How To Be A High-Performing Person.

“If you’re not continually reinventing yourself, your company, or your brand, it’s only a matter of time before you become obsolete, irrelevant, and end up in the bargain bin.”

This is my own mantra that I provide for my clients. If your not looking towards the future on a regular basis, the present will arrive faster than you think and you’ll be behind your competition. If you want to be a high-performer, here are some suggestions I deliver during my keynotes:

1. Refresh your brand every 2-3 years. Can you tweak your logo? Maybe change a color or font? Keep it FRESH.
2. Update your website every 2-3 years. Does it work/look good on mobile devices? How old does it look? Look at your competition. It has to be clean, uncluttered, and easy to navigate. Don’t fill it up with shit.
3. Change your business card yearly. Today, your card is your brochure. It should not only deliver contact info — it should sell you and your business. Use quality card stock, use color, images, etc. Why yearly? Something always changes with the info/logo/title/location — only print small runs so you don't feel bad chucking out 1000 cards. Check out Moo.com.
4. Make your voicemail message SELL. If it’s you with a tired voice, you’re probably losing business. Hire a professional to help you craft and voice your new voicemail message and outgoing on-hold systems. You could even take a look at using something like this ringless voicemail drop if you want to help promote your business more.
5. Change your signs frequently. If you have a physical location or a fleet, ensure all signage is clean, new and visible. Old signs that are dirty/faded will LOSE business for you. Have signs made so they can modify messages frequently to attract interest. Keep it FRESH, CLEAN, and SHARP.
6. Upgrade your email signature (at the bottom of your emails). Most people don’t have one or if they do, it doesn’t sell their business. Make it look professional, give them additional info, point them back to your site, and make sure it works on most email systems.
7. Get a .com domain name. If your email address has aol, yahoo, gmail or another provider, it immediately telegraphs to me that you are not running a ‘real’ business AND you don’t know what you’re doing. Get one today.
8. Clean up your digital act. If your voice mailbox is full or you never return emails, you have a problem. Set aside time to regularly clear out your voicemail and develop a system to help with email overload.
9. Get comfortable with technology. I run into so many people in their 50/60’s who act like little children when it comes to tech. Listen — it’s here to stay and if you catch yourself not embracing it — you look old, antiquated, and lazy. It’s not an irritant, it a part of our lives.
10. Hang out with people who AREN’T like you. We get lazy and commune/collaborate with our own age groups and social status. Get out and hang with millennials, seniors, and most of all, play tennis with tennis players who can kick your ass. You WILL play better tennis.

If you need help with any of these items, call me anytime - 203-500-2421. I can recommend highly competent people to help you. Even me.

Why Your Email Is Holding You Back.

I spent the better part of this morning entering a bevy of business cards into my database so every person I meet can receive an eBlast and other info from the mind of Rich Gee. Candidly, it's not fun. In fact it sucks. But I break it up into manageable piles and quickly do it. I should purchase a business card scanner — but the idea of shelling out $250-$300 for a single purpose scanner makes my blood boil. Until they hit $99 (a reasonable price), I will continue to enter them myself. Sorry - it's just me.

Here's my dilemma — most business cards stink, and the biggest 'fault line' item of all is your email address. Why?

Don't Make It Complex.

I hate when people use an algorithm of their name, initials, or cute words to compose their email address. Odds are, I will probably get it wrong when entering it into my database or sending an email to you. The result — "You don't getta No Coke!" (a famous line from Caddyshack) - in other words - you get nothing from me.

I LOVE when people have firstname.lastname@company.com — short, simple, easy to read and understand. Like richgee@richgee.com — I actually repeated the URL in my name. EVERYONE gets it the first time — and I promise you, they probably don't forget it either.

By the way, I totally understand if you work for a corporation whose IT department made the erroneous decision years ago to make a complex email system. I feel for you. I especially love the ones where they require a middle initial (like rcgee@advo.com, my old one) and it you didn't have a middle name, they gave you an 'X'. How much fun is it during initial meetings when clients pick that one up? ("rich.x.gee . . . what does the 'x' stand for?")

Stick With .COM.

Maybe this is my OCD coming out, but I hate it when someone has a .NET or .BIZ or .US or some other weird domain the powers that be dreamed up. Unless you are a non-profit or educational institution (.EDU or . ORG), I am going to write .COM — and if I have to delete and type something else, it says to me you haven't taken the time to go and get a .COM for your business.

If you can't develop an basic URL for your business, buy one - they usually cost between $200-$500, a worthy investment for any business.

While you're at it, purchase your kid's URL's too — it's cheap and they will thank you 10-20 years from now.

Get Your Own Domain.

I don't know about you — but if I see @comcast, @optonline, @aol, @hotmail, or even @gmail, it clearly communicates to me you aren't really serious about your business. Specifically — you are a hobbyist who is running their business part-time or you have no clue about how the web works. Get serious and get your domain immediately.

Make Your Email HUGE.

I hate it when people make their email smaller than their address on their cards. Or they handwrite it on the back of the card because they either made a mistake and have 5000 cards left. Throw them out and lay out your card in this fashion: Name — Company — Direct Phone — Email — Website. No fax number, no multiple numbers, just give me your direct contact line — I also hate it when people have three numbers on their card and I get voicemail on all three. Give me one.

Sorry for this diatribe — but I've been pointing this out for 10+ years and people are STILL making these stupid business mistakes. And then they wonder why they aren't getting business.

What other problems do you have with email addresses?

Image provided by Martin Wessley at Unsplash.