Working From Home? Welcome to My World…

To all of you newly found work from homers, I say welcome, welcome home. From someone who has been working from home for so long now, I can barely remember what office life is like, I will tell you it definitely has it’s own set of ups and downs.

 

I have seen the trend towards remote workers coming for some time now, but I can assure you, I did not think it would be forced into popularity by a pandemic! Pause for shock, right? Just saying it is weird. Anywho, as I was getting ready this morning, I started thinking about what the transition was first like for me and how I have made it into a way of life I’m not sure I could ever give up at this point.

I’m sure you’ve all read the various blogs and social posts about how to best be productive in your new work environment, but I want to remind you of something you may not hear. Enjoy this time! Enjoy working from your favorite chair, hanging with your dog, looking out on your favorite view. Most of you will have to go back to the office life before you know it, and you may not get a chance to work like this again for some time, if ever for that matter.

Everything you have read is right, you shouldn’t work in your pj’s, you should have some kind of routine, blah blah blah. But, nobody says you need to get into your best business casual and post up at your tiny home office desk. Why not grab your favorite pair of yoga pants and that oh-so comfy sweater you’ve had for 15 years and set up a make shift office in your favorite nook of your house. Make something fun for yourself for lunch instead of the standard salad or sandwich you pack every day. Have fun with being in your own space and take advantage of being your own boss for awhile.

Another thing that many at home workers may overlook is to take a lunch. Take a real break and stop working for awhile. I like to make myself a smoothie or maybe a bowl of cereal for lunch because hey, why not, and catch up on a Netflix episode, or read the headlines on my patio, or take my dog for a walk around the lake. Whatever you do, do something. Otherwise, you will start to resent being home all the time. If you make your home feel too much like work, where do you go when you want to actually relax?

At the end of the day, most of you working from home right now are not necessarily there by choice. Whether it be your company, government, or whatever the reason, I want to tell you to try and enjoy it, because before you know it, you’ll be at the ol’ water cooler again wearing your uncomfortable work shoes, having to look at pictures of your coworkers niece at her school recital. Enjoy the quiet, enjoy the peace, and turn it into your dream job while it lasts.

 

Why You May Want to Consider a Contractor Versus In-house

A stigma seems to have been implanted into many companies that the contractor position is a lesser choice versus an in-house team member. Although I completely understand this mentality in certain situations, I do find there to be other situations where a contractor would be the optimal choice. Here’s a few reasons why a contractor may be a better choice for the role you’re trying to fill.

First things first when it comes to business, cost is everything. If a company is spending too much cash, it’s pretty hard to stay in business. The cost of onboarding a W-2 employee is one of the highest personnel costs a company can incur. Plus, when you add in disability insurance, health insurance, vacation pay, paid holidays, etc. your cost is sky rocketing for this one single employee. By bringing in a contractor, your cost is exactly as you see. No hidden costs, no need to pay this person’s insurance or vacation days. You only have one number to add to your P&L, nothing more, nothing less.

One of the most common reasons I hear for preferring an in-house team member is in the name, they want someone in the office. There are a couple of reasons for this. One being the fact they want to keep an eye on their investment. Is this person working all the time? Do they know what they’re doing? Are they doing it how I want them to? Now, don’t get me wrong, there are certain roles that this makes perfect sense for, however a good contractor should be keeping you in the loop regularly and you should be able to see the results from their efforts. Granted, not all contractors are alike, but that’s a blog for another day.

The second reason they want their team member to be in the office is that little thing called relationship building. Obviously working right next to someone 5 days a week, you become very close. You learn the way each other works, and literally become friends, not just colleagues. This is great, however, sometimes this can take away from the productivity of your team. Too much chit chat, too many distractions can take away from your team and your business. Don’t think this means I discourage you from bonding with your contractor, quite the opposite. A good contractor will be available for regular face-to-face meetings, regular conference calls, and constantly connected to you through all of the technologies of today.

This leads me into one last reason why you may want to consider a contractor. When employees become close, there’s this little thing that inevitably seems to occur… the crossover. What’s the crossover you may ask? Well, it’s simple. How many times has someone in the office asked, “hey, can you give me a hand with this? It’s due at the end of the day.” You have now pulled someone from their specific role to do another task and this, of course, adds to the lack of productivity tenfold. We are all guilty of having done this at least once in our lives, but that doesn’t make it a good thing.

You hire a contractor because they are great at what they do. They are a true professional in their field. There is a reason this is what they do. By hiring a contractor, you get an expert. Many in-house employees are hired with that crossover in mind, it’s often even in the job description, “some minor administrative tasks needed”. When you hire in-house, you’re probably not getting the best of the best. At least not always. Trust that this person who does this and only this is probably pretty darn good at it. So, the next time you are looking to fill a role, consider what you want and need out of this position. You may just want to consider a contractor versus in-house.

New Light Communication, LLC Receives 2018 Best of Englewood Award

Englewood Award Program Honors the Achievement

ENGLEWOOD October 9, 2018 — New Light Communication, LLC has been selected for the 2018 Best of Englewood Award in the Marketing Agency category by the Englewood Award Program.

Each year, the Englewood Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Englewood area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2018 Englewood Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Englewood Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Englewood Award Program

The Englewood Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Englewood area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Englewood Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

Looking at Your Past to Find Your Future

Is your brand stuck in a loop and you can’t figure out where to go next? Maybe your answer is to look behind you. That’s right, retro is back. Bring back the rad 80’s, rock those 90’s neons, look back to when your brand was thriving to find inspiration.

Companies constantly think they need to keep coming up with new, new, new, but sometimes a simple refresh or throwback is all they need. Take a look at the major brands of the world. Each and every one of them at any given time has sported a throwback look. Heck, even the NFL has throwback uniforms. There’s a reason for this… people like to remember the good ol’ days. Nostalgia sells, period.

This throwback can come in a number of ways for you and your brand. Whether you go back to an old logo, bring back an original product, revert to a retro color scheme, or even a run of old school packaging. Maybe you’re thinking your company isn’t old enough to have legitimate throwback? Do a limited edition with a retro feel. This way, you can keep the same product, even similar marketing strategies, but give it a fresh, new, nostalgic look.

This reprieve from the new will even give your team some much needed time to brainstorm for your next breaking idea. By taking some pressure off your team to create the new “it” product, your think tank will have the time and energy to throw plenty of ideas around until the right one sticks instead of just trying to crank out whatever small idea is dreamt up in the Monday morning meeting.

Classics are classics for a reason. The wheel does not always need to be reinvented. Fresh can be a refresh. New is not always better. So, the next time you feel stuck, remember sometimes the best way to move forward, is to step back.

Why Small Business Needs Big Business

To the average small business owner, you may have read the title and thought, what?! Well, you’re probably not alone, but the truth is, small business owners need the big boys for a few reasons. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge supporter of small business, especially as a small business owner myself, but the world works together in interesting ways and we need to embrace the fact that big business is helping us grow.

When a lot of people think about big business they see all the negative things they bring, bad service, low pay, long hours, no sense of community, and honestly, nobody seems to care at all about the customer in big business. So how could they possibly help small business? Well, the truth is, because of all the negative things we think about them. It’s a simple case of comparing and mentally choosing the moral choice.

If big business was known for their customer service, they would be a threat to us. If they were known to support and give back to your community, they would be a threat to us. But because they are know mostly for negative things, this encourages customers to find another solution, and that’s where small business comes in to play! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that small business will take all the business from big business, far from it, but they will continue to take advantage of their negative aspects.

If you are a small business owner, you understand you won’t be able to compete with these big box companies for price, but you should be able to be competitive, if not better, on almost every other front. Advertise your strengths. Point out their weaknesses. Make it easy for consumers to choose you. There are 100 different reasons why small businesses are superior to big business, but don’t discount the fact that without them, you wouldn’t seem as desirable.

So, the next time you are working to grow your small business and are looking for a new marketing idea, think about why you hate big business. This will help you relate to a huge percentage of consumers and find a winning strategy to grow your business. And if you can think like your customer, you can reach them easier!

4 Star is the New 1 Star

I was riding in a Lyft the other day, realizing pretty early on that it wasn’t my favorite ride. The car was dirty, the driving was, to put it nicely, sub-par, and the driver himself was a bit of a curmudgeon. Anytime I find myself having less than a perfectly pleasant ride, I start to dread the inevitable Rate Me email that is soon to come once the trip is complete. I find myself in a real moral dilemma these days, because basically anything under 5 stars, is now perceived as 1 star.

The problem is that a few years ago you could be honest with your rating, but nowadays, no matter what you rate, it’s 5 or bust. This fact seems to be heightened on the ride sharing apps because the drivers, and even riders, can be kicked off the app if their ratings are too low. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there have been some cases of just cause, but why do I quiver with concern when I see my arriving driver rating has a lack luster 4.5? How is that bad? The truth is that it shouldn’t be, but we’ve become so pressured to give 5 or risk their jobs that I’m pretty positive the whole star rating system is no longer accurate at all.

Even on Amazon these days, I can’t trust reviews. Companies, even Amazon themselves, pay people to review products or offer the product for free in exchange for their review. So where does it end? How do we fix this? Can it be fixed? I don’t have the answers to these, but I do know that the pressure to leave top ratings for everything needs to be replaced with the need to leave an accurate rating. It’s like saying that a B student in school is a failure. A 4 out of 5 stars should equate to a B, but we have been trained to see this 4 as a failure. Did you know that if you leave a 3 or lower for any driver on Lyft or Uber, a survey is sent and the driver is notified of their sub rating? That’s like sending a kid to the principal for getting a C. This is ridiculous.

I understand they want a high bar, and trust me, I appreciate that more than more, but if the bar is 5 or nothing, your human nature takes over at some point, and our desire to not ruin or destroy an individual or brand based on our singular experience leaves us thinking, well, it wasn’t that bad, and that’s exactly where the problem has sprung from. Our own innate desire to help others, even unconsciously, has led to our obscure ratings. Since I don’t see overall mankind changing anytime soon, we probably need to create a new, unbiased system, where truth is rewarded and not punished or looked down upon.

How would you change the system? How do we pull emotion out of it? Why does an Uber need to be an emotional experience anyway? Maybe we should go back to school grades, go back to our first, and most simple of systems. You excel, you get an A. You do pretty good, you get a B. Could use some work, but not a failure, you get a C, etc. Who knows, maybe that’s not the answer, but the truth is, our current system isn’t either. We need a ratings hero, come save us from our biased, inaccurate ratings so we’ll all really know what we’re getting ourselves into again!

The Death of Customer Service

A recent, terrible experience has left me questioning what has happened to customer service. I grew up in a time where the customer was always right and a company’s customer service was bragging rights if they ranked high in this area. Some of the top companies in the world were built on their strength in customer service, and others failed for it’s lack. So what has changed since then that nobody seems to care about this service anymore?

So back to my recent experience, I’m sure we’ve all heard about a little company called Uber, well, honestly I have no clue how a company with absolutely no contact phone number has ended up so successful. I have actually had 2 major issues with the company. First was about a year ago when the app simply stopped working on my phone. I tried for 3 months to trouble shoot with them via email, because they literally would not give me a phone number. Countless emails, and excuses on their end, constantly blaming external issues, and we never resolved the issue. So, after 3 months of tireless efforts on my part, I decided to terminate my relationship with the company. I requested my account be canceled and since then, had not turned back, until a week ago.

I have been happily using Lyft for a year, and no longer had the Uber app even installed on my phone. Hadn’t heard a peep from them when all of a sudden I see an email from them saying my account may have been compromised and there is a possibility it had been hacked. Of course, no phone number to call, just a link to submit a help ticket if I think that I might have been hacked. So, I submit the ticket saying I was under the impression my account had been canceled and wasn’t even sure how it could be hacked. Then, an hour later, an email from Uber thanking me for my $100 ride in a completely different state followed by a thank you email for the $100 tip I had left for this mystery ride.

I searched everywhere for a phone number, nothing. I reached out to them via Twitter, nothing. I tried to reinstall the app to get in that way and wasn’t able to reinstall because it still didn’t work on my phone. The only way to send an email to them is through their lame version of a help ticket and the option is “I think my account was hacked”. Nothing about an absolute definite hack. So I sent it, twice, still no contact almost a week later. My only option at this point was to go to my bank, have my card canceled, and file a report and hopefully in 30-60 days get refunded what ended up being over $300 on an account that this business should have canceled a year ago.

So, back to my original question, what happened to customer service?? How can companies get away with this? I have prided myself throughout my entire career in putting my clients first. I believe to this day that this motto has helped me to be successful. I wish, for the sake of the future of business, that this trend of terrible, non-existent customer service comes to an end. I motion to #BringBackCustomerService and avoid those companies who think it unnecessary. Who’s with me?!

Broken but Not Broken Down

Up until very recently I always pictured people who broke their bones as young children or teens probably off doing some dangerous stunt that would cause the break. That was until I decided to slip and fall and break my thumb. Seriously, I was just walking and slipped and fell and now am without the use of my dominant thumb for the next 6-8 weeks. So clumsy!

So, you’re all probably thinking, that’s great, so what? Well, first of all, I didn’t think losing a thumb would be so bad, but wholly moly, it is a total game changer. Have you ever paid attention to how often you use your thumb? There’s a reason this is what separates us from the primates. It’s impossible to do some pretty basic things without a thumb. Especially on your dominant hand! It takes me 5 minutes to send a text message, and don’t get me started on how long to write this post.

In a professional view of breaking one’s thumb, everything slows down, everything takes longer, and everything is ten times more frustrating. Especially in a world with so much email communications, I was moving in slow motion. As I struggled around for the first couple of days, I decided there had to be a better way to handle the next 6-8 weeks. So, it got me thinking, and I remembered what happened when I broke my first bone.

I played highly competitive soccer for many years when I was younger and when I was 13, I broke my dominant ankle, which put a huge damper on my future prospects. Or so I thought. I was determined to work through my recovery and heal as soon as possible, but I knew pushing too much could hinder my strength in the future, so I looked to my left foot. After great trial and error, I was just as strong with my left foot as I was with my right. I became a force to be reckoned with so much more than before I broke my ankle. So, I have decided to take this broken thumb and apply the same theory and concept to learn to become ambidextrous and even better at things than I was before.

So now instead of looking at my situation as a hindrance, I am taking it as a learning experience. Finding good with the bad has a very positive motivating factor and has an ability to boost your own morale. So, the next time you find yourself with a broken thumb or negative distraction holding you back, look to how you can find the positive in it and use it to fuel your next move. Because honestly, I am literally giving myself a thumbs up for the next 6-8 weeks, how can that be a bad thing?!

When Flying Convenience Stops Being Convenient

I recently wrote about a very surprisingly pleasant flight I had on Southwest. I am on an altogether other type of flight today, and also quite literally flying into a fire(There’s a huge fire about 20 minutes south of Santa Barbara right now, if you didn’t know). There’s some pretty bad airlines out there, but I have to say, hands down, the absolute worst of the bunch has got to be United. United is terrible. And I should know, I flew them almost exclusively for many years thinking that it was worth it to keep all my air miles with the same carrier. Nope, I was wrong.

The only reason I find myself on this crap flight is because I’m flying to my home away from home, Santa Barbara. If any of you have ever flown into Santa Barbara, you know it’s a tiny little airport, so not only do they not tale planes over a certain size, only like 2 or 3 airlines even fly into there. So, your choices are very limited, especially if you want a direct flight. So, hence, I find myself flying United.

I spent a year of my life working primarily in Mexico, and at that time, there were only 2 airlines that flew direct from Los Angeles to Mexico City, and of course, one of them was United. They generally had better time options, so I flew them, a lot. I flew in and out of Mexico City 2 or 3 times a month, so those miles added up. Now, flying international on any airline is generally always better. The seats are bigger, roomier, more amenities, etc. But domestic, well, don’t get me started on domestic.

The problem was that I had accumulated so many miles from that stint in my career that I figured I was stuck with United and might as well keep using them. I would force myself to book flights on United because, well, why not, right? I had to convince myself every time that it was worth it. But as the years passed, and more and more budget airlines came out, I found myself being pulled to another airline here and there based on price. But the problem with those is that price gets you nothing but a butt in a seat. If you have luggage or are thirsty, forget about it, you’re paying the same. And honestly, who flies without luggage?

So I was at a cross roads, I still had a good amount of miles with United, but hated flying their tiny, uncomfortable seats, with constant delays, and terrible service. Or, I could fly a budget airline, and be maybe a tiny bit more comfortable, but at least the service was better. There of course is the third option of flying nice airlines, and paying for comfort, but I’m too much of a bargain shopper to ever go past the first page of flight offers. So I went over the next few years flying United only when I had to and basically just booking on price alone from then on out.

Then, the ultimate irony. All these years of flying this terrible airline to accumulate my miles, and I got a notice, they had expired! I literally saved my miles for god knows how long without even thinking about it, and got an email one day that “the remainder of my miles were about to expire”. First of all, where was the notice when the rest had expired? Secondly, I was left with a measly joke of 11,000 miles. You can’t do anything with 11,000 miles, nothing! You know what you can do, subscribe to 11 magazines for 1 year. So, here I am, flying the belly of the beast again, thinking about how in the world did I not remember to grab a magazine on the way out, god knows I have enough! Thanks for nothing United!

The Easy Path to Amazon Success

It’s no secret that Amazon is a beast of a company and has been a quick path to success for many startups. The challenge for so many companies though is in the actual physical process of getting started and launching their product on Amazon. If you have ever worked with Amazon before, you know when I mean when I say what a time-consuming challenge it really is to go live and start selling. And in my experience, this process can be daunting and overwhelming for most who have never worked with them before.

I have had the fortunate and unfortunate experience of working with Amazon from the first product submission to selling millions of dollars per year through the online retailer. There’s so many versions of how you can sell on Amazon, and depending on your company, capacity, and goals would depend on which version was best for you. On top of the multitude of options, the road to getting to actually selling your first product is a long bumpy road filled with potholes of torment and torture to the inexperienced.

I remember the first time I went to set up a product and the utter confusion and frustration I felt. On top of the lack of knowledge of where the heck to start and what the heck to do, I couldn’t understand why every step seemed to take weeks to complete. From start to finish, the process takes months, which is crazy, right? Well, like they say, all good things are worth the wait. And selling to hundreds of millions of consumers on the world’s largest online shopping platform can be completely transformative for any company.

So, the question really is, what now? To be completely honest with you, unless you have been down this road before, or have someone who can dedicate the vast majority of their time and energy to getting setup with Amazon, you may want to look for help. This is where we come in. We take clients from the very first step and handle and manage the process all the way through until they are seeing real sales on Amazon. So many things can and will affect the success you see with selling on Amazon, and having someone to guide and steer you through the bumps will determine how successful you truly can be.

Are you hoping to sell on Amazon, but have no idea what to do or where to start? Are you overwhelmed by the idea of working with the largest online retailer in the world? Don’t miss the opportunity to get your product in front of hundreds of millions of consumers because you don’t know where to start. Look to an expert. Contact us to see how we can help. Take the first step to a whole new world for your company. Start the new year with amazing new opportunities. We look forward to helping you!