The concept is that Tech Orchard will buy your old iPhone or iPad and send you a check in 3 days or PayPal payment immediately once the condition of your used equipment is verified.  I had an old iPhone 3G that has been collecting dust on a shelf for over a year.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Tech Orchard would give me $105 cash for it if it was in good condition!  I filled out the simple form on their web site and got a bubble mailer sent to me in short order.  Dropped the old iPhone into the mailer and shipped it off.  I got an email confirmation that they had received it the next day and now a check is in the mail for $105.  This was about the easiest process I can imagine and I would much rather have cash than a boat anchor.

If you remember in my last blog post, I mentioned that I would be having lunch with Matt and joked about the fact that “people don’t want to know what I had for lunch.”  Well, I had a great salad and a cup of steak soup at Nick and Jake’s.  It was excellent as always.  The point here is that real conversations happen over lunch and often they are stories worth telling.  Matt and I talked about a lot of interesting topics, goals for our businesses, trends in social media, the brand development work that Infusion is currently engaged in and more.

The important thing to note, this is yet another example of how simple word of mouth can have a dramatic impact on your business.  Matt did the creative work for Phil’s new company.  Matt told me about it.  I had a need for Phil’s services.  I tried the services and liked the result so much that I decided to blog about it.  There is a strong chance that 3,000+ people that Mic and I are connected to might hear about Tech Orchard.  What if 1% of them tried the service out?  That is 30 people.  Assuming the average purchase is $105 like mine (and that is on the low end) this could be more than $3,000 of business for Phil.  And I am just one person.  Phil is going to grow his business successfully by being well connected, telling good stories and delivering on his brand promise that Tech Orchard is the easy way to sell your old iPhone or iPad.

If you have an old iPhone or iPad sitting around, go to www.techorchard.com and trade it in for some cash!

I have been doing this for so long that it comes naturally.  I have to remind myself that not everyone has experience writing, thinking like a blogger, or paying attention to the things that happen every day that are worth talking about.  You might be doing this kind of activity for the first time in your professional career.

I thought it would be good to walk you through a day in my life and show you the many opportunities that occur to talk about your staff, your company, your clients and more!

Before I do that, here is a quick list of things that you should consider talking about:

1. Clients
2. Vendors/Partners
3. Projects
4. Things that caught your attention
5. People, people, PEOPLE!

September 7th, 2011

6am – Personal and Business – For Me, They Are The Same Thing
Got up and went to LifeTime Fitness with my brother Mike Terry who works for Ingenix.  Talked about the fact that Adam Rector from Beautiful Outdoors was coming by the house today to give me an estimate on some landscaping work in the back yard.  Mike mentioned that he needs to have some work done in his back yard as well and wanted me to have Adam give him a call.  (Later in the afternoon, I did refer Adam to Mike = Word of Mouth Referrals in Action #1)

8am – Creating my Daily To Do List, Checking Emails, Etc.
Came back to the house to clean up and get to work.  Checked my email and started making follow up calls… this involved a list of people and companies that is too long to even try to include here.  Took me about an hour.

9am – Mic Rocks, T-Shirt Talks
One of the things on my follow up list was to talk to Mic about the “Avoiding People That Suck” T-Shirts.  The article he wrote was a huge hit and Brett Gibson at AdventureTech asked when the T-Shirts would be available!  (Mic is creative and driven and I could have written a blog article about him!)  He is working with a good friend of his, Molly Beacom at Image Market on pricing, etc.

10am – Public Service Announcement
Started errands, including going to Commerce Bank to make a Blue Gurus deposit and then to the post office to mail off my quarterly estimated tax payments.  Yes, they need to be sent by September 15th, so count this as a friendly reminder to get on that if you do quarterly estimates.

11am – New Client
Got a call from Donna Rimbo at Christ Church in Overland Park.  She was referred to us by one of our clients, Tommy Wilson at the Downtown Council of Kansas City.  (Word of Mouth Referrals in Action #2) We had a great conversation for 30 minutes about a potential project we could do together.  I told her how we do what we do.  She mentioned that their committee had been talking about this project and when Donna mentioned that she was going to talk to Blue Gurus that one of the committee members started raving about us.  (Yay!)  She said based on our brief conversation, the strength of the referrals and the respect of peers, they are not looking at other companies to help them with this project!  A new client for Blue Gurus and a testament (nice word choice?) to what we keep saying about the power of word of mouth and building a positive reputation for doing what you say you are going to do.

12:30pm – Technical Work
My friend Matt Simpson, owner of Infusion, asked me to help him out with a client project involving WordPress.  I spent 90 minutes getting the project done and following up with Matt on next steps.  Oh, and scheduled lunch together for September 21st at Nick and Jake’s.  I had to include this detail because so many people say “I don’t care where people are going for lunch.”  Hey, if you don’t care… fine.  It’s part of my story though.  You won’t care about every part of this story, that is normal and even expected.  Some people live near Nick and Jake’s.  Some people own Nick and Jake’s.  Some people love or hate Nick and Jake’s with a story of their own.  You get the point… it’s not just about what I had for lunch.

2:30pm – Writing My Blog Update
Sat down to write my blog update with nothing particular in mind.  Thought about all that had happened today and thought about the fact that there are dozens of stories involving people and companies that might be worth talking about.  Realized we hadn’t done an article on the blogging process, so why not document the day!

In Closing…
If you read this whole article, you prove my point.  This thing was WAY TOO LONG.  You must care about me, Mic and Blue Gurus to have gotten through it… and that is the whole point.  People want to hear what is going on in your life because they CARE about you.  In a 9 hour period today, I connected with dozens of people, representing dozens of companies.  Helped my brother out.  Earned a new client through a word of mouth referral.  Did billable work for a client.  Crossed off the majority of the things on my To Do list.

I could expand on any one of these stories to create a great article that talks about specific people and companies.  (Did you recognize any of the people or companies?  Do you know them?  Have you done business with them?)  This stuff matters.  Look at what you and your company are involved in on a daily basis and tell your stories!

Great Cases for the iPad 2
I am always looking for a good case for the iPad 2.  I recently found a company called DodoCase that has an interesting twist on cases for the iPad.  They used to be a book binding company and they were on their way to going out of business because of all the new eReaders that were hitting the market like the Kindle and iPad.  They decided to go with the times and make book binding cases for eReaders!  The cases look a lot like a book when you close them and are very well made.  I just received mine and I love it!  I also loved the video on the home page of the DodoCase site that shows the decades old binding machines making these cases for the iPad.  Great story of a company that reinvented itself because the market changed.  (For other iPad case options, I also like the one that Mike Jones uses that is made by Knomo.  For a laundry list of other top rated cases, go here.)

When I first started thinking about a career in Social Media, I found myself spending hours a day for months on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. I couldn’t get enough of it and loved all of the minute-by-minute interaction that was happening right before my eyes.

One of the stories that came out of that time is one I share on a regular basis with our clients and prospects:

“The Johnny’s Story.”

Johnny’s is a bar and grill that started in Lawrence, KS and a place where I spent more than a few evenings when I was a student at KU. They have two locations in Lawrence and six in Kansas City. In fact, there is one that is five minutes from my house at 8262 Mission Road, Prairie Village, Kansas 66208.

I’ve lived in Prairie Village for nearly 5 years and realized a few months ago that I hadn’t been to Johnny’s in years. How did I realize that? I noticed one of my Facebook friends “became a fan” (now, as you know, it’s just called “LIKE”) of the Prairie Village Johnny’s Facebook Page .

So I became a fan too and started seeing updates every day in my Facebook feed….”2-for-1 burgers on Thursdays!!!”…”Join us for Taco Tuesdays!!!”…..”Live music this Friday!!!”….”$2.50 Schooners!!!”…..and on and on. Eventually I found myself thinking “2-for-1 burgers is a good deal”, “I’d love to go hear some live music”, “Mmmmmm, tacos sound good”, and “I need to get over to Johnny’s”.

And I did. Again. And again. And again. And not just by myself. I brought people with me. I started to tell my friends about 2-for-1 burgers on Thursdays. I coordinated a couple of Jayhawk watch parties with my friends. I gathered some people to see live music. In fact, thanks to a recent promotion they mentioned on their Facebook page, I check in on Foursquare every time I go to Johnny’s now and, (after ordering a couple of drinks), get a free appetizer for doing so! (I’m partial to the mini-burritos.)

Oh, and I post about it on Twitter and Facebook. And I talk to clients and prospects about it every week. And now I feel like I’ve gotten to know the Prairie Village Johnny’s that much better…their persona…their brand…the people that work there….and I like it. I like ALL of it.

So what happens next? People hear me talk about it (and I’m enthusiastic when I do!) and see me post it on Facebook and Twitter and then THEY start thinking “I need to get over to Johnny’s.” And they will. It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow. But they will.

What did Johnny’s do right? They provided me, the consumer, with consistent, relevant information that directly influenced my buying decisions. They shared their personality and their brand with me. They offered specials and incentives for me to come into their establishment…and then, most importantly, they took GREAT care of me (and my friends) when I got there.

The important thing to know is that this isn’t an isolated case between me and Johnny’s. These stories happen EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. This is the power YOU have. As a consumer. As a business. As someone that actively engages your friends, family and customers through social media.

The final thought I want to leave you with is this: When businesses that haven’t engaged in social media are wondering what the ROI (Return on Investment) might be, think about “The Johnny’s Story”. Has Johnny’s done an ROI report on Mic Johnson? NOPE! But have they gotten incredible value out of me? ABSOLUTELY.

Social media works. It worked on me.

Anyone want to go to Johnny’s?

How has social media influenced a buying decision for you, your family or business? We’d love to hear your story.

Fry-Wagner Moving & Storage

Moving is a stressful undertaking.  Whether it is your business or your home, there are many forces working against you, including time, weather and people averse to change.  One of my best practices when faced with these types of situations is to bring in the experts and let them handle it.  I have been referring business to Fry-Wagner Moving & Storage for years and they always do a fantastic job.  The relationship has gone even deeper over the past 2 years because Earl Kawaoka and I are in a Vistage group together that meets each month, and I recently trained their Kansas City and St. Louis sales teams how to use LinkedIn more effectively.  Through all this, I have gotten a deeper understanding of how Fry-Wagner is operated and who the people are that make the company successful.  These guys are the real deal.  Whether it is a residential move across the country, or moving your small business from one location to another in Kansas City, you should call them.  I am going to have them move my parents from Wichita to Kansas City later this year when my father retires from Boeing.  That is how much I trust them.

Fry-Wagner has the process of moving your business down to a science.  I have seen it many times with companies like Bishop-McCann, American Association of Veterinary State Boards, and more.  You tag and box each office with special stickers and there is a roadmap that shows which office in the old building is moving to an office or location in the new building.  The loading and unloading of the trucks are done in a specific order to make things run more smoothly.  Each office, made up by a collection of packed boxes, stays “together” during the move.  These moves usually happen in one business day because of their excellent planning, process and skilled movers.

I have toured the Fry-Wagner facility off of I-35 more than once, and one thing people don’t realize is the vast warehouse space they have available for storage of items.  For example, if your house is crammed with stuff, and you need to get half of it out so that you can stage it and show it, Fry-Wagner can pick up the first half of your stuff and store it in their warehouse until you sell your current house and buy your new house.  That way, it is not sitting in a container in your driveway (even though they offer that service also).  The storage is by weight and is reasonably priced.  The other thing that Fry-Wagner uses their storage space for is Records and Asset management.

This blog post has been another business recommendation of mine based on the fact that many of you reading this wanted to know the companies here in Kansas City that I trust and respect.  Fry-Wagner is one of those companies.  If you are moving, give them a call at 800-394-0049 for a free estimate.  And no, I don’t get a dime for these recommendations. 

:)

Team Office

I work with people/companies all over Kansas City, and one of the things that comes up often is that they are growing or moving.  One of things that is usually a part of any growth or move process is office furniture.  This can be a time consuming, expensive, and frustrating part of the process.  (So many options, how do you choose?  Did they ship the right stuff?  Are the installers going to be there on the right day/time?)  I have been working with Team Office for years and highly recommend them.

Team Office Warehouse

One of the lesser known facts about Team Office is that they have a huge warehouse down on Southwest Boulevard filled to the substantial roof with previously owned Furniture.  For a tour of some of the things they have there, click here.  I have purchased HON® filing cabinets, chairs, desks and storage cabinets at the Warehouse for massive savings compared to buying new.  The inventory is large and there are tons of options for each kind of thing you may be looking for.  I needed to find Purple chairs and cubes a couple of years ago… found them there.  $10/chair, and shockingly inexpensive per cube.  Their installation team is hard working and they know their stuff.  They delivered everything, set it up, and were gone in less than 4 hours for 10 workstations.

There are many great people that make up Team Office, but I have to mention my friend and co-founder of Team Office, Brad Justice.  Brad is well known and well respected around Kansas City and has really done some amazing things for people over the years.  Don’t take my word for it, check out his LinkedIn profile.  Get in touch with Brad via InMail through LinkedIn and he will take great care of your office furniture needs.  Whether you need to get new stuff, new to you stuff (previously owned) or are trying to get rid of your older office furniture to make room for new, Team Office is one of the companies you should consider having at the table of vendors helping you with major business changes.

SHAMELESS REQUEST: Please let me know if you enjoyed this post.  Depending on response I am going to sprinkle in other companies that I work with and highly recommend (and why) in the coming months of 2010.

Box of Logo Pens

One of the things that I have had to figure out is how to get my logo on marketing materials.  I believe that shirts and pens are two of the most effective ways to advertise.  You will always see me in a blue shirt with the Blue Gurus logo on it.   I do have “off duty blue” for evenings and weekends where the shirt is blue but no logo.  :)

Shirts
I really like the wrinkle free shirts at Eddie Bauer.  I ordered 10 shirts of various styles and various colors of blue (obviously).  Once I had the shirts, I had to figure out a place that could embroider my logo.  I chose Hometown Threads to do the work and the results were great!  Hometown Threads is located inside the WalMart at 157th and Metcalf.  I took 10 shirts in on a Tuesday, and they were done by Friday.

Pens
There were a TON of options and companies that could sell me pens with my Blue Gurus logo on them.  I ended up going with Pens R Us.  I know, I know, that name sounds silly, but the entire process was smooth and the results were exactly what I wanted.  I specifically chose the Bic Round Stic with blue barrels and white caps.

Embroidered Blue Shirt

Other ideas?
I have my logo on my iPhone case, my projector, my laptop and my truck.  Consistently displaying the logo keeps you top of mind with the people that you are in contact with on a daily basis.  Give them a consistent experience and it strengthens the perception that your product or service will be consistent as well.  Simple idea really, but powerful when done right.

Blue Gurus Logo

The logo is complete! We hired Infusion Creative to create the logo. It is interesting how much work goes in to creating a business logo, but when you plan on printing, placing and posting it all over the world, you have to get it RIGHT! :)

Next step is to get the web site up and running which we plan on getting done by the middle of June. It will be nice to get all the information together so that we can clearly explain how we help clients grow their small businesses! We help them sell more and then deliver faster!

Atlantis Drainage Solutions

For the past 5 weeks I have been multitasking. I have been starting a new business and getting my house ready to put on the market with my friends over at Group O’Dell. I did a lot of projects to get my home ready, and one of them was setting up proper drainage for the downspouts off my roof. Too much water was getting into the crawlspace when it rained hard enough.

I asked around and found that Atlantis Drainage Solutions was a good company that I could trust to do the job right. And they did. Their staff was professional and experienced. Not to mention friendly. Anyway, the drainage problem is fixed and I am really happy with the results. I would recommend Atlantis Drainage for any kind of residential water control needs.

Infusion Logo

I have a home! A good friend of mine, Matt Simpson, owns Infusion. They are a web site and brand delivery company. Matt and I have done business together over the past 2-3 years and when he heard that I was looking for a place to call home he invited me to office with him. They are located at 6340 College, right next to the Overland Park Convention center. It is a fantastic space that they just moved into and completely remodeled. This gives me immediate access to a lot of great infrastructure including a conference room, phone system, fax, copier, etc. The lesson here is to accept the generosity of others. Matt and I have always helped each other grow our businesses and this is taking that relationship to the next level.