Golden eggs

Today's blog post is a continuation of yesterday's post about finding your ideal customer (or client...see this post about the difference).

My friend, Mark Herdering, wrote a book called "Hanging Out for a Living" and in it he talks about your ideal customer (client) being like a golden egg. When you find a golden egg, you're very happy! But, what if you can figure out where they come from? You want to find the goose that lays the golden egg. In the book, Mark defines the goose as the person (or entity), who by nature of what they do, has a network of your ideal customers.

But what does that mean? Let's take our realtor example from yesterday. Let's say that I'm a realtor and my ideal client is someone who's around my age...someone who is an empty nester and looking to downsize. That person is my golden egg. I can go around and try to meet them on my own. Or I can find the goose, someone who has a network of people who may be looking to downsize their home. So, who would these geese be? They would be people like retirement planners, college financial planners (remember we want people whose last kid has started college), senior centers, etc...people (or entities) that already have my ideal client as one of their clients.

Or in my SendOutCards business, if I decide my ideal client is a realtor, then I will look for people who have realtors as customers...such as mortgage lenders, title agents, real estate attorneys, etc. Hopefully, that gives you an idea of how to find the goose that lays the golden eggs. For a better introduction to the subject, plus a lot more on how to network effectively, read the book. If you liked "The Richest Man in Babylon", you'll love "Hanging Out for a Living". Both books use parables to teach their lessons...personal finance in "Richest Man" and networking in "Hanging Out". But there's more! There's also what Mark calls a "granny goose" but you'll have to read the book to find out more!

Interesting days

Today - Eat a Hoagie Day and Cream Filled Donut Day

Tomorrow - Greenpeace Day,  International Dot Day, Felt Hat Day and Make A Hat Day

Next Wednesday - International Red Panda Day, International Day of Peace, Miniature Golf Day and World Gratitude Day

October 14 - World Egg Day and Be Bald And Free Day Since I grew a beard to celebrate World Beard Day, should I shave my head to celebrate this?

Who is your ideal customer?

If you're like most people, you believe that everyone would be the ideal customer for your product or service. I used to be the same way. I've heard people say "Everyone who has skin needs my product". or "Everyone who wants to lose weight or be healthy needs my product" or "Everyone who knows another person needs to send greeting cards" (the last one was me). But would you really want every person on the planet to be your customer? We'll start with the obvious...you probably don't want murderers, rapists or (shudder) politicians for customers. (It's the 2016 election season here in the US so I couldn't resist!).

But who do you really WANT to work with? If you're a realtor, do you prefer working with couples just starting out? Or maybe a family looking for a bigger house to keep up with a growing family? Or maybe empty nesters looking to downsize? Or maybe you prefer the luxury market. Or maybe you prefer a particular area. Would you rather work with people in similar demographics to you? Similar age? Gender? Political or religious beliefs? It will help when you ask people for referrals. It's much easier to tell someone that you'd like to meet newlyweds who may be looking to purchase their first house, or if they know anyone who just sent their last kid off to college, than to just say "Do you know someone who's looking to buy a new home?".

Casey Eberhart is really good at this. He knows exactly who his ideal customer is and he even has Facebook profiles for these people. He reads the same magazines that they do, he belongs to the same Facebook groups or Meetup groups. Casey has an event coming up in October where he will talk about this, among other topics related to networking (and yes, that's me in the group photo before the testimonials, standing 2nd from left).

I'm still working on identifying my target market...my ideal customer. Although I'm primarily aiming at small business owners and sales professionals such as realtors, auto dealers, etc. I know I have to work on narrowing it down some more. And the same for people who may be looking for additional income. Am I looking for people who have just retired or are about to? Actually, that is exactly who I'm looking for. So if you know anybody in those circumstances who may be looking for some additional income, then have them email me.

Interesting days

Today - Roald Dahl Day, Kids Take Over The Kitchen Day, Positive Thinking Day, Defy Superstition Day, Fortune Cookie Day and Peanut Day

Tomorrow - Eat a Hoagie Day

Next Tuesday - Punch Day and Get Ready Day

October 13 - World Sight Day

More reasons to send

For those of you who are SendOutCards customers, if you're not getting the Greetings! email from SOC, let me know. This is what you're missing out on:

September is one of the most popular months to give birth. You know what that means… time to create and send those personalized birthday cards! SendOutCards has the easiest card sending system and app that allows you to send a card quickly from home or on the go. Don’t delay in sending your loved ones heartfelt message for their special day.  Your Home's Fall Checklist When the last of summer’s heat is a faint memory, and you’re pulling out your hoodies more than your shorts, it’s time to tackle a few simple chores that’ll make winter more pleasant and prevent some nasty surprises next spring. Continue reading. Throw a Football Party If you love football, try something new this football season and bring the tailgate party indoors. Score big with your friends and family by hosting the perfect game-viewing party during the upcoming season. Continue reading. Interesting days Today - Boss/Employee Exchange Day, Video Games Day, Programmers' Day and Chocolate Milk Shake Day Tomorrow -  Roald Dahl Day, Kids Take Over The Kitchen Day, Positive Thinking Day, Defy Superstition Day, Fortune Cookie Day and Peanut Day Next Monday -  Butterscotch Pudding Day and Talk Like A Pirate Day From Krispy Kreme: Say ‘ahoy’ to your free Original Glazed doughnut! Krispy Kreme Doughnuts today announced that participating shops in the United States and Canada will celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day on Sept. 19.  Any swashbuckling guest who talks like a pirate will receive one free Original Glazed doughnut, while fans who dress like a pirate will receive one dozen Original Glazed doughnuts.  For the first time this year, guests can also use a custom Krispy Kreme Snapchat pirate filter to digitally ‘dress’ like a pirate. Any guest who shows their Snapchat image at a participating shop will qualify for a dozen Original Glazed doughnuts. Show your snap to a team member inside the shop and score ye bounty. Arrrr.... Two Pirate Doughnuts are also available ahead of Talk Like a Pirate Day. The Pirate Doughnut is a filled doughnut decorated with a pirate face, while the Skull and Crossbones Doughnut is topped with chocolate icing and finished with white icing and a skull candy piece.  Qualifying pirate costumes must include three pirate items, such as an eye patch or bandana. No purchase is necessary to take part in Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Maybe it's time to get on Snapchat!

October 12 - World Arthritis Day, Emergency Nurses Day, Take Your Parents To Lunch Day, Old Farmers Day, Bring Your Teddy Bear To Work & School Day and Pet Obesity Awareness Day

The Funday Sunnies

Interesting days

Today -  Patriot Day, No News is Good News Day, Grandparent's Day, Hug Your Hound Day, Hot Cross Bun Day and Make Your Bed Day

Tomorrow - Boss/Employee Exchange Day, Video Games Day, Programmers' Day and Chocolate Milk Shake Day

Next Sunday - Wife Appreciation Day, Hug A Greeting Card Writer Day, Cheeseburger Day, Gymnastics Day, Water Monitoring Day and Respect Day

October 11 - Face Your Fears Day, Coming Out Day and Ada Lovelace Day Ada Lovelace is credited with being the first computer programmer even though she lived in the 1800's. She even has a computer language named after her, Ada.

Your weekend guide to interesting days

Today - World Suicide Prevention Day and Swap Ideas Day

Tomorrow - Patriot Day, No News is Good News Day, Grandparent's Day, Hug Your Hound Day, Hot Cross Bun Day and Make Your Bed Day

Next Saturday - Constitution Day, International Eat An Apple Day, International Country Music Day, Coastal Cleanup Day and Apple Dumpling Day

October 10 - World Porridge Day, SHIFT10 Day, World Mental Health Day, Native American Day, Handbag Day, Cake Decorating Day, World Homeless Day and Hug A Drummer Day

My son Nick, about 5 years ago

The Friday Fishwrap

All the news that's fit to wrap around a dead fish

The week in review

Monday - "Is it a frap or frappe?" Inquiring minds want to know

Tuesday - "Dream like a kid again" You're never too old to dream

Wednesday - "No blog post today" I wasn't feeling well so I took the day off

Thursday - "Sharing Ideas #TBT" A guest post from last year

Interesting days

This week

Saturday -  International Turkey Vulture Day, Welsh Rarebit Day, International Vulture Awareness Day, Skyscraper Day and World Beard Day

Sunday - Wildlife Day, Newspaper Carrier Day and Pet Rock Day

Monday - Cheese Pizza Day, International Day of Charity and Be Late For Something Day

Tuesday - Another Look Unlimited Day, Fight Procrastination Day and Read a Book Day

Wednesday - Superhuman Day, Buy a Book Day and Salami Day

Thursday - Actors' Day, Literacy Day, Pardon Day, Iguana Awareness Day and World Physical Therapy Day

Today - Wonderful Weirdos Day, Hug Your Boss Day and Teddy Bear Day

Next week

Tomorrow - World Suicide Prevention Day and Swap Ideas Day

Sunday - Patriot Day, No News is Good News Day, Grandparent's Day, Hug Your Hound Day, Hot Cross Bun Day and Make Your Bed Day

Monday - Boss/Employee Exchange Day, Video Games Day, Programmers' Day and Chocolate Milk Shake Day

Tuesday -  Roald Dahl Day, Kids Take Over The Kitchen Day, Positive Thinking Day, Defy Superstition Day, Fortune Cookie Day and Peanut Day

Wednesday - Eat a Hoagie Day

Thursday -  Greenpeace Day,  International Dot Day, Felt Hat Day and Make A Hat Day

Friday - International Grenache Day, Concussion Awareness Day, World Ozone Day, Stepfamily Day, Collect Rocks Day, Play Doh Day, International Read An Ebook Day, Working Parents Day and Guacamole Day

Next month

October 3 - World Architecture Day, Boyfriends Day, Techies Day, Virus Appreciation Day, World Habitat Day and World Day of Bullying Prevention

October 4 - World Animal Day, Improve Your Office Day, Ship in A Bottle Day, Vodka Day and Taco Day

October 5 - Country Inn Bed & Breakfast Day, World Teachers Day and Chic Spy™ Day

October 6 - Mad Hatter Day and Physician Assistant Day

October 7 - Frappe Day, World Smile Day and Bathtub Day

October 8 - Pierogi Day and World Octopus Day

October 9 - Curious Events Day, Fire Prevention Day, World Post Day, Moldy Cheese Day and Beer and Pizza Day

Sharing Ideas #TBT

This Saturday is Share Ideas Day, so we're going to go back one year to when I had a guest blogger fill in for me. Thanks again, Annie!


Since today is Share Ideas Day and I'm in Anaheim this week I opened up my blog to a guest blogger. Thank you Annie Stenger for sharing your ideas with us!


First of all, I would like to thank Rick for graciously allowing me to post on his page, Thank you Rick! I have become a fan of Rick and his blog. He has become a great friend and fellow SOCster! So, it is with great pleasure that I can share with you some of my ideas. As many of us and many of you following Rick’s blog, are entrepreneurial minded spirits, it would be helpful for me to talk a bit on the art of sharing. For many of us, it comes naturally. We breathe in and out and share our very existence with one another. We share our good and bad days. We share when we have a victory or a defeat. Sharing is what makes us human.      

That said, what I want to share is how we need to stay focused on helping others. How we need to always be sharing in the magic that is SendOutCards. The world needs send out cards and we are here to tell them all about it! Are you prepared to share? Are you ready to share your gift with the world!? Do you have a plan? Do you write I AM statements and goals down 2x’s a day! Do you read and meditate on those who have gone before us? Do you keep yourself in shape as best you can? If we want people to listen to our message, we must be a product of the product. People will not follow someone who is not in a better position than they are. By that, I mean mentally, spiritually, etc. We are always trying to better ourselves. We want to follow leaders who are doing the same.

Those are just a few of my ideas to share. I hope that if you are doing these things, you continue and enjoy Soccess. If you are not, try them and see what will happen!? You have nothing to lose but if you don’t try and share your ideas with others, you will never know!!

Take Care,

Annie Stenger

Interesting days

Today - Actors' Day, Literacy Day, Pardon Day, Iguana Awareness Day and World Physical Therapy Day

Tomorrow - Wonderful Weirdos Day, Hug Your Boss Day and Teddy Bear Day

Next Thursday -  Greenpeace Day,  International Dot Day, Felt Hat Day and Make A Hat Day Maybe make a polka dot felt hat today?

October 8 - Pierogi Day and World Octopus Day