Marketing and Business Help for Small Business Owners:
Mark Riffey's HotseatRadio.com
Take The Hotseat Radio Quiz - Find out how your business ranks
- You own a small retail or service business, or sell products and services for one.
- You're deeply passionate about what you do. In fact, most of the people you meet in your business niche seem to know less about that business than you do.
- You've spent a pile of hard-earned dollars on advertising, and came away with unpredictable or disappointing results.
- You're not a whiner, but have gotten to the point where you almost feel like a "victim" of the ad media salespeople you've done business with.
- You've been promised great results over and over again by your advertising rep, but they never materialize.
- You're not sure how well your advertising works.
- You've struggled to differentiate your business from others in your market and you still have a hard time standing out from the clutter of ads that bury your prospects day-in, day-out.
- You're sure that if more people just knew about you and your work, you'd have a ton of great customers for life.
- None of your advertising or marketing efforts are working consistently at a level that is acceptable to you.
- You're successful, but you have the feeling that you're missing part of your market.
- Your clients come back, but not on a regular basis. It seems like they have to remember to visit your business, and they don't remember nearly as often as you'd like.
- Your business is so dependent on paperwork that a guy with a leaf blower could cause serious damage in just a few minutes.
- If you needed to contact each of your clients by sending them a letter in the mail, you couldn't do it - because you don't know their addresses.
- If you needed to call each of your clients on the phone, you couldn't do it - because you don't have their phone numbers.
- You can't tell your new employee who your 10 best clients are, by name.
- You can't tell your new sales manager how much your 10 best clients spent with you last year.
If you answered "Yes" or "That true" or "That sounds like me" to even one of these questions...you definitely want to listen to Hotseat Radio.
What is Hotseat Radio?
Hotseat Radio is Mark Riffey's weekly radio show where he offers 15 minutes of "fast track" phone consultation to a small business owner who calls in and needs help coming up with an answer to their biggest marketing or small business question. You can be that caller!
Sometimes, I will have guest advisors on the call with me. No matter how many advisors are on your call, together they'll put you in the hotseat.
So what IS a hotseat?
Imagine how successful you would be in the NFL or college football if you could watch the game on TV, then go to the real game and make coaching decisions. You know the name... Monday Morning Quarterback. On Monday, everyone is an expert because they saw the game.
But that isn't the real reason why you're so smart on Monday, much less while watching the game on TV.
The real reason you're so smart on Monday?
- You aren't on the field, at eye level with the players. Instead, you have a bird's eye view of the field, where you can see the entire game unfold, play by play.
- You don't have a 300 lb linebacker running at you, ready to crush you into the turf. Instead, you're safe and out of the way - with plenty of time to make the right decisions.
- You aren't limited by the game plan that was practiced all week, drilled into you and practiced so that you'd execute it as second nature without a thought, rather than think about it for a moment and making the right choice given your safe, bird's eye view.
- You don't have emotional ties to the players, or any other relationship baggage. You simply make the decision that will win the game.
- Your job isn't on the line, so there's no risk that you will say something that might upset the head coach (the boss).
Those are the same reasons why a Hotseat is so effective at solving business problems:
- I don't have your customer standing across the register from me with the phone ringing and an order due out this afternoon. Instead, I'm looking at the big picture, long-term (bird's eye view, where it's easy to see the big picture of your business).
- When our call is over, I talk to the next business owner. (I'm safe and out of the way of the "linebacker", free to give you the best advice possible).
- I don't have a decision already in my head about your business problem, (no game plan, no preconceived notions about the problem).
- I don't know your employees, so I'll give you the straight scoop on things that might affect them. (No emotional ties to alter my suggestions).
- You can't fire me, so it's in my best interest to give you the best advice possible. (Why? Because some of you will want more help than is possible on a radio show. No reason to hide my intentions: I want you to be my next, best client.)