Look who was interviewed on Garage Entrepreneurs about Business Beware! Natalie MacNeil (one of the founders of GE) was kind enough to ask me some questions about our site and let others know about it. Natalie has a great blog called “She Takes on the World” that is great and you need to take the time and go visit! So do it after you read the interview!

Check out GE interview right here!

Business Beware wants to know what bugs you about a customer? What do they do or say that drives you crazy? So if you have a customer story or something to share send in your video! Each week we will post one of our favorite videos on the site and later we will take all the videos and make one big video! The video here explains what you need to do send us your videos! So hurry up and send yours in! ALSO if you are somewhat camera shy or not as tech savvy as you may want to be, send an email to us and we will read yours on the video for you! So don’t let being camera shy be an excuse!

Robert, founder of Business Beware, shares how he got the idea to create BusinessBeware.biz!

This is dedicated to all the businesses who deal with crazy customers day in and out and especially during the holiday season!! Enjoy!

I can’t tell you how many people talk about or ask this, “How much should I spend on marketing for my business?”  I can tell you this, no matter what anyone says NEVER underestimate WOM (word of mouth).  This is the easiest and cheapest of all of them and it never fails!  I have read so many books on how to market your business or what you should do to get the word out about your business but what it truly boils down to is simply spread the word!

Get out there and get people talking about you!

When you get a new customer, make sure to go out of your way for them and treat them with how you would want to be treated.  When you do this you will get the customer talking about how great your business is and then they tell a few people that tell a few other people and before you know it, you have 8-10 new customers.  Yes it’s that easy.  BUT don’t forget, you need to reach out to people too.  Don’t just think that once you create this business that people are going to flow right into the store (some people really think this, I didn’t say it for my health).

How do you get people talking about you?  Well do what I just mentioned above and also, have no limits!  You want people to talk about your business right?  Then don’t be afraid to get out there and make your business known.  One of the coolest things I read one time was about when Starbucks started out.  They hired a person to glue their coffee cup to the top of their car and drive around with it there.  You can imagine that many people were starring and stopping trying to tell the guy he left his cup on his car (thinking they were helping him out).  While at the same time while they tried getting his attention, many of them thought “Ah!  A cup of coffee sounds lovely right about now.”  They had a nice little jump that day in the surrounding Starbucks stores that day for sure.  This is something simple but very creative, that is what I mean don’t limit yourself!  Throw traditional marketing out the door except word of mouth of course.  Believe me word or mouth will travel fast if you do something out of the ordinary.

So to answer your question on how much you should really pay…I would say pay nothing.  What I mean is if you are starting up there are so many things you can do to start generating talk about your company before you go to a fancy marketing company that will literally charge you an arm and a leg and sometimes that stuff does not always work.  Take things into your own hands at first, if you are smart enough to run a business then you are smart enough to come up with some great ideas to market your business.  Get creative and don’t hold back!  If you do then someone else is just going to do what I just said and leave you in the dust, so get up and do it!

www.businessbeware.biz

As an entrepreneur you are born with a drive to create ideas and make them come to life.  You fail over and over, sometimes it takes a while to see your ideas go big and it can be frustrating.  It’s always nice to get encouragement from others that are in the same boat as you.  Well I have found a great community of entrepreneurs that encourage each other, it’s called Entrepreneur Enclave.

They are doing this great thing called a “TwitView” where they interview entrepreneurs over Twitter and then post them on their site promoting them and their idea/business.  I had the privilege of doing a “TwitView” with Matt (the founder) and it was so much fun!  Here is the interview: @BusinessBeware “TwitView”

If you are an entrepreneur you need to get involved with this great community!  Entrepreneur Enclave

You’re probably wondering what in the world that title is I’m sure if you have never heard or Mike Michalowicz and his book “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.”  If you are a TPE, you are able to take the last three sheets on a roll and manage rather than call for help… I read this book and it was exactly what I needed to hear and that extra push that I needed.  

If you like motivational, inspiring, in your face, tell it like is kind of book then this the book to read.  It’s not your typical business/entrepreneur books that you see and read.  I have read many books on entrepreneurship and what business tactics are best etc. but none of them give you that extra push to get up and do something like this one does.  Many business books are written by people who have a long list of schooling rather than actual real experience of what they’re telling you.  Wouldn’t you rather read about someone who has been there at the bottom, making their way to the top by true and actual hard work?  Only a few people become overnight successes (very few) and the rest of us truly have to work to make our dream come true and Mike did just that.  Yes some of it may be in your face but that’s what being an entrepreneur is, a go getter.  If you don’t have the passion to work towards what you want to do then it won’t ever work and that’s what Mike is trying to get across to you.  If everything was easy would we truly appreciate it?  When you read the book you will understand why he is a “Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.”  He simply asks you “what are you going to do when you are stuck with only three sheets left on a toilet paper roll?”  He teaches you not to call for help but to make due with what you got…

ALSO make sure to check out other readers of the TPE book and about their businesses.  Check out who is #46, I bet you will never guess…HA!  Click here for the post

Business Beware and NotAlwaysRight.com teaming up!

Win a free copy of Not Always Right’s new book, Not Always Right: Hilarious and Horrific Tales of Customers Gone Wrong just for using Twitter! Even better: you’ll also get a chance to win a free t-shirt from our friends at BusinessBeware.biz!

To enter, simply do the following:

1) Follow Not Always Right and Business Beware on Twitter.

2) Tweet the following line:

Win Not Always Right’s new book and a Business Beware tee! http://bit.ly/narbb Just follow @notalwaysright and @businessbeware and retweet.

That’s it! Just enter before Monday, December 7th, at 11:59 pm PST for your chance to win. We’ll be giving away a total of 10 copies of our book and 10 t-shirts to lucky winners.

Good luck!

I want to tell you about something that happened to me today as I was in the grocery store and yes this is a true story…

After a nice workout I figured I better stock up on some food and hit the grocery store on my way back home.  I casually walked down the aisles picking up the odds and ends that I needed and in one aisle I was squatting down to get something from the bottom shelf as I felt someone about knock me over.  I looked up and this woman (snooty woman) said “Um do you work here?”  I looked at her for a second thinking “you just about ran me over and now you’re asking if I work here” (thinking to myself of course).  I know I had a dumbfounded look on my face as I stood up (thinking surely she will see I am not in the store’s attire) she said “don’t ever stare at me like that, I will have your job!”  Still confused (pissed actually) I decided to play along with her.  ”What is it you need mam,” She says “The sauce that I always buy is not in it’s usual spot.”  As I stand there puzzled and still unsure how she has not put two and two together that I don’t work there I reply with “Well it’s right there, the one you are looking for and that’s not a big inconvenience…”  She gave me a look your mom gives you when they say your middle name and you know you’re in trouble.  ”Where is your manager, you NEVER talk like that to a customer?!”  I smile sheepishly and say “oh he is right over here let me go get him.”  She follows me before I have the chance to tell the poor guy about the situation and she blurts out to him “your employee is one rude person who should be fired right now for the indecent things she said to me!”  The manager confused looking at me and then looking at her said “Mam, what are you talking about,” and she jumps in again about how rude I was (thinking to myself: lady you are the one that about ran me over with your cart in the first place)  When the manager finally gets a chance to get a word in he says (and realizes that I was playing along and calmly grins at me)  ”Mrs., I am very sorry about this and I will take the necessary actions and deal with this. I am sorry about the inconvenience.  As she struts away looking back at me like oh I told you!  I turn to the manager and we both laugh.  I finished my shopping and saw the lovely person in line so I got in the other one right across where she could see me and I saw her eyes cut at me like “what on earth are you doing in line?!”  She walked out right before me and as I make my way to the car (we happened to be parked right next to each other ironically) and I said “have a good night!”  I saw her standing there in the parking lot clueless as I was wondering how she did not realize that I was not a worker there…

TRUE STORY.

Watch out for customers like this and if they are rude like this then at least have a little fun with it!  Enjoy your weekend!