakes when using it, unlike a PC. Another plus Apple is saying about the iPad? It could help seniors fight dementia.

It doesn’t sound all that impossible when you put certain factors in perspective…do you think Apple can successfully market the iPad to the elderly?

The "badly drawn" whale that started it all.

A while back, My Business magazine published a story about three high school friends who, for the hell of it, put a short animated film with badly drawn animal characters on YouTube. This short film has turned into a brand and has sold millions of dollars worth of product.

How did that happen?

They did something they were interested in – making a film, albeit short and animated – and created a following. With their following, which proved to be loyal, as they followed the Whale and “Beached Az,” the name of the film, from YouTube to a TV channel and associated products that fans will want to buy.

The animal characters appeal to kids, the subject matter appealed to both kids and adults (a lot of “Beached Az” makes fun of the Australian and New Zealand rivalry), so mugs, T-shirts, ringtones and iPhone apps have been sold all around the world.

Just about anyone can become a YouTube sensation overnight – we’ve all seen that – but to create a profitable business from it? Quite extraordinary.

Steve Jobs created the iPod, an mp3 player that was easy to use, and therefore, people actually wanted to use.

How did something as simple as the iPod dominate the market?

Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple and creator of the iPod, really got back to basics, thinking about what people wanted and what there was a need for – and not overthinking it.

At the time, mp3 players were complicated to use and couldn’t hold too many songs. So Jobs decided to make one with lots of space and that was easy to use – by plugging it into the program iTunes on a computer, downloaded music syncs automatically with the iPod. In addition, the interface was easy to use and understand (anyone could pick it up and figure out how to use it), it looked really cool and had a cool name.

Why didn’t competitors do what Jobs did? All he did was think about what people wanted…and gave it to them. And even though the iPod was at a higher price point than competitors’ mp3 players, because it offered more of what they wanted, it was easier for them to part with their money.

The lesson learned here is get back to basics and figure out what people really want. By doing that, you might think of some really great ideas, whether they’re for products for your business, marketing your business or leveraging your business another way.

UK is struggling through some tough times, but that still shouldn’t mean consumers should be helping companies with their marketing efforts.

Mediabistro.com obtained a real open letter “to all of advertising and marketing” from a consumer in the UK. Read how he feels about ads that ask him to work even more than he already does.

As a business owner, can you use the feedback from this letter to help your own business’ advertising and marketing efforts?

Alan Mulally was brought on to help turn around Ford.

We wrote about how BP is trying just about everything to make a comeback a few weeks ago. While a few oil spills are tough to recover from, most people have forgotten an incident that BP had recovered from: The Department of Justice fined the company $50 million in 2007 for safety violations at a Houston refinery that exploded in 2005, killing 15 people and injuring 170.

For big companies, bounding back from corporate scandal or public disaster is difficult — but it isn’t impossible. For example, these companies were able to pull through and come back successfully:

Apple:  Steve Jobs had to prove himself a second time; the CEO and cofounder of Apple, was ousted from the company in 1985 after losing trust of the company’s board members. Innovation at Apple lagged in the years that followed. Sales dropped 18 percent, on average, for three years from 1995 to 1998. Job’s return to the Cupertino, Calif., company in 1997 helped right Apple, which went on to revolutionize the digital music and mobile phone industries.

Ford: Ford Motor CEO Alan Mulally, brought on board in 2006, is overseeing a turnaround for that carmaker. Mulally cut Ford’s workforce by one-third and pared back company brands, creating a smaller team with a tighter focus. His approach seems to be working: Ford’s revenue increased 13 percent to $28.1 billion in the first quarter of 2010, compared to the same period the previous year. Profit, up for the fourth consecutive quarter, reached $2.1 billion.

Bridgestone/Firestone: These companies rolled out a campaign-themed “Making it Right,” featuring its president, chairman and CEO John Lampe, along with racecar drivers Mario and Michael Andretti in 2001. That was shortly after federal investigators said faulty tires on Ford light trucks and SUV’s were the possible cause of a number of crashes that resulted in 46 deaths. The Nashville company recalled 6.5 million tires and offered replacements. But the debacle was drawn out when Bridgestone discovered it just didn’t have enough tires to go around.

General Motors: General Motors, after accepting $50 billion in taxpayer bailout funds, aimed to assuage uneasy consumers in 2009 by running an ad campaign featuring Chairman Ed Whitacre. The ads promised a 60-day money-back guarantee for dissatisfied buyers of new GM models and contributed to what is expected to be a return to profit this year.

While advertising and changing CEOs (which is actually something BP has done; Tony Hayward is no longer in charge) can help a company come back on top, it doesn’t always work…so the question is, will anything work for BP?

Kevin Sainsbury, owner of Solent Bodybuilders and Repairs Ltd. Before working with ActionCOACH, Kevin knew his business wasn’t going in the right direction, but he didn’t have a way to turn it around. Since working with ActionCOACH, Kevin is more confident in the future of his business, as well as himself as a business owner. While other businesses are going backwards, his business is currently standing strong and showing profit. Watch how his coach helped him above!

Want to try your hand at video marketing? OpenForum.com suggests making a video that provides intrinsic value.

Customers need to know why they should watch your video, why it’s important, and what’s in it for them. How do you show all these things in your video? Try showing it in these four forms:

Inspiration: To bring to light inspiring stories of courage and bravery.

Enlightenment: These are documentaries similar to what you’d see on PBS or the Discovery Channel. Example: Worse Than War, a documentary you can find on YouTube about genocides.

Entertainment: Some videos are plain and simple guffawing funny. Example: the Evian Roller Babies that people have watched twenty-seven million times.

Education: Educational videos show how to do things and use products. Example: how to fold a t-shirt in two seconds.

For more tips on how to make videos for your consumers, read the full article here.