Steady Elevation

Have You Checked Our Forums Lately?

2008-06-20T13:44:00.003-04:00

There are some vibrant discussions going on in the Steady Elevation forums and people are taking the time to post their direct experiences and qualified advice, which is incredibly helpful to fellow members. While the forum attracted lots of views until now, you’re taking the time now to actively share and connect with the Steady Elevation community, and that’s great! Thank you - and keep it up! What goes around, comes around, and you’ll find that the answers, inspiration, and input you need, is just a couple of keyboard clicks away.

Be a part of our online community. Contribute to the forums here: http://www.steadyelevation.net/index.php?act=forum

Thanks for Joining Us - Now Put the e-Myth System to Work

2008-06-06T13:42:00.007-04:00

Thank you all for joining us via phone for the teleseminar with Michael Gerber. Measured by intensity of impact or number of participants, the teleseminar was singularly successful. Mr. Gerber has been in business for more than 30 years, yet he’s still teeming with entrepreneurial passion, and he did a phenomenal job sharing his enthusiasm and his trademark style of growing a business. We got terrific feedback from listeners who were inspired to change their perspective of what their business’ mission truly is.

If you’ve listened to the teleseminar for the full hour, we want your feedback too. Click here to give us your feedback.

If you’ve been inspired, and are now looking to implement Michael Gerber’s techniques, make sure you either buy (or borrow!) the following two books: The E-Myth Revisited and Awakening the Entrepreneur Within. Read the books, absorb the system, and you’ll enjoy a seminal “Aha! moment” as you realize what it really takes to run a successful business.

A Live Teleconference with Michael Gerber!

2008-05-22T17:07:00.004-04:00

He’s created a revolution in business by busting the E-Myth. You don’t get to your 63rd book reprint (check out The E-Myth Revisited), without knowing a thing or two about the subject matter, and in Michael Gerber’s case that subject matter is quite simply: succeeding in business.

Michael Gerber has spent the last three decades working tirelessly to empower business owners to gain more freedom, more money, more time, and more life. Documented in his mega-best selling books, The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t work and What to Do About It, and the updated The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber prescribes a way out of what he calls “the tyranny of routine,” which drags down the business owner’s entrepreneurial spirit with dull, repetitive work. The E-Myth point of view powerfully describes how to rise above that tyranny of routine to build a flourishing, innovative, and sustainable business.

Join us on June 2nd at this live teleseminar exclusively for Steady Elevation members, and be prepared to redefine your notion of how business success is achieved.

Registration fee: $0. The information: priceless!

Click here for the details.

My New Email Signature - Meny Hoffman

2008-05-05T12:36:00.000-04:00

"It's not good enough to be on the right track - you also need to keep moving forward"

Besides being a pithy saying, I’ve adopted it as my new email signature. Now you’re probably thinking, who cares what your new email signature is??? Read on and I’ll explain why I’ve chosen to publicize my e-mail signature on our blog.

There is a common truism I repeat all the time. The way you really get loyal clients is by building “know, feel and trust” and the way to do that requires a lot of work. The one basic step is to give them value. Show them you are not here just to get their money; you are here as a resource to help them grow, or accomplish their goals, and that goes for no matter what business you’re in.

Having an e-mail signature with a quote that people could learn from is a great way of building “know, feel and trust” vibes. And yes, this quote is something I really believe in. Some people are satisfied that they are on the right track and my message to them is: No! Don’t leave it at that. You also need to keep moving forward.

Cheers,
Meny Hoffman

Meny Hoffman is “On the Air”

2008-04-16T17:23:00.002-04:00

You’ve probably been listening to SmallBizAmerica episodes in our Audio Show section. On a regular basis, we bring you, our Steady Elevation members, those episodes we believe are most informative and relevant. We’re delighted to bring you the latest episode, a highly informative interview with none other than Meny Hoffman!

Answering a series of pointed questions from David Wolf, of the SmallBiz Brain, Mr. Hoffman explains the chain of events and the inspiration that led to the creation of Steady Elevation, and why he continues to devote his time, energy, passion, and resources to this venture.

Besides being the founder here at Steady Elevation, Meny is owner and partner respectively of SmartStaff, an industry leader in call center and virtual office solutions, and Printex, Inc., an innovative printing, marketing and graphics company. As a successful entrepreneur, who has dealt with and advised a multitude of other growing business owners, Mr. Hoffman outlines both strategies for growth and common pitfalls he has observed and experienced, and points out advantages that small businesses have over large corporations.

Listen – and be inspired!

Mini-Workshop Coming to the Watch a Lesson Screen

2008-04-04T13:45:00.002-04:00

Have you ever needed to make a great first impression in person, but felt shy, insecure, or didn’t know how to get the conversation started, redirected or concluded? Don Gabor, America’s small talk expert (click here for his impressive client list), was in our office this week filming a series of lessons for a mini-workshop titled "How to Make a Great First Impression" which will be released to the Watch a Lesson screen on our website.

In his clear, practical, well-structured style, Don explains how to break the ice to get a conversation started, how to pose questions so that you get the most out of the answers, how to get others to see you as a person of interest, what your body language projects about you, and more.

Having read and listened to Don Gabor’s communications insights, Meny Hoffman, the founder and inspiration here at Steady Elevation, has applied many of Don’s techniques in his own business interactions and used them successfully both at huge national conferences, and smaller meet-and-greet settings.

Be sure to sign up here to be notified via e-mail when each new lesson in the series is posted so that you can use Gabor’s strategies to consistently make a great impression.

Web Marketing 101

2008-03-30T14:27:00.002-04:00

Our first Web Marketing workshop is in session and we’ve received some incredible feedback after the first 2 hour class was completed last Monday.

Joseph, a participant who’s a web designer, but hadn’t received any formal training in website marketing prior to this class raves: “A lot of this stuff was vaguely familiar to me – I knew the terminology – and thought I knew more than just the basics of website marketing. After this one class, I’d rate my prior knowledge on the topics covered at 15-20% and my current aptitude at 70%. I’m not a polished expert yet, but knowledgeable enough to know what the options are, what’s out there, and how to go about getting further information when I need it.”

Another participant commented that although he won’t be the one implementing the suggestions, now that he knows what’s available, he’ll be using the knowledge to direct his website developer. When running a business, we can’t possibly have the skills or the time to do everything ourselves, but it’s important to be as educated as possible in the key areas, so that we know how to evaluate our service providers and intelligently direct them.

The workshop is entry-level, meaning no prior knowledge is assumed, but the topics taught are both basic and advanced concepts that can immediately be applied to make your website work for you.

Our next workshop will begin on May 5th. If you’re interested in the class, you can inquire via phone or e-mail or sign up right from the Web Marketing 101 webpage by clicking here.

It's Time to Thank Our Sponsors

2008-02-27T10:40:00.005-05:00

The website launched 12 days ago, and we’ve been inundated with amazing feedback – keep those e-mails coming! We want to know what you want more of and what you don’t. We love compliments and yes, we love constructive criticism too.

By now, you’ve seen the ads that appear throughout our website. You’ll be seeing and hearing a lot about Americard Payment Processing, http://americardpayment.com a leader in credit card processing. That’s because Americard is the official inaugural sponsor of the Steady Elevation website. (Thank you, Americard!) If your business accepts credit and debit cards, we hope you’ll give them a try. We’re impressed with their service and offerings and we think you will be too.

Another sponsor whose ads you’ll have noticed, is TalkSpan http://talkspan.com (Thank you, TalkSpan!). They offer a range of attractively priced telecommunications plans – check to see if one of them is right for you.

If your business is in the B2B sector, contact us for information on ad space still available on our website.

We Have a Winner!

2008-02-18T11:23:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to Y. C. on winning the Garmin Nuvi GPS. (YC: Check your e-mail. We need your mailing address so that we can ship the GPS out to you.) We’ve had hundreds of entries and one lucky winner; but as we said at the start, what we really want to do, is create an entire community of winners in business where the winning really counts.

Thank you all for participating in the drawing.

Want to be our next winner? Check out our Think Different contest and earn a chance to win 2 free tickets to all Steady Elevation events in 2008.

We've Launched!

2008-02-15T10:06:00.004-05:00

Break out the champagne! At 9:00 PM Eastern Time, three hours ahead of schedule, the Steady Elevation website officially launched.

The website is the product of the combined efforts of a talented and dedicated team that worked around the clock to help turn our vision into a reality.

Special thanks are in order to WEBexpo, our website design and development firm, for taking incipient ideas from the drawing board to completion seamlessly and professionally. The team at WEBexpo worked tirelessly with us to create a site that’s attractive, interactive, robust and easy to navigate. We think you’ll agree!

The countdown is over but the endeavor has only just begun. We’re in for a long, successful ride – come on in and join the action.

Who Said There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch?

2008-02-14T14:19:00.000-05:00

Thanks Joel!

Thanks to Joel Bodek, Principal of Bodek & Co. for surprising the Steady Elevation team with a congratulatory lunch to celebrate the launch of our website at 12:00 AM later today.

Now that we’re all well fed, we can get back to business, which at the moment consists of tweaking, testing, checking and double checking to pull off a smooth transfer from our beta site to the live server.

The Race is On (Not Just the Presidential One)

2008-02-07T21:08:00.000-05:00

It seems like just a week ago that we began the countdown to the Steady Elevation website launch, but it must have been more than that since the countdown is at 7 days, 3 hours and 18 minutes at the moment. Suddenly it feels like a race against the clock as the final tweaks are made, bugs ironed out, and cool effects added in --- look out for our Watch the Lesson application where you’ll get to pull up a chair and watch video lessons on a “big screen”.

We hope you’ll enjoy using the site as much as we’ve enjoyed developing it. The best feature of the website, is that it will be your site as much as it is ours. We’ll be asking for your feedback continuously, and relying on your input to continuously develop the site so that it remains a dynamic forum which reflects the needs of the business community and taps the pulse of the growing entrepreneur.

Keep your eyes on the clock, because we’ll be launching sooner than you can say “My, how time has flown!”.

Announcing Another Notable Partnership!

2008-01-23T22:11:00.001-05:00

Face it. Although you’d love to make the Fortune 500 list one day, you’re likely at least a few spots shy of No. 500. That’s OK. Just because you aren’t a multi-billion dollar, multinational company doesn’t mean you can’t be hugely successful in your own right. It takes time, patience, perseverance and marketing savvy to steadily elevate your business, but your marketing approach shouldn’t be modeled after Procter & Gamble’s (#24 on the Fortune 500 list by the way) for the simple reason that you’re operating in a different sphere.

Enter Square2Marketing. A strategic marketing consulting firm, they’ve created a concept called Reality Marketing™ which revolves around customers’ perspectives, opinions, challenges, and their pains when buying a product or service. They call it Reality Marketing because: “Many companies invest a lot of money in marketing programs that never work. These programs don’t work because they’re NOT grounded in reality; they look good, but they don’t consider the customer. While this might work for a Fortune 500 Company, it’s not going to work for you.” The Reality Marketing system identifies the approach businesses should be taking before they make it onto the New York Stock Exchange.

We’re proud to have Square2Marketing as a partner. Look forward to informative guides, lessons, and tips to help you get new customers, and increase your market exposure.

You've Got Questions. We've Got Answers.

2008-01-16T18:14:00.001-05:00

We’re lining up a panel of exceptional business coaches who will be on hand to answer your tough questions. Their client lists read like a “who’s who in successful business”, and through our Ask the Expert feature, you’ll be able to tap their brains and get access to the talent that drives both major corporations and SMBs (small and medium sized businesses).

We won’t be releasing names before the site launch, because the list isn’t finalized. Actually, the list will never be final --- as the panel will be a dynamic, ever-growing circle of advisors, with a diverse range of specialties covering every area of business.

Plus, for in-depth coaching, Steady Elevation members will be getting priority access to panel participants.

Get ready to shift into high gear!

We're Putting Meat on the Bones of our Forms Section

2008-01-09T18:29:00.000-05:00

We’ve begun loading forms into our Forms & Templates application.

Have you ever scoured the internet to find the right legal or financial form or template, only to come across one that seemed OK, but required you to purchase the form download? The Forms and Templates section will have more than 100 forms and templates in categories such as accounting, taxes, human resources, government compliance and more, that can be downloaded and customized for any business. The application is fully searchable so if you’re looking for a particular form, you can type in a keyword, and get a list of matches if there are more than one. And of course, the forms will be “browsable” as well, so you can just browse the categories, to see all the forms available.

Oh, and no purchase required – all you’ll need to do is click the download button.

We're Proud to Announce a New Partnership!

2008-01-02T17:45:00.000-05:00

We’ve partnered with SmallBizAmerica to bring you audio shows and interviews with top business experts. The shows will be “aired” on a bi-weekly basis, and you’ll get to listen in on experienced and knowledgeable professionals who’ve worked for and consulted Fortune 500 companies (and small and medium sized businesses as well) to hear what works and what doesn’t in companies big and small.

Our first episode will be about Building Relationships, presented by Thom Singer who has more than 15 years of sales and marketing experience with firms such as RR Donnelley and Brobeck Phleger & Harrison. He is an expert in branding, positioning and networking, and has trained more than 1,000 professionals in the art of building professional contacts that lead to increased business. He is also the author of “Some Assembly Required” available in bookstores and at Amazon.com.

When do you get to listen in? Check the countdown page and stay tuned…

52 Days, 5 Hours, 58 Minutes and 14 Seconds at last count…

2007-12-24T17:58:00.000-05:00

It’s gratifying to see momentum building with new members signing up before our official launch. The surge of interest only reinforces our commitment to bringing you the best in education and resources for you and your business.

Those of you who aren’t first time visitors here will have noticed that our little video clip on the left hand side of the web page wasn’t “playable”. Well, we’re going to come right out and admit that it’s because there was no video behind it --- yet. We had Gary Parks over at Steady Elevation the other day, and besides lending us his brainpower to help us tie up some loose ends, he recorded a brief introduction to our upcoming website. He did a great job and has a simple but powerful suggestion for you at the end as well. So if you tried playing the clip last week but couldn’t get the action rolling, go back and press play now.

After you’ve watched the video clip, go ahead and roll over the navigation strip at the bottom of the page. You’ll hear Gary give a preview of what’s to come. And if you don’t hear anything that sparks your interest, well, you may want to check the audio settings on your computer…

The Countdown Begins!

2007-12-12T18:31:00.000-05:00

It’s Day 1 of the countdown to our new site launch, and we’re really excited to begin the unveiling of the Steady Elevation website, a dynamic, feature-rich business portal and online community. Developed by a panel of business owners and entrepreneurs, the website will be a portal to events, information, tools and resources you won’t want to miss out on.
All the elements are off the drawing board and in production. As the countdown continues, we’ll keep you posted on interim developments and progress highlights.

In the meantime, be sure to sign up for the mailing list and enter our drawing for a Garmin Nuvi GPS system. Although there’ll be only one winner of the Garmin Nuvi, we hope to create a whole community of winners in business, where the winning really counts. More sales, bigger deals, increased revenues; however you refer to it, we’ll help you elevate your business to a whole new level!