How Your Value Proposition Defines Your Website’s Success

Posted on December 14, 2021 by harborcapitalgroupinc

How Your Value Proposition Defines Your Website’s Success

Visitors come to your website because they have a specific problem that needs to be solved.

But, visitors will only give you about 8 seconds before deciding if they will stay and read more.

If they stay, you have about 125 words to convince them that your company has the best solution to their problem.

They will probably not read on or even scan the page if they are not confident. They will move on and probably never come back again.

Tell your value proposition story quickly.

Years ago, we were taught to start with the problem and then offer the solution.

But think about it. Your visitors already know the problem, so they are at your website.

They are searching for the answer to their problem.

You need to convince them immediately that your value proposition solves their problem.

Tell them why you can solve their problem.

Tell prospects what you do and how you solve their problem

Why your solution is superior to your competition.

Your value proposition needs to compel them to read your entire story.

They will most likely move on without a clear, targeted value proposition.

Most people look at multiple companies before deciding to move forward.

To show you how few companies have a compelling value proposition,

marketingexperiments.com states that only 2.2% of businesses have a compelling value proposition.

You must also tell your value proposition story quickly at the top of your website.

Very few websites have a value proposition, and even fewer have it at the top of their website.

Check out your competitor’s websites and see how many have a value proposition and what you see as your competition.

Remember, your website is about what they want to hear, not what you want to tell them.

Here are the basics you will want to include:

Headline. The headline tells the reader your value proposition in one sentence, no more than two sentences.
Yes, it’s only one sentence, but you will have to write it many times to get it perfect and make it attention-getting.
Next, write a short explanation of the critical elements of your value proposition in two or three sentences. Remember, you have to be able to deliver what you promise.
Then, add up to three features, benefits, or unique differences you offer. Individual bullet points are an excellent way to highlight these benefits.
A positive image, if possible. You know, of course, it’s worth a thousand words :).

Here are the basics you will want to include:

Headline. The headline tells the reader your value proposition in one sentence, no more than two sentences.
Yes, it’s only one sentence, but you must write it many times to get it perfect and make it attention-getting.
Next, write a short explanation of the critical elements of your value proposition in two or three sentences. Remember, you have to be able to deliver what you promise.
Then, add up to three features, benefits, or unique differences you offer. Individual bullet points are an excellent way to highlight these benefits.
A positive image, if possible. You know, of course, it’s worth a thousand words :).

I am sure you will consider many more questions to examine as you define your value proposition. To NeilPatel.com, Google cares about how long people spend reading your webpage. If visitors spend time on your page, you got it right.

Conclusion

Your value proposition is critical. You will be in a class all your own if you have a compelling value proposition.

You will want to get it “perfect,” which will take some time.

It may only take a few minutes to write, but it will take many tries to perfect it.

To get started, ask yourself these questions.

Why does the potential client want to solve this problem? I
Is there no workaround?
How is the problem affecting their business?
Why haven’t they been able to solve it already? How can you solve the problem?
What outcome and benefits result from your solution? Here are the basics you will want to include:

P.S. I would love to hear how the development of your value proposition went and how successful you have been since you implemented it. Go to our website and let us know. Your story may inspire and help others (and us) try to improve their value proposition.

PPS. You might want to check out this blog post as well. Transform Your Competitive Market Into an Uncontested Market. Click Here

Innovative Strategies: Leverage Potential Change

Posted on November 15, 2021 by harborcapitalgroupinc

Exploit Market Changes

Industries and markets are constantly changing for many reasons, including technology, a new business model, or a pandemic.

When this occurs, companies have two choices: adapt to current changes or, longer-term, be disrupted.

But, if you pay attention to these changes, you can develop innovative strategies for revenue growth and exploit these market changes.

That is what we are going to talk about in this blog, how companies react to these changes, how you can adapt your strategy to these changes

to gain product value, revenues, and even a long-term monopoly in your market.

Companies that do not adapt generally resort to inertia or entropy.

What is inertia?

Inertia is the unwillingness of the affected company to adapt.

Not adapting could be caused by routines (the way we have always done things) or an unwillingness to change strategies because it will hurt current profit streams.

They assume that these current profit streams will continue.

However, this also opens up opportunities for others. For example, Netflix replaced Blockbuster. Walmart replaced K-Mart.

What is entropy?

Inertia generally leads to entropy. Entropy is not keeping your product line up to date and, therefore, losing clients, sales, and market share.

The primary reason entropy becomes the problem is that the company becomes less focused on its products,

often reduces prices and generally becomes less responsive to its customers. You might agree with Elon Musk, “I think you should always bear in mind that entropy is not on your side.

Again, entropy opens opportunities for competitors to innovative strategies for revenue growth. Product-market fit is not a permanent status.

For example, the Encyclopedia Britannica was replaced by Wikipedia. Photographic film was replaced by digital cameras.

Innovative Strategies: Examples of Potential Opportunities

Your strategic opportunity is to pay attention to these changes and be willing to innovate your products or services and experiment.

In that case, you can leverage your current strategy.

You can capitalize on these changes with new concepts, ideas, products, or services that should generate new revenues and profits for years to come.

A few examples of potential innovative strategies for revenue growth in market changes are happening today.

Innovative strategies for potential changes in auto Insurance

Every car insurance company says -one way or another- you only pay for what you need.

And there are companies with apps comparing prices. How long can profitability last?

I also realize that much of their money is made on premiums and reinvesting premiums into other interest-paying assets.

But what happens when interest rates change, and the spread collapses?

What happens when car buyers switch from buying cars to subscribing to vehicles?

This concept is just getting started, but the idea is increasing globally.

Just pay a monthly fee and drive off the lot. You have a three-year subscription and can change car models every 12 months.

You subscribe at the dealership, and your monthly subscription includes insurance (they want to protect their asset.)

This concept is new, and I assume changes will be made along the way.

Other opportunities include electric cars, charging stations, gasoline prices, parts costs, and many more.

Is there an opportunity for an innovative strategy for growth, or are insurance companies the next Blockbuster video rental company?

How could you take advantage of these opportunities if you are in this industry?

Innovative strategies for opportunities in the phone market

One telephone service company sells its service for $75 per month,

and another sells the same service with the same coverage for $25 per month.

Are costs plummeting, or are more and more competitors entering the market?

Or are the phone companies still making money on phone sales?

But we see ads claiming you can save about 50 percent on some phones.

Are these companies simply discounting to get updates or new customers

— or calling it the marketing cost of acquiring a new customer who will eventually be profitable over the long term.

Plus, what technological advancements are going to happen? Will SMS messages all become MMS multimedia messages?

Will there be anyone left on laptops? What will happen with 5 G?

How will this evolving industry affect your market, product, or service? And how quickly?

Innovative strategies for opportunities in the real estate market.

Real estate companies continue to reduce their commissions and have gone from 6% commission down to about half that amount.

Companies and agents use marketing companies to get listings and independent agents to sell homes.

This new sales model has dramatically reduced costs.

There have also been new sales models like “ibuyers,” who buy a home in cash with no fees,

spend a few dollars updating the home, and resell the house for a profit. Can this last with higher interest rates and slowing house prices?

Also, many real estate companies own title companies because that is another way to “cross-sell” and increase their sales and profits.

But what if title companies begin using blockchain technology to make title registration faster, easier, and safer –maybe reducing title insurance?

Or what if the real estate agent took the average discount the buyer wanted and gave the buyer a portion of that discount as a “bonus” at closing for buying the house?

That money would be much more valuable to the buyer than the small amount that would reduce the monthly payment.

Considering all the variables that go into the real estate market, how will this market change in the next 3-5 years?

How will the real estate companies deal with all the brick-and-mortar offices across the country?

More changes and opportunities to come

Those few common examples are only the beginning of the changes we will see in the coming years.

For example, what will RoKo streaming television do to cable companies?

Or is Artificial Intelligence taking over more and more tasks?

Or are 3D printers building homes in a couple of days?

The list could be extensive, but you get the idea: everyone is or will be affected by continuous changes in our world.

One way you can deal with these changes is to monitor the changes knowing that some companies

will adapt quickly while others will respond with inertia and/or entropy.

Those companies are easier to identify and give you time

to create and modify your strategy to be the value leader in your industry and market

-and maybe own the monopoly position in a new market niche.

Conclusion

Gain Strategic Leverage From Market Changes

-Market fit continues to evolve and change with the economy and the customer’s needs and wants.

Therefore, stay alert and be ready to take advantage

of the many new opportunities to modify your strategy as required.

Who can argue with Elon Musk’s perception of the future?

He says, “you have to get into a new market several years ahead of the apparent trend to be a player in that market.”

Cheers,

Jim Zitek

PS. If you would like to learn more about business growth strategies,

check out this blog post: Why your business growth story is your story

PPS If you want to get the right information at the right time, check out our website,

How To Define And Solve The “Real” Problem

Posted on November 4, 2021July 26, 2024 by harborcapitalgroupinc

Define and solve the real problem

We’ve all been there—several people discussing the problem that needs to be solved to meet the goal. But the challenge is that different people have different definitions of the “real” problem. This short blog post, taken from Michael MIchalko’s book, Thinkertoys, will help you end that uncertainty. It will help you identify and prioritize problems and convert them into specific challenges using creative thinking. I have condensed this to keep it as short as possible for this blog post.

Start by making a list of the problems that need to be solved. Following are a few examples. How can I increase revenues by 20% this year? How can I cut costs and increase production? How can we better differentiate our product from our competitors? How can we improve the role of the service department?

Just the act of writing your challenges down may result in some immediate ideas.

Carefully craft your challenge statement.

The more time you devote to perfecting the wording of your challenge, the closer you will be to a solution. When you have a problem, write a challenge statement out, study it for a while, then leave it, change it, stretch and squeeze it, and restate it. Questions help you look at a challenge from different perspectives. Following is the blueprint for executing this statement challenge.

Blueprint

Broaden your view.

Write your statement as a definitive question, beginning with “In what ways might I (statement)…?”
Vary the wording of your challenge by substituting different synonyms for keywords to broaden your perspective of the problem (e.g., increase to multiply to enlarge)

Then, squeeze your view down to a very narrow, specific perspective.

Divide your challenge into subproblems
Solve the subproblems
Then, Keep asking how else? And why else?

Again, positively phrase these problems and as a question: “In what ways might I…?” This form helps keep you from concluding what the problem is too quickly. You want many different perceptions of the situation to see other possibilities.

Stretching the challenge

To keep your mind open to all possibilities, stretch your challenge by asking “why?“ several times. Also, asking why will help you identify your general objective and challenge your assumptions. This process will also help you redefine and reshape your challenges.

For example, suppose your challenge is “in what ways might I sell more computers?“

Why do you want to sell more computers? Because we need more funds to pay bills.
Why do you want to increase revenues? Because costs are growing.
Why do you want to sell more computers? Because sales are beginning to slow down.
Why do you want to sell more computers? To make investments in new products.
Why do you want to increase your sales volume? To take advantage of discounts.

Expanding your challenge gives you a broader concept of the challenge so that you can view many more approaches.

Squeeze the challenge

When you have a broad idea of what you are trying to find, narrow the objective from the general to the specific by squeezing it. This process makes your challenge easier to solve. To squeeze a challenge, you want to discover its strengths, weaknesses, and boundaries. To do that, ask who, what, where, when, why, and how.

Who might have unique strengths and resources or access to helpful information
What helps identify all the things, objects, and items involved in the situation, the requirements, difficulties, rewards, and advantages and disadvantages of formulating a resolution.
Where considers the place. Locations or focal points of the problem.
When probes schedules, dates, and timeliness of the situation.
Why helps you reach an understanding of your primary objective.
How helps you recognize how the situation developed, actions that may have been tempted or now occurring, and steps that one could take.

You’re going to do that for the larger problem and the subproblem.

Conclusion

Going through this exercise will enable you to see all of the things you need to do to solve the real problem. Now, you can prioritize them and accomplish them one by one until you can reach your goal. You may also have to redo your analysis as you go because things will change.

PS. If you want to get the right information at the right time, go to our website, sign up for the ClickVisorTM program, and learn about innovative strategies for continued revenue growth.

Why Customer Lifetime Value Is So Critically Important

Posted on October 26, 2021 by harborcapitalgroupinc

Why Customer Lifetime Value Is So Critically Important

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is an important business metric. It is the total revenue your business earns from a customer over time. It gives you a picture of the business’s short-term, long-term status, and financial viability. It is also an indicator of product-market fit, client loyalty, and recurring revenue from existing customers.

CLV gives you an understanding of the costs and profits of your business as it relates to acquiring, generating revenues, and retaining customers. Also, getting repeat orders from existing customers brings in a healthy cash flow regularly into the business. When you know what a customer will spend with your business over time, you can consider more options for your acquisition budget.

There are two basic ways of calculating CLV, depending on what data you have available.

1 Accumulated data

If you have historical sales data, this method is far more accurate. It puts together all orders by individual customers to get their own real CLVs.

2 Average estimate

If you don’t have granular data, you can estimate an average by the following formula: Average order value times number of orders per year.

How to calculate Customer Lifetime Value

For instance, if your customer base will, on average, buy ten times per year at $10 per transaction (or $100 per year) for ten years, the lifetime value of a customer is $1,000 (minus costs). If your profit is 25% of sales, the CLV is $250 (25% of $1,000). Therefore, you could technically afford to spend $250 to attract a single new customer. However, many marketers suggest that you do not spend more than 33% of CLV or, in this example, would be $82.50.

Another view. If you could improve each of the three CLV numbers by 10%, you would increase profits by 33 percent, giving you a profit of about $332 (plus $82). This additional profit could then be added to your marketing budget to grow even faster the following year.

Now, how can you improve each element of your CLV?

Now that you know the lifetime value, you want to spend some serious time examining how you can improve your revenues and profits. This information will also give you a long-term look at your business and help you plan for the future. To improve your results, you should do the following things sequentially:

Increase the dollar amount of each sale to a customer.
increase the frequency that customers purchases from you. ,
Try to increase the number of products or services you provide for your customers.
Then, you can begin to increase your market share by going outside — to increase your market share by working on your competitor’s customers.

This process also forces you to look at different market and customer segments. For example:

Who are your best customers and worst customers using CLV? How can you get more of the good customers and maybe less of the lower value customers?
Which products provide the most revenue and profits? Can you add value to your products and increase the price?
Which industry or market segments provide the most or least CLV? Are you in the best markets, best niches, and aiming for the best clients?

You also want to generate many alternative ways to increase your CLV

Now, you can focus on developing many alternative ideas and practices to increase your CLV. You want to focus on your overall business strategy, potential innovations, and marketing strategy. More information is available on our ClickVisor program to help you accomplish these crucial tasks.

Consider Multiple Marketing Approaches

This process also requires you to expand your marketing approaches based on the industries, segments, and types of customers. It is also a good idea to have more than one marketing approach that you continue to use long term. You need to try and test different approaches as the world, and people change.

CLV will change as you create and implement new programs

As you implement your marketing program, this lifetime value should change as the variables in the process change. So, reviewing your CLV regularly make sense. It will cause you to rethink many things you’re doing as you are always looking for ways to improve that number.

Conclusion

Client Lifetime Value is an essential concept for every business. It goes hand in hand with customer repeat orders and retention. It is also a great concept to broaden your thinking about your company and its mission. Plus, businesses with a high CLV can service their client better and grow continuously over time.

How To Get Significantly Better Results In Less Time

Posted on July 14, 2021 by harborcapitalgroupinc

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Get Better Results In Less Time

No one has enough time, especially business executives.

We always try to do more, learn more, and produce more.

But there are only 1,440 minutes in a day, and no one gets more time, no matter who they are.

But there are ways to get much more done and better if you know how to use your time correctly.

Start by asking yourself these questions.

What do I love doing?

What is my expertise?

What do I hate doing?

What do I do that isn’t a priority?

Here is the first step if your goal is increased productivity and faster results.

Get rid of the jobs you hate to do and those that are not a priority.

If you hate doing them, you are probably not very good at them either.

Plus, they take more time than they should. Time is not a renewable resource.

Maybe someone in the company loves that kind of work and would be happy to do it.

If not, hire someone from the outside to do it. That’s probably less expensive than you doing it.

You have just saved time and used it on higher priority projects like driving revenues and profits.

Wait, there is another way to use your time more effectively.

What if you closed your office door, turned your phone and email off, and told people not to disturb you for three or four hours.

The result would be no interruptions, no time-sucking chit-chat, no distractions from emails that were not critical, and more.

Imagine four hours free of disruption –every day –what you could accomplish with that much extra time.

I’ll bet significantly more than twice as much.

Conclusion

Now, you can focus on the priority jobs where you have the expertise.

That’s how you become an exceptional leader that gets results.

Jim Zitek

Harbor Capital Group

P.S. Check out our website for more information on how to get results

P. P.S.It’s a short week so I made this short to save you time 🙂

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How Much Will People Pay For Your New Product?

Posted on May 27, 2021 by harborcapitalgroupinc

How Much Will People Pay For Your New Product?

Most people believe their new product or service idea is a huge winner. But, to be sure, they tell some friends about the idea and ask what they think. Their friends, of course, have no idea but don’t want to hurt their feelings or be unnecessarily pessimistic. So they generally give a positive response to the idea.

That is the wrong approach.

Based on Rob Fitzpatrick’s experience as an entrepreneur, and several failing startups, he realized there was a better way

and wrote a book titled, “The Mom Test.” that solved his problem.

Here is what he found out. To validate your problem, you have to interview people in your targeted market,

but you can not tell them what your product is.

That will bias their answer. Again, mainly in your favor.

People want to be friendly, and there are no consequences for their response as there is no product yet.

You want to interview people about a subject other than your new product.

Then, during the interview, find a way to casually ask the person if they have the problem you think they do.

if they say yes, ask them how they dealt with the problem.

Let them tell you exactly what the problem is

Let them tell you how serious the problem is and how they dealt with it.

The interviewee is now talking about his/her experience and giving you facts rather than opinions.

You need facts to make a go/no-go decision.

Also, If the problem is serious, ask what it cost them (time, money, operational issues, etc.) to solve.

That will give you an idea of the price range you could charge.

Start with your market representative list

Get started by creating a list of about 30 people you can interview — that number would be statistically significant.

This is the kind of information you and your team will need to diagnose and create the solution.

Want even better product design ideas?

You can now take this information as the basis for your diagnosis of the problem

and use your creative problem-solving skills to design an awesome product.

See our blog post: How you can turn problems into opportunities.

The Next Step In Your Product Validation

After you get your initial product or service designed, revisit people in the targeted market,

This time with your solution to see if they are willing to pay for your problem-solution fit.

Conclusion

Don’t ask how much they would be willing to pay for your solution.

Ask them how they are solving the problem now and what they are paying to solve the problem including time delays, workarounds, performance, etc.

That will give you an idea of what you could look at in terms of the price range.

Jim Zitek l Harbor Capital Group

P.S. You can get more information about validating your new product idea by going to our website

and downloading our free report “ Learn The 4 Secrets That Guarantee Problem-Solution Fit.”

P.P.S. If you know someone who could also use this information, please pass this on to them.

How You Approach Problem-Solving Matters

Posted on March 3, 2021 by harborcapitalgroupinc

How You Approach Problem-Solving Matters

No matter who you are, a seasoned businessman or an entrepreneur, you continuously face different problems on that pathway to success.

And you can add to that the challenge of not having enough time to do everything.

We want to change that by getting you off on the right foot with how you initially approach problem-solving.

It’s important because the way you approach problem-solving matters.

Most problems need a timely solution. Some linger because we don’t know how to solve them.

It often happens when you suddenly have to face some things that you did not expect.

So, choosing the best path to reach an effective solution matters.

Following are several approaches to problem-solving.

Understand them, and you will be able to see the changes in how fast and effective your problem-solving techniques will become.

A Team Approach To Problem-Solving

If you are working with a team, everyone on the team must know and understand the problem from their own perspective.

And every person on the team must be able to freely express their point of view without criticism.

Leadership means that you remove all the fear in people’s minds of any repercussions if their idea is ridiculed.

The good news is it often happens that some off-the-wall comment is picked up by someone else and turned into a potential solution.

If you find that you cannot find “the” solution after a reasonable amount of time, compile a list of all the suggested solutions.

You can then analyze which one has the potential to solve your problem.

A day or two later, when people are not intensely focused on the problem’s details, someone often comes up with an insightful solution.

Having an open-minded approach is needed to develop transparent communication.

With an open mind, you can see things more clearly and see the bigger picture.

Finding and assigning important tasks to all the open-minded people will help in reducing the problem-solving time.

People with open minds can take you forward in your quest to find the best solution to any of your problems.

Creating a team of people who know exactly where to look when a problem occurs is always an interesting approach to problem-solving.

Mindsets Make A Difference In Approach And Outcomes

Next, let’s take a look at different mindsets and how these mindsets approach problem-solving.

Analytical thinking:

People who think analytically generally consider every aspect of the problem.

From here, they can move forward in a calculated way.

People with analytical thinking mindsets find it very easy to take on and solve any problem, so they proceed step by step.

They make assumptions and considerations because they have expertise in discovering new things, and they are sure about it.

Logical thinking:

People who think logically and straightforwardly learn from their actions from past actions.

Logical thinking can get you the solution you seek for any of your problems.

Logical thinking is the basis of their solution.

They approach the problem from how they think a normal person would view the problem.

They try to see the long-term solution.

Rational thinking:

It is a kind of thinker who would use their knowledge and assumptions.

They would not look for any experience or any other factor.

From their perspective, they may be like the problem,

and he would solve them in a way that others may find questionable.

Absolute thinking:

The absolute thinker wants surety for everything.

He has just two solutions, and one is right while the other is wrong.

He only selects from two of them, and for that, he always seeks permission from higher authorities.

He does not live with probabilities.

Creative thinkers:

Creative thinkers do not remain limited to one or two solutions based on their judgments or past experiences.

They can create solutions from scratch.

And they do not focus on one thing when there are so many potential solutions.

They will also take tier time in coming up with these solutions.

Conclusion:

Your approach to problems tells how you will solve your problem.

Identifying and agreeing on the problem rather than working on a symptom is critical to your success.

Learning how to solve problems creatively is a crucial talent and a toolbox for anyone who wants to succeed in business.

Solutions, no matter how difficult the problem or challenge, can be solved — some instantly and some, like solving the theory of relativity, took Einstein 10 years.

Always choose your method or technique according to the complexity of the problem.

Lastly, remember that trying to approach and solve a problem as a team can be fragile because you have to give space and freedom without criticism to each member.

We hope this information gives you some food for thought as you approach a specific problem.

I would love to hear your comments on using this approach.

How To Turn Problems Into Opportunities

Posted on February 19, 2021 by harborcapitalgroupinc

How To Turn Problems Into Opportunities

Being a founder or CEO of a growing company means you are always stressed to do more.

There is too much to do, too many problems to solve, and too little time to do it all.

Yet, on top of all that stress, you have issues that crop up almost daily.

So, how can you turn problems into opportunities and move forward?

Anyone can turn problems into opportunities using problem-solving techniques, and you don’t have to be a genius to do it.

However, you have to learn a little about the different kinds of problem-solving strategies and techniques.

20+ Problem-Solving Techniques

We are working on creating a series of over 20 ways anyone can turn problems into opportunities.

We explain how each one works. You can’t simply read one after another and understand that technique well enough.

You need to know if that technique works for you or if a different one would be better.

We encourage you to try each one. Some methods you can do quickly, and others take more time.

But, each one will teach you how to become a better problem-solver.

Your Mind Is Pre-Wired To Solve Problems

According to Danial Kahneman’s book: “Thinking Fast And Slow,” Your mind is pre-wired to go problem-solving.

It can switch your thoughts from thinking fast (having an instant answer or a Eureka! Moment)

to thinking slow (digging deep into your knowledge base for breakthrough ideas).

For example, Einstein’s theory of relativity. Your mind switches back and forth between the two thought processes as it searches for the answer.

This process lets you see a bigger picture and more problem-solving options.

In addition to fast and slow thinking, you need to have a positive attitude to solve problems.

You can’t focus on the negative (“why are sales slowing down”).

You have to reframe the negative problem into a positive (“how do we get customers to buy more”). That way, you are focusing on a positive solution.

Pretty easy so far, right?

Next, you can begin to look at the many problem-solving techniques that will help you solve your problems.

A good place to start is with Michael Michalko’s books, especially the “Thinkertoys” book with many problem-solving techniques.

He divides the techniques into two groups.

One group focuses on a linear method using words and illustrations to probe your thoughts.

Some people are more comfortable working with word concepts.

The second group of techniques is more intuitive and relies on intuition and insight to arrive at the solution.

People generally prefer one group over the other just based on their individual preferences.

There is no right or wrong technique.

You can use any of the techniques to solve your problem. You do want to become familiar with all of them.

Each has a unique way to structure and process information that leads to a solution.

Some techniques will seem easy, and you will like using them. Others may give you answers, but the process isn’t as comfortable as some others.

Also, some techniques will give you the confidence you need to believe that you will solve the problem.

Never underestimate the power of confidence. You have to believe you can solve the problem.

So you pick the technique that works best for you or try several of them on your problem to see what results you get.

All Problem Solving Techniques Will Be Covered

We will be covering all of these problem-solving techniques on our advisor platform.

But, you can’t simply read about a method and quickly move on to the next one.

You need to go through a problem-solving example so you can get the idea and feel of how that technique works.

Working through an example is the only way you can judge how they work and if you are comfortable with that specific problem-solving technique.

Three Factors That Will Help You Turn Problems Into Opportunities

Brian Tracy, in his book “Creativity and Problem Solving,” offers three factors, among many good ideas. That helps you be creative:

1. How intensely you desire a goal (the more you want to achieve that goal the more ways you will find to achieve that goal).

2. How serious the problem is to your life or business. Once you have identified what is holding you back from an important goal,

your mind will start generating ideas to solve that problem.

3. How do you focus on the question. (the more precise and focused you are on the question, the more rapidly your creative reflexes operate to generate workable answers

Using these problem-solving techniques, you will be able to

1. Generate ideas at will

2. Create new business opportunities

3. Modify ideas until you come up with innovative and powerful ideas

4. Improve old products, services, and processes

5. Develop solutions to complex business problems

6. See problems as opportunities,And much, much more

Conclusion

As an entrepreneur or CEO, our hectic lives are continually being interrupted by challenges and problems that need creative solutions, short-term, and long-term solutions.

And everyone is capable of innovative solutions.

It’s a matter of learning the methods and techniques of creative problem-solving and practicing them.

Remember, the worth of the idea you create will depend to some degree on the way you define your problems.

For example, write down the problem. Translate it into a positive opportunity. It is impossible to be creative if you are focused on a negative.

You have to look at the problem broadly. This broad approach is true for problem-solving techniques as well.

Try all of them and select the ones that work best for you.

We would love to hear your comments about problem-solving, good or bad.

How To Find Out If Your New Idea Will Sell And For How Much

Posted on February 9, 2021 by harborcapitalgroupinc

How To Find Out If Your New Idea Will Sell And For How Much

Most entrepreneurs are confident their new product or service idea will be a big winner. But you would like to find out if your new idea will sell and for how much before you invest lots of time and money. So, to be safe, you tell your Mom or wife about the idea and ask what she thinks. Guess what? She says it could be a great idea. She may not be sure, but she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings or dampen your enthusiasm.

Still not sure, you decide to ask more people and get additional “facts.” Again you tell them your idea and ask if they think it’s a good idea? Do they think people will buy this product or service? Not surprisingly, almost everyone agrees with your Mom. Great. Now you have the facts to validate your hypothesis.

Not All “Facts” Are True

But, there is a big problem, you don’t have real facts. The “facts” you have are only “opinions” from people who don’t want to hurt your feelings or dampen your enthusiasm. Just like your Mom, people want to be nice. Besides, they are not committed to buying it, so there is no downside for them.

If you start your business using these false facts, your chances of succeeding are slim. But, there is an answer. Rob Fitzpatrick, author, and entrepreneur, started several companies that failed using this traditional customer research. He finally realized what the problem was, and here is what he found.

Talking to potential prospects is critical, but you have to speak to them in a way that they will give you real facts, not just opinions. So the first step to getting real facts is not to tell them what your product idea is.

Don’t Talk, Listen

Set up a casual meeting or coffee, so they are comfortable. And remember, you are there to listen, not talk.

Ask them about themselves and their job. People love to talk about themselves.

During that conversation, find a way to bring up a question related to the problem you want to solve.

For example, here are some opening questions, “that part of your job sounds difficult.

Is that a big problem?” or “I’ve been told that X is a problem. Do you have that problem?”

Then based on their answer, keep probing about the problem and how they dealt with it.

This explanation is experience talking about their problem and how they handled it — this is how you get factual information rather than just opinions.

They verify if the problem exists, how painful it is, and how they dealt with the problem.

Maybe it’s a minor problem, and they have a way to deal with it now. Perhaps it’s a significant problem that is costing the company time and money.

This approach will verify if there’s a problem and if the pain is severe.

You get facts, not opinions, which will give you actionable insights.

Here are some of the problems with the traditional approach:

1. We spend too much time collecting data that’s too unreliable for important decisions.

2. Sometimes we don’t realize the data we are collecting is worthless (even misleading)

3. Asking customers what they think of your idea almost always leads to bad data.

4. We assume customer feedback is scientific, and whatever they tell us is scientific and counts as learning.

5. But, it’s easy to bias the people we are talking to. Once you tell them you have an idea, they are already biased beyond repair because they don’t want to crush your dreams,

6. If people tell you your idea is terrible, that may not be useful data either. Why? People are bad at predicting both: which ideas are good and what they,

as customers are going to do, buy, use in the future,

7. Even Venture Capital firms credited with being the best predictors are wrong more often than right.

And If their judgment is worse than a coin toss, how seriously can you take anyone’s opinion?

8. If you are going to get your “facts” faster (e.g., focus groups, surveys, etc.), it could be a big mistake.

The problem is this information is not robust enough to bet your company on it.

Get them to talk about costs

During your questioning, you will ask how they solved the problem and how expensive it is to solve the problem.

Now, you have an idea of the cost parameters to determine if the product will be profitable.

This approach does take some time as you will want to interview people until you begin to get repeated information.

However, it is less expensive than starting development and having to end the project later.

Get facts, not opinions

You can get broad industry views and some facts and figures from Google information,

but the insights you need only come from face-to-face conversations with prospects.

It’s the insights into your customers’ worldview and decision-making that tell you to build it or not.

You need real insight into what customers want.

There is also a problem if you put together a small group of people to do these interviews.

You will end up with several opinions as to what they heard and what is essential.

These variations in view make defining the most critical problems difficult.

You do need to keep everyone informed of the information.

Conclusion

You can get the real facts you need if you don’t bias the potential customer by telling them your idea.

Ask questions about a problem they might have and what they did to solve the problem.

Get them to say to you, based on their experience, the problem, and how they solve it or don’t solve it.

Also, what they currently pay to get it solved now.

At this point, you are only trying to verify that the problem you want to solve is a real problem, and the customer would be willing to pay to get it solved.

Once you have your product concept designed, the second step is to follow up with customer interviews

with your product or service design to determine your solution’s validity.

You will also ask for some commitment, not necessarily money, maybe a referral to another user in the company

to determine if the person’s positive response is factual or just being friendly.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this blog or this topic. Or a topic you would like us to discuss. You can reach us HERE.

Jim Zitek

P.S. If you know someone else that would like this information, pass it on.

How Your “About” Page Increases Revenues

Posted on July 22, 2020 by harborcapitalgroupinc

How Your “About” Page Increases Revenues

Your “About” page is the second most important page on your website because it helps you increase revenues.

Once visitors see what you do on your home page, they jump to your about page to see what you are all about.

It also sets the tone and authority level for the rest of your website.

This critical page is necessary for content conversion and then increases revenues because it is the beginning of building trust with your prospects.

Because your About Page is important, it has to reflect your personality and the way you see things.

The following basic elements are a guide for the content you need to include.

Many of the suggestions are from an article in Inc magazine written by Jeff Haden. Another good reference is Hubspot.

Your about page could be about “Us” (your team or company) or about “Me” a single person, or about “your brand.”

Stay consistent; first person (I, or we), second person (you), or third person (he/she/they) throughout your story.

Also, if you want to connect with people, be transparent and honest.

If not, they will sense it as they go through your story and dismiss you if they feel you are not being truthful.

Most people find it hard to write about themselves, so ask people you know how they would describe you and what you offer.

Start your story by stating your goal right away, Let them know where you stand and why what you offer is important to them.

Start with your keyword in the headline

Your headline should include your keyword.

You can have a subhead that states the problem, solution, result, and benefit.

For example, you could use “About” or Your Name and then have a subhead that contains your core story.

The important thing is that you have to make your point early.

By the time they get to the bottom half of the page, many people drop off.

Also, your about page can also help you with your Google ranking and organic traffic,

so having it SEO optimized is also important. Neil Patel has lots of examples of how to use your About page.

Move to what the customers need

Generally, people go to your About page because there is some interest or problem they want to solve.

For example, reach product-market fit, find new customers, or increase revenues.

So, address that problem and show them how you can help solve their problem better than anyone else.

Your About page may say it’s about you and it is.

But, what the readers want to know is if you can solve their problem and deliver the results they want.

Start with your core story (strategy) and tell them what you do and what they can expect, Be specific, but brief.

Tell them what kind of customers you have

Tell them who your customers are, so they can determine if they fit the way you do business or not.

You can also mention who your customers are. For some, those names or companies will be important in their decision.

Also, give them facts not fluff.

Don’t tell them how outstanding you are, give them facts, and let them judge for themselves.

If you don’t have facts, don’t make them up.

Talk about your vision and why you do what you do and what you hope to accomplish.

If they agree, they may want to come along. Like Simon Sinek says, people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

To Get Conversions and increases in revenues, you need a CTA

You also need a Call to Action (CTA) on your page.

For example, what do you want them to do once they have read your page?

Do you want them to sign up for your blog, get your lead magnet, or watch a video?

Don’t try to be something you are not

The page has to be condensed around your story. However, don’t write a long, boring, detailed history of your life.

Often, smaller companies pretend to be bigger than they are.

If you are passionate about what you do, they will see it and feel it.

Focus instead on how you can help them.

For example, because you are smaller, you can give them more attention, get things done faster, and possibly save them money.

Tell them where you started your journey and some important milestones you achieved along the way.

Provide some background about you and what led you to this business. You can tell them about the challenges you faced and why you do what you do today.

Use real photos.

Real people in real places.

Don’t use stock photos as everyone can spot stock photos, and they take away from your authenticity.

You can also use infographics. They can tell a powerful story in a short amount of space. And color helps.

Keep testimonials short and to the point

Have testimonials that make a specific point.

Distill them down to just a few sentences. Also, make sure they speak to your story.

Also, testimonials can be used to answer anticipated objections in a positive and believable way.

Certifications and awards are important

If you are in a profession where certifications are required and important, use them.

Important awards are also important. But you can easily overdo them.

If you have a lot of awards and think they are important, have a special awards page.

Remember, this section is about giving you credibility, not glorifying you.

Your About page must load quickly

Studies have shown that for every second it takes to load your page, There is a 7 percent decrease in conversion rates.

Always stay in beta

Don’t write this page and forget it. As things change, keep coming back and improving this page. It is that important.

Conclusion

Most people do not realize how important the About page can be and therefore put little effort into it.

But, it is the second most read page on your site and is very important in starting to build a relationship with your prospects.

Take the time to prepare and optimize this page and it will help you convert prospects and increase revenues.

Don’t miss out on future blog posts about how to create innovative strategies that drive sales.

Also, remember that your story is your strategy and marketing is how you tell your story.

Jump on this link to get on our free blog mailing list.

If you have a question or comment, please get in touch with me. I would love to hear from you.