What Works...A Book

It’s official. We’ve launched our new book called, What Works, that my partner and I wrote detailing the notes we’ve taken along the way from starting Richter from scratch, completely bootstrapped with zero revenue to multi-million dollar revenues in under 4 years.

It’s a unique book because we didn’t sit down and say, “OK, lets write a book....” but rather we gathered notes we took along the way from our discoveries. We discovered things that worked and wrote them down. Things that didn’t work and made notes of what not to do and how to fix it.

So this book is a journal of hard won workable knowledge based on a real life entrepreneurial venture. We’ve had many successes and learned from mistakes and created this book to communicate in the most simple language possible, the key insights that work.

Since the world of books is so riddled with fluff and ideas or theory, it’s refreshing to put something out that isn’t. Something that simply says... “look, here’s what works...apply it.”

So with all that said, it’s my recommendation that you buy and read What Works for a tiny investment of $17 which will help drive your business forward based on key insights that continues to drive ours.

Reading is a critical element to success and something that you should make a daily habit of. This is one new book for your collection of highly applicable, workable insights that will pay for itself many times over.

Here’s the link to buy one or many for your team: http://www.whatworksbook.com

Note: if you want to buy in bulk, we have a special What Works Experience PDF to send over which outlines extra perks you get for buying 25 or more books so email us at info@richter10point2.com if you would like to have that sent along.

All the best,

- Robert

http://www.whatworksbook.com/buy-now/

Effort to Effortless

Robert Cornish: I'm sure it's real to you that sometimes things take a little more effort than planned for. If you were to push a car that was out of gas, it would take some effort to get the thing rolling, but once you gained some momentum, it would practically roll itself.
 
In any situation in business, you can handle or overcome obstacles with sheer effort. In other words, if you were trying to make one sale, had three prospects and all three cycles were not closing - you could go get 30 prospects and take a huge amount of effort to work all 30 and some would close - agreed?

And so it goes with your prospecting activities, sales and revenue. While you can read business book after book on the topic, the funny thing is, some problems are so simple that we overlook them. Just sheer effort can change your entire company.

You've seen the person on the basketball court who just works harder. Just hustles more and takes more effort than the others. That person seems to eventually get all the balls and score the points.

Well, this applies to business as well. If you're not completely satisfied with your current growth rate, sales results or revenue numbers - I'd suggest taking a lot more effort. Perhaps you're not doing enough now?

If you were pummeling your sales team with new reaches (sales leads) each week one after the next so much so that they needed to get an assistant to help organize them - or if you created an assault of new videos for every product, service and value proposition for your company and then posted them on every square inch of the web as well as emailed every prospect about it - you would impact your numbers positively.

At first, this would seem like a lot of effort because it's well above what you're doing now, but after doing it consistently, you would start to see new business calling and emailing you almost effortlessly.

So think in terms of effort. Push yourself to take far too much effort and the result will be in line with what you're looking for.

With all that said, our team can help carry the burden for some of the effort. In fact, we love it! So bring it on. Let us help drive your sales with our strategic relations program and videos. We'll make effort look good.

Robert Cornish is the CEO and Cofounder of Richter10.2 Media Group. For more information about Richter10.2, or if you want use our agency's services, check out our introduction video here.

 

U.S. Economy Slowing Down-How to Keep Your Business Moving Forward

Reuter's came out with a study today with some bad news for the U.S. economy. U.S. companies are finding it more difficult to grow their revenue now than at just about any time since the financial crisis.

For some, this is just baffling. We've been told by our government that the private sector is doing just fine. Since 2012 started, many companies have been nothing but optimistic about the recovery and starting off the year with impressive numbers. What we've seen, however, is a sharp downturn to start off the summer, with growth almost half of what it was last year. 

This slowdown is discouraging, but should serve as a warning more than anything else. Just like pain is our body telling us to stop what we are doing, this news is a similar wake-up call for businesses trying to grow like it's 2002. 

The problem typically comes down to sales. Getting people to buy your product or use your business is always a challenge. It seems like we are trying harder and harder to make profitable connections but are coming up shorter and shorter as the quarters go by. Well, what works? What can companies do to change what they're doing and finally see some manageable growth that isn't just a fluke?

I submit a new strategy for businesses to try out. PRIME Strategy. Conceptualized by the Richter10.2 Media Group founders, Robert Cornish and Wil Seabrook, PRIME is built to create the relationships that businesses are trying to make with their customers and vested interests but aren't able to do on their own.

It's not exactly public relations, marketing or advertising. Instead, it's strategic relations: identifying exactly what audience you want and crafting a message designed specifically for that audience, making the deal an inevitable close. 

How do I know this works? We use it for our company, Richter10.2 Media Group. We use PRIME to find clients for our video company, R102 Video. We're seeing constant growth with no sign of slowdown, even during these trying times. 

5 weeks ago, I had no idea what Richter10.2 Media Group was about. After, a month of being introduced to their mission, purpose, and history of growth, I have an irresistible urge to share their methods that are working for more and more businesses every day. 

Jon Negroni is the Director of Public Relations at Richter10.2 Media Group. For more information regarding Richter10.2 and PRIME, check out our introduction video here.

Order and Expansion

Over the past few weeks I've been on a mission to put order into every single area of our company. Meaning, I am making it orderly, implementing systems etc. The magic of "order" is limitless. Each little area that we've put order into results in things magically getting better. In other words, we made our company more orderly in one area and found that it impacted our growth just that much for the week.

Look around your company and make a list. Find every single area that you can to put order in. Then, simply address them one by one.

Here are a few examples:

- Make all workspaces neat and tidy to improve production

- Make a revision to a contract to ensure it reads correctly

- Address some old "need to get done's" and do them

- Implement a new checklist to help make a process more efficient and swift

- Get rid of a redundant task or function that causes extra work

These are but a few areas. Just start listing out all of the areas that you want to make orderly and then do so. You will be completely blown away at how this will impact you sales, growth, expansion, morale and the list goes on. It's complete magic.

- Robert Cornish

CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group

Being a Martinet About Neatness...

I was reading an old book by David Ogilvy today and he makes a comment about how he used to work in a professional kitchen in France and the head chef, Mr. Pitard, was a martinet (one who enforces strict discipline) about being neat. He had the chef's clean the kitchen twice per day to ensure the quarters were spotless. David Ogilvy carried many of these lessons over to his agency which grew to be one the best and biggest of his time. 

David's comment for his agency was this, "Today I am a martinet in making my staff keep their offices ship-shape. A messy office creates an atmosphere of sloppiness, and leads to the disappearance of secret papers." 

I tend to agree fully. I am a bit of a neat freak myself and always keep my quarters in ship-shape. I also tend to get a lot more done than the average person, I think partly because I operate in a neat orderly fashion. It's worth taking a look at yourself. Do you keep your office immaculate? Is everything where it should be? If not, I'm willing to bet that you are loosing valuable time and opportunities. 

Click here to read more.

A Lead Vs. A Reach

We recently introduced our Pay Per Performance model which takes all of the risk off the clients and strongly motivates our team to produce results. While discussing this over and over with many prospective clients, the question of a lead vs. a reach has come up frequently and so I wanted to write a brief note to clear it up.

While it’s easy to confuse a reach with a lead, they are distinctly different, one supremely better than the other. By the explanation below, I'll let you be the judge to decide which one is better...

Lead: It’s just that - a lead. It’s someone that may have some interest. It’s a possible business connection or a possible business development opportunity.

Reach: It’s someone reaching, interested, with a relationship already established. They already know about you, have heard about you and have a general understanding of what you do and now they want more. It’s the diamond of prospective clients that you wish you had daily.

Now let's look at the dictionary definition of each as taken from The American Heritage College dictionary:

Lead: 9. To begin or open with. To go first or guide. 3a. Information pointing toward a possible solution; 7a. The introductory portion.

Reach: 4a. To succeed in getting in contact with or communicating with. b. To succeed in having an effect on. 3a. Range of understanding; comprehension. 1. To stretch out or put forth; extend 3. To arrive at; attain

So from the above definitions, it's clear that a lead is the start, an introductory part or a beginning and a reach would be much further along than that and in fact is closer toward the end of the cycle. A reach entails someone reaching out for something. The introduction and start have all taken place and now it's at the point of stretching or reaching for more.

So as it relates to business development and new client procurement, which would you rather have?

Our agency exclusively deals with reaches for our clients... not leads. Our performance model is based on number of reaches which to me, is the most valuable thing to our company and and our clients companies.

For more information about our services, here is a link to a presentation on SlideShare - http://www.slideshare.net/Richter10point2/richter102-elevator-pitch-3791206

Highlight Your Company – What Is a Social Media Press Room?

So, I’m sure you have heard the buzz about the Social Media Press Kit, one of the newest and most advanced tools to maximize your business presence on the Web. Now there’s an even more comprehensive tool that works in conjunction with the Social Media Press Kit – the Social Media Press Room.

The Social Media Press Room is a dynamic information and resource center for companies, products and services. All of the vital information that relates to the company can be accessed here including press releases, blogs, videos, social media and new media pages, real time Twitter status updates, company bio and links to Social Media Press Kits within the company. This is a cutting-edge press room for the digital age, providing all of the information and resources anyone could want or need about a company and its products and services.

It is built directly into the company website with a simple navigation link to the full press room site. Use the Social Media Press Kits for individual sales agents or top executives in your company, and then have a Social Media Press Room representing your entire company for the maximum amount of Web and PR presence. The purpose of this tool is to fully highlight the company.

Get your target public's attention through all of the top social media sites on the web, with one main “room” linking to them all.

Ali Magnano

Director of PR

Richter10.2 Media Group

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10 Ways to Wake-Up in the Morning and Get through Your Work Day!

You know the feeling. That alarm clock goes off, you press the snooze (even though you know that only means that you’ll have to make your shower five minutes shorter), rush out the door and hopefully make it to work on time. The feeling seems unavoidable. As well as after your lunch break at work, when the clock reads 2 pm and you know that you have a few more hours of work to do, but you just can’t help feeling lethargic and annoyed at the thought of having to stay awake.
So what do you do? I have found some simple ways to get you through your work day and arrive at work in the morning feeling fresh and awake.

1) Don’t Eat Dinner Right before Bed

If you have the munchies before bed, a good thing to have is a little bit of fruit or some tomato juice. Something light and fruity. You don’t want to eat an entire meal right before you go to bed because the digestion process takes awhile. Try and leave a few hours in between your last meal and your bedtime and see how you feel in the morning.

2) Leave the Curtains Cracked

Leaving the curtains a little bit open will let some natural light into your room in the morning, which will help you wake up. The natural light can be strong but soothing.

3) Wake Up To The Smell Of Coffee

Get a coffee machine that has a setting for automatic brewing. Set it for a few minutes before your alarm clock goes off and when you wake up you will have a refreshing and lovely smell of freshly ground coffee in your room. Get fresh coffee beans!

4) Stretch Every Extremity

Stretching your arms and fingers out for about 15 seconds right after you wake up will help more than you think. It will get your blood circulating again in your body and helps you feel more energetic.

5) Eat A High Energy Breakfast


You would be surprised how just skipping your first meal of the day affects your energy level. You need to eat breakfast to get your metabolism going and to tell your body you are awake and ready to start digesting food again and making energy for your body. You can drink a protein smoothie, or some complex carbohydrates like a bowl of oatmeal or whole grain cereal topped with some fruit and skim milk.

6) Eat Protein Throughout The Day

Eating protein with your lunch will give your energy levels a boost. Snacking on nuts will also give you more energy, because they are high in protein.

7) Listen To Some Good Music In The Car

Find some good music, and get together an assortment of CDs to play on your way to work in the morning. Turn up the volume. If the weather permits it, open the windows instead of turning on the AC. The fresh air will wake you up, with the sound of the music, and get you ready for the day.

8) Take A Break

Take a break from your work desk when you’ve been sitting for a long time. Walking around to get a little exercise gets your blood flowing and can make you feel refreshed.

9) Chew Sugar-Free Peppermint Gum

There is something about the strong flavor of peppermint that makes you feel refreshed.

10) Cold Water

Cold water is refreshing, especially when it gets hot outside. Keeping your self hydrated throughout the day, and starting with a cold glass of water in the morning, will keep you refreshed and awake. Drink a cold glass roughly every hour, and splash some on your face when you need it.

Ali Magnano
Director of PR
Richter10.2 Media Group
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Social Media Tip of the Week #2 – What is Twitpic?

Recently, I found a really cool new Twitter tool that got me so excited I just had to write a blog about it! Twitpic। It’s how you Tweet pictures.

As you know, the thing about Twitter is that, unlike Facebook or Myspace, you can only have ONE picture, and that’s your default। How frustrating! Well, now with Twitpic, you have a whole album online that you can Tweet and share with other Tweeters.

Now, what kind of pictures would Tweeters most like to see tweeted? Breaking news, humorous ones and Twitpics by celebs were some of the top viewed. Like on-the-scene twitpics of a shuttle launch! (click here) Or the king of Twitter, Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) tweeting his own photos, of course. (click here)

Now, you can start using Twitpic to expand your Twitter influence।

Ali Magnano

Director of PR

Richter10.2 Media Group

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Social Media Tip of the Week #1: What’s the Best Type of Photo to Have on Twitter?

I’ve been doing some research and have found that if you want the most traffic to your Twitter site, you need a good, eye-catching photograph of yourself.

What type of photo is eye-catching enough that you will be looked at first over other Tweeters?

When you first register on Twitter, you are provided with an avatar. Everyone gets the same avatar. What is all-too-common is that Tweeters will leave that up instead of providing a real picture. The Tweeter is then a “faceless entity” on a huge Social Media Site and easily gets lost in the crowd.

Your image is the first thing people see when they decide to follow you – or to not follow you. It should be, ideally, a recent photo of YOU. It can be your brand’s logo, but if you are going to be the sole person using the account, then you should have a picture of yourself. Seeing a real picture of you gives others the feeling that they know you. Also, don’t change your photo too often – other users tend to see the image before the name, and you can get lost if you change your image too frequently.

So the moral of the story is - get other Tweeters to notice you by providing a fresh and recent picture of yourself.

Ali Magnano
Director of PR
Richter10.2 Media Group
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The Social Media Press Kit – The World’s Most Dynamic Virtual Business Card

If you think that Social Media, as represented by blogging, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube, etc।, is only a personal or social pursuit with no room for making money or corporate involvement, you are clearly still living in 2002.

The Social Media population has been greatly increasing over the years। Twitter, the famous microblogging site, has grown an astonishing 1328% in the past year alone. With applications promising to “Increase your Twitter followers by eleventy-billion in seconds”, it’s no wonder Twitter is spreading like wildfire.

There has been a paradigm shift in the way that promotion and marketing is reaching the public। Social Media is not only supplementing mainstream media, but is actually replacing many traditional media avenues. With RSS feeds and Social Media bookmarking sites, there is hardly a need to read the newspaper that so conveniently arrives on your doorstep, and the public apparently agrees, as evidenced by the shuttering of or the exclusive focus online by some of the country's oldest papers.

For businesses struggling to find their footing in the ever-expanding social media landscape, there is some good news: there is a simple way to take advantage of this whole evolution and integrate your business with Social Media, build your public relations and get the maximum amount of presence on the Web. With the Social Media Press Kit, which is a microsite designed to showcase you and your company to your target public audience, the doors become open to the Social Media world. A cutting edge Web PR firm (one of the few companies in the world dedicated exclusively to this new field), Richter10.2 Media Group, has created this tool to help you capitalize on the world’s most popular social and business networking sites. It is an instant communication tool to maintain constant rapport with your target demographic from anywhere in the world.

To learn more about the best practices in Social Media and how they can help expand your business, visit www.whywebpr.com.

Ali Magnano

Director of PR

Richter10.2 Media Group

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