Unfortunately, the office, commercial and retail sectors are all now being hit by the same downturn as the housing sector.  Florida is looking at an almost 16% statewide vacancy rate (source: Florida Trend).  If you have empty space, you have already felt it.  Each Economist has their own predictions as to when it will come back, level out, etc…..we will only know which one is right when it is over.  Unfortunately, that is the problem with economic predictions. 

While reading the article, “Where’s the Bottom?” in the January edition of Florida Trend, I saw  a nice chart detailing vacancy rates across the state and thought I would share it with you.  No, I am not doing it to depress you, just to give you facts.  It is the wise business person that takes the information, changes the strategy and succeeds in a down market.

In a recently article in Florida Trend Magazine, I stumbled upon some interesting numbers that I thought I would share with you.  According to the magazine, the following shows finished vacant homes in south Florida subdivisions:

Another interesting chart, the supply of vacant developed lots based on the annual starts pace:

The data was provided to Florida Trend by MetroStudy.

There’s a lot of fear in the world today. Fear that the recession might be a Great Depression. Fear that you might lose your job or your business. Fear that your money’s not safe at the bank.

Since everyone is making New Year’s Resolutions, why not make one to be more Productive?

I recently finished reading Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Time Mangement for Entrepreneurs.  An yes, if you have not noticed - I am a BIG FAN of the No B.S. Books.  I really enjoy Dan’s very straightforward approach.

While reading the book, I realized that most of us waste A LOT of our day on unproductive activities - myself included.  How many times do you get to the end of the day and ask, “Where did the day go, I feel like I just started working?”  If you say that at least once, you need to rearrange how you work.

Step One:  One of the best and smartest things I did to increase productivity was to work from home.  For all you “I can’ts” out there - try it.  Maybe at first you work at a coffee shop for a couple of hours per day.  A little time away from the office.  I really push this concept because it accomplishes two things; 1. You have uninterrupted time to accomplish business building tasks (turn off your cell phone) and 2. It teaches your employees some independance.  They will start to solve problems on their own instead of asking you each and every question that pops into their head.  You know you get these questions….next time ask them how they would solve the problem and see what happens.  You want your employees to be able to work without asking you questions all day - otherwise how could you ever take a real vacation or attend a business seminar?

When you are working outside the office, work on your business NOT in it.  By this I mean don’t do the work the client is paying you for.  YES, I know that sounds crazy, but you must spend time thinking and planning how you will grow your business.  Then you must work on the action steps to get it accomplished.

My favorite quote from business owners is, “I just don’t have time for marketing.”  I want to reach across the table and just shake them. SILLY - that is your NUMBER ONE job!  As the Owner/CEO it is your responsibility to make sure you have continous interest in your products or services.  So spend your new time on building your business.

STEP TWO: Next, get rid of the “open door” management concept.  This is a plain and simple “come interrupt” me invitation.  I was never a fan of it and I am glad to see more and more entrepreneurs pushing it aside.  Again, I have found that if employees can’t run to you with every little question, they start to figure out A LOT of it without your help.  So, please quickly come to the realization that you are important to the business, but not as the “Question Answerer.”  For those of you who feel power or prestige because of this,  GET OVER IT.  This power trip is holding back your business. 

Try closing your door for periods of time, so you can accomplish more work in less time.  Also, make sure to turn off your cell phone and turn your office phone to do not disturb (or just take it off the hook).  Don’t worry, a great little invention called voice mail will capture everything.

STEP THREE:Finally, schedule your day from beginning to end.  When I started doing this, I accomplished 4-5 times as many things than before.  Why? Simple, I was able to put 100% of my focus into the task and not let anything interrupt me.  Believe me, it is much easier and less time consuming to return five phone calls in 20 minutes, all at once, than to accept each one as it comes thru. 

Also, I start work at least two hours before everyone else.  It is AMAZING how much work is accomplished in those two hours.  If you can’t start early, stay after everyone else is gone.  I can guarantee you your productivity will skyrocket.

After reading my three suggestions to making your day more productive, I hope you will take all three and implement right away.  If not, at least implement one.  Then, share your gains and successes with us, post your progress below

On November 4th, 2008, voters in Florida passed Amendment #4, Property Tax Exemption of Perpetually Conserved Land; Classified and Assessment of Land Uses for Conservation.  A big fancy name, but basically the Amendment, will provide property tax exemptions for real property encumbered by perpetual conservation easements or other perpetual protections.

Sounds great if you own conservation land, right?  Yes, but it can be used for other owners as well.  Take for instance the agricultural or greenbelt land classifications.  I know quite a few people who have used cows to save on taxes and it is within the law’s requirements.  Some opponents are claiming the same type of “abuse” could happen with the new exemption.  So, legislatures will have to determine what time frame will qualify for the tax exemptions (i.e. how long it is to remain conservation land).

Why is this important to me?  I think you may be interested to know that St. Joe’s Lobbyist was instrumental in getting the Amendment on the ballot.  Remember, St. Joe is the largest private landowner in Florida.  I am sure there is a substantial tax benefit to St Joe, since a large part of their land in undeveloped.

While I am not advocating abuse of the law, I do think it is worth a read to see how the tax advantages can help your company.   

One curtailing side effect will be the decrease in local government revenues, in times where they have already seen drastic revenue shortfalls.  The most heavily affected areas will be rural areas with large open spaces.

For a full version of the Amendment, please go to http://election.dos.state.fl.us/initiatives/fulltext/pdf/12-5.pdf.

WE ARE. We’ve started to receive direct inquiries about our services AND referrals from people we know through Facebook. It’s not huge by any means, but my sense is that we’re at the beginning of an important change.

It started over the summer. I’d been on Facebook for about six months. I’m embarrassed to say that I only had three “Facebook Friends” and they were all employees who, no doubt, “friended” me because I’m the boss. I’m just a few years too old to be in the early adopter group for Facebook and most of the other social network sites. In fact, Al Gore was just putting the finishing touches on his new invention “The Internet” when I graduated college.

So I had a severe Facebook inferiority complex. Then something astonishing happened. All of a sudden I started talking to, let’s call them mature, business contacts. They were joining Facebook. And not just a few…nearly every lunch appointment or networking event I went to, Facebook was the new fad. I started getting and sending friend requests to people I knew (that’s how you add someone to your network on Facebook). I also noticed more businesses and business groups represented on Facebook.

A trend is forming, and I think it’s here to stay. So I thought I’d share with you my top 5 reasons for incorporating Facebook into your business marketing:

#5. It’s the best way to reach millenials and Gen-Xer’s.

#4. You can quickly (in minutes) create a company or development specific page with video, events and a blog (called the ‘wall’).

#3. Prospects can identify themselves to you by becoming “fans” of your company or development. Now you can focus your message on people who want to hear it.

#2. You can learn about your customers through their Facebook pages. You’ll better understand what motivates them to buy.

#1. You can bring YOUR personality into your marketing. Your customers crave this connection with you. Facebook is a VERY easy way to “pull back the curtain” and let them see your human side.

If you’re not on Facebook, follow my easy 8 step process to get started today.

1. Go to www.facebook.com and sign-up (I know it’s obvious…but do it).

2. Fill-in some details about yourself in your personal profile. In my profile, you’ll see that I live in Tallahassee, FL, my birthday is June 12th, I’m married, I went to the University of Florida (GO GATORS!) and I went to Episcopal High School in Jacksonville. You’ll also see some of the groups I belong to. This serves two purposes. It makes it easy for people I’ve known to find me. In fact, “the girl next door” from my old neighborhood found me by searching for people who went to our high school. The second purpose, is that it tells my Facebook “Friends” about my background…stuff that they may not have known. That makes me more accessible and authentic to them.

3. Search for people you know by name or email address. You can even upload your contact list and Facebook will do the searching for you. Once you’ve found some familiar faces, send them a “Friend Request”. They’ll be notified of your request and asked to confirm you as a friend (this helps keep away bogus friends). When they confirm you, you’ll be able to see their Facebook page and they will see yours.

4. Setup a “Group” for your company. You can make your group open to anyone or by invitation only. You can post videos on your group page…a great way to add a personal touch to your marketing. You can also have a group discussion board on your page. This will allow you to have a conversation with your customers.

5. Create an “Event” for your next development launch of sales promotion. Invite your Facebook friends and your company’s fans. This is a great, free way to get to people that are likely to be interested in your offering.

6. Post tasteful, personal comments on your wall. Give status updates when you’re doing something interesting. Recently, I was in San Francisco on a business trip. One evening I had a dinner cruise in San Francisco Bay and posted a status update saying I was cruising past Alcatraz. When I got back home, four people asked about my trip at the next networking event I attended. It was a great conversation starter.

7. Send me a friend request (search for sgordon@1globalmind.com) and I’ll introduce you around.

8. Join the GlobalMind group.

People want to do business with people, not stuffy corporations. Facebook gives you a simple way to show some of your unique personality to your prospects and customers. Go ahead, give them what they want.

In a recent article about Dunkin’ Donuts versus Starbucks I read an interesting piece of information. The customers who were in Dunkin’ Donuts told the reporter the reason they stick with Dunkin Donuts is because they are from the North East and Dunkin’ Donuts is what they are used to. The same is true for West Coast residents they tend to turn to Starbucks. How can this information help your business?

If you can pinpoint potential customers and market to them more efficiently, you will see better returns on your marketing investment. A tool that can help business owners better utilize their marketing dollars is GIS (Geographic Information Systems). In fact, you may have used Google Earth - a basic version of GIS technology.

GIS tools, such as Google Earth, use location information to help users make decisions. So, how could Google Earth help you understand your customer better and make more money?

First, map all your current customers to see where they are located. Next, use demographic data to find what households have roots in the North East. Data can be obtained from moving stats, relocation stats from State or County, or internaly collected data. Using color coding, the more intense red has a higher concentration of the target market, it is easy to identify high concentrations of the target market. So based on the high concentration of red and existing cutomers east of I-95, you can target a direct mail campaign to the area you identify.

Why would using Google Earth help direct mail? Couldn’t I just guess the area and send postards to those homes, sorta like trial and error? You could, but what if you guess wrong, how much would the mailings cost? A friend of mine decided to send postcard mailers to all the households within a 10 mile radius of her store.

The cost was an astounding $5,800 for the postcard and postage. I am not sure about you, but as a manager in a small business, $5,800 is quite a bit of money for one direct mail compaign. The large dollar amount also increases the break-even point, meaning more sales to cover the cost of the direct mail.

Instead, I offered to map her existing customer’s versus the county population. Then we tied in the female population under 30 years old. The ending result was the above illustration (blue and red). The darker red areas identify areas with higher concentrations of females under 30. Once we download the information and saw the total households, the total households were roughly 2,000. Instead of her direct mail costs totaling $5,800, the costs dropped to $1,160.

Now to turn on my marketing hat for a minute, direct mail typically has a return of less than 1%, which means of the 10,000 mailed, only 100 will respond. On the other hand, more targeted direct mail can have up to a 6% return or even higher. With a 6% return, on 2,000 households you could expect to see 120 people at the store. So, with 8,000 fewer households receiving the mailer we still managed to get a higher response! Also, since the mailer is targeted to the store’s target market, the customers tend to have a higher average sale per transaction.

You are probably thinking, that is all well and good for a store but my business is not based on a store front, how would GIS benefit me? GIS has been used by many different businesses for over 20 years. Companies such as McDonald’s and Wal-mart have been using the technology to count customer cars and determine new store locations. Insurance companies use GIS to measure their risk and market to areas with lower risk. A land developer uses the information to find their next project site. Land conservation groups use GIS to rank the land they want to buy. Shipping companies use GIS to route where their vehicles will travel each day. The possibilities are endless. If you have a question on location, GIS can help you answer it.

Taking information off a spreadsheet and putting it in a picture gives business owners the ability to make decisions within minutes instead of hours.

Checkout how you can implement Google Earth in your business: http://1globalmind.com/2008/02/13/google_earth_for_business/ 

Once you try it, post your results here. Have fun!

In the United States, people work on average 2000 hours per year.  The average person in the United States takes 10.5 vacation days per year.  Most people do not take any vacation, instead continue working.  Then once people go on vacation, they will bring a cell phone, PDA or laptop on vacation, thus never really checking out of work. 

The US is number one in productivity, surpassing the number two county, France, by more than 300 hours per employee.  The interesting part is that France ranks fourth in the world for total average hours worked, but second in productivity.  Isn’t that powerful?  In France, employees take, on average, 25-30 vacation days per year and have a 35 hour work week. 

Knowing the statistics about France and how vacation has worked in relation to productivity, I think it is safe to say that higher productivity is not necessarily derived from more hours worked.  As Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  If I am sitting at my desk working or in meetings all day, how much creativity and business thought gets accomplished?  None! 

One of the reasons I think this is an important topic, especially now with all the “recession” drama we deal with at our office, in the media and with our banks, because now is the time to be thinking outside the box about how to make your business outstanding.  I recently went on a short cruise, which means no access to internet or phone (without paying a hefty fee).  I will admit, I had BlackBerry withdrawals but it turned out to be a blessing.

I was able to read books I had not been able to get to. I was also able to just hang out and do “nothing.”  What a fantastic feeling to not have a schedule or agenda for the day.  When I got back I realized that the time away, although short, did wonderful things for my creative thinking process.

I was recently reading a blog post from Paul Orfalea, the founder of Kinko’s, and one of his comments was that he used to take three weeks off at a time.  He quickly realized that if you take one week off, you have one week of work on your desk when you return.  If you take two weeks of vacation, you have two weeks of work on your desk.  But, if you take three weeks of vacation, people find a way to get the work done without you. I think it is a great idea, simply for the fact that every Executive should have procedures and plans in place, so that if she was not around, the company would still be able to function.

So, forget about how bad everything seems to be right now, take a long weekend and recharge your mind.  I am sure your company and employees will benefit in the long run!

Hometown Democracy did not make it on the 2008 ballots, but do not think it will go away. According to the Hometown Democracy website, they are only short approximately 5000 signatures. The new goal is for Hometown Democracy to be on the 2010 ballot. I don’t know about you, but the thought of Hometown Democracy passing is just plain scary. I am not just worried because I work in Land Development, but as a voter, I worry. Recently, I went to the last primary election for my area.

The turnout was 20%, which is just pathetic. So, if only 20% of the people turnout in small races like the primary, want to take a guess as to who will vote for comp plan amendments? I would have to guess that probably greater than 80% of our population has no idea what a comp plan amendment is. The other freighting statistic is that the entire county would get to vote on changes that have little or no impact on their area. Early numbers indicate that voters may be asked to go to the polls to make a decision on 200-300 changes per year. Does that seem realistic for the average person?

The other issue is the economics behind the decision. If the general public truly feels that there is too much construction (even if it is viable for the economy), the voters may not approve the necessary changes. What does this mean for the area? If the comp plan changes are not passed, local areas could see issues with economic uncertainty. This means fewer jobs, less money coming in for taxes and an overall decrease in dollars spent. During the economic times we are going though now, is that really a good idea? Frankly, I am not quite sure why our current system does not work. I know of counties that are anti-growth and I rarely see a comp plan change to rural areas. Most of the development has been clustered in designated areas. Can the landscape be the same as twenty years ago? No, as a nation we are growing, we need more room. Also, Florida is one of the most desirable states to reside in. Florida is also the 20th largest economy in the world, yes the WORLD! So, why can’t we allow the election system to work the way it is supposed to. If a community is anti-growth and they elect a leader that is pro-growth, vote the elected official out of office…SIMPLE.

I have heard people say government is too willing to take on big projects because of the tax base increase. Although this may be true some of the times, if the people have elected the right official, the official is representing the people’s voice. The issue goes back to the staggering 20% voter turnout.

How do we, as an industry deal, with Hometown Democracy? EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE. Make sure people truly understand what the ballot means. The original language of the amendment read, “Public participation in local government comprehensive land use planning benefits Florida’s natural resources, scenic beauty and citizens.” Reading the original language of the amendment, it is easy to see why so many people originally thought the amendment would be a good idea. Luckily, that wording will not appear on a ballot, should Hometown Democracy ever get enough signatures.

My final thought for this issue, just remember the pregnant pigs amendment!

If you are like most business people, you have probably been sent an invitation to a site called LinkedIn. Then, if you are like the majority of us, we delete the link thinking, “Oh no not another site that I have to sign-up on.” So, you are probably reading this right now, going yep…that is me. Why should I register on the site, normally sites like that just send me junk and fill my inbox with worthless email?

I can tell you from firsthand experience, there are plenty of sites out there that want you to register and then send you spam 50 times a week. LinkedIn is not one of them. LinkedIn is a powerful networking site, creeping up on popular social networks like MySpace and Facebook. The benefit about LinkedIn is that it is entirely business focused. So, are you interested yet?

What Can LinkedIn Do for Me?

I have been asked the above question more times than I can probably count. My answer to everyone is always, “LinkedIn is a great way to find people. We all go through life never really knowing everything about our work colleagues (sometimes even our friends). LinkedIn has allowed me to read someone’s business history in a single screen. The site also helps me understand who they know and network with.”

Some interesting facts you probably did not know about LinkedIn:

• The average number of LinkedIn connections for people who work at Google is forty-seven.
• The average number for Harvard Business School grads is fifty-eight, so you could skip the MBA, work at Google, and probably get most of the connections you need. Later, you can hire Harvard MBAs to prepare your income taxes.
• People with more than twenty connections are thirty-four times more likely to be approached with a job opportunity than people with less than five.
• All 500 of the Fortune 500 are represented in LinkedIn. In fact, 499 of them are represented by director-level and above employees.(Kawasaki, Guy. http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/ten_ways_to_use.html)

Top Reasons to Use LinkedIn

1. Building your Reputation. LinkedIn is a great tool for people to outline their experience, accomplishment, organizations and network. Too often I have seen incomplete profiles. A crucial element to get LinkedIn to work for you is to make sure your profile is 100% complete. Include all your previous employers, groups you belong to, your “advertisement”, websites and other important information. LinkedIn is also becoming a place where employers find candidates, so if you are job hunting, this may be the place for you.

2. Find Qualified Candidates. Ever struggled looking for an employee? If you are like me, it is a love hate relationship. I want to find the best candidate because it will benefit the company, but weeding through all the applicants can be exhausting. Well, how about using your network to find employees? For my last two positions, I hired individuals that came recommended, yes I said recommended, from my network on LinkedIn. LinkedIn has a great job posting board, which is also very inexpensive. Even if you don’t want to field unknown candidates, you can send out an email to all your connections.

3. Find New Connections. Have you ever felt like sometimes you see the same people at the networking events? Would you like to meet new people? Use LinkedIn and do a search. For example, let’s say I want to meet Architects. I just go to LinkedIn and type in Architects in the search box. LinkedIn will search my contact’s contacts and return the results. The best part is it shows me how I am connected to the person, which can then be used for introductions. I ask Joe Smith to introduce me to his friend the Architect. LinkedIn also provides results of what they call 3rd degree friends. Essentially, your contact has a contact that knows the architect. It seems complicated, but it is a great way to expand your network and your friend’s network. Try a search, see what happens. LinkedIn also has introductions, a tool they offer to give you an introduction to a person you want to meet.

4. Increase your Google Ranking. Ever wondered how people’s names come up so high up on Google searches? I do not have the secret Google formula, but I can tell you a well written LinkedIn profile earns a high rank on the page. The not so lucky are the people with common names, like Joe Smith, but, the more you have information like LinkedIn (or Blog articles), the better your Google ranking.

5. Make your meeting go smoother. I was once introduced to a contact who knew all about me before I ever met him. He even went on to tell me who we knew in common….talk about ice breaker. All he did was search for me on LinkedIn and viola….all my history and information. I have to admit, from a bird’s eye perspective it sounds a bit creepy, but sitting in the meeting it was not. I was actually relieved to have something in common with the person. He, of course, told me he had viewed my LinkedIn profile, which took all the creepiness away. I thought after that meeting, what a great way to learn about someone, search for them on LinkedIn.

6. Ask for or Give Advice. In the question and answer section of LinkedIn, users can post questions and answer questions. For example, if you are a computer hardware expert, you would scroll through and try to answer questions relating to your specialty. What does this do? Well, it builds your credibility as an expert in your field. On the other hand, have a question you want some peer advice on? Ask the LinkedIn users. I have scrolled through the Answers section many times and I am always pleased with the responses I have read, always very professional.

7. Scope out Competition, Customers, Partners. I, like most people, use Google or another search engine to see what information I can find out about my market. The market includes your customers, competitors and partners. LinkedIn is a great tool for research. I especially like it because you can usually see where a person worked previous to their current position. Knowing that information provides a much more in-depth picture about the person or company. Another key advantage is to see what groups your customers or potential customers belong to.

8. Groups. LinkedIn just added a new tool to search groups. The groups range from networking groups to Alumni groups to Company groups. Groups can be a great tool for networking. For instance, I am a member of the Alumni group where I went to college. The group is quite large, but I can search within the group for prospective clients, partners or competitors. I use the group as a common thread when trying to talk to or meet with people. For example, “Joe I see that you are a member of XYZ Alumni group, so am I, what did you study?” There are many different ways to use the groups and their members as leads into conversations. As a plus, when you join a group you can show the group on your profile. The benefit could be others see the group and find they have a common thread with you.

9. Recommendations. LinkedIn has created a system where your contacts can recommend you. I think it is a wonderful tool. Now, when I am searching for a product or service or even a new connection, I can read what other people have to say. I know and you know, we can talk about how great we are till we are blue in the face, but when someone else confirms it……you may have struck gold. Leverage the power of LinkedIn to get recommendations and be sure to give them as well.

10. Help Others. The saying is Give and You Shall Receive. Use LinkedIn to introduce people you think would be a good match. You can easily do introductions to the people with LinkedIn’s inMail. The nice thing about giving a contact more connections on LinkedIn is that no one wants to be the person with the least contacts….so help out a friend and send them a contact or two that makes sense for them. Part of helping others can be helping them use LinkedIn. Most of the people I have met have done very little research on how to use LinkedIn to its full potential.

11. Use it on the go. LinkedIn is configured to be able to use it on your handheld device. While you waiting at the airport, doctor’s office or another waiting area, log into LinkedIn and network from anywhere. Just go to http://m.linkedin.com.

I hope you start getting more from LinkedIn! And while you’re at it, drop me a line at http://www.linkedin.com/in/kimalbritton.