Okay so that’s not the tagline that they use but knowing who reads this blog it might as well be.

Because you guys are busy and you love your business like a child and you have very little time.

And forget the bar scene.

I study my analytics.

You guys are way past the bar scene.

So how are you going to meet someone?

You probably met your last great date or hubby or wife at work right?

Well, this is pretty much the same thing.  The only difference is that Palm and Associates brings your workplace into someone else’s workplace.

I know the owner, Kimberly and she is very good at what she does.  She really cares about her clients.  I have literally sat in her office and heard her coaching a client who was nervous on a first date.  And it was a guy!  It was very sweet.  This is a small niche agency that is very selective about who they choose to bring in.

There are a lot of testimonials on their website that can speak to the experience of working with Palm and Associates better that I can.  They have an active Facebook and Twitter presence as well and a blog that they regularly update.

In short, they are a modern boutique matchmaking agency that serves high-end clients in Orange County.

They are not a dating mill.  This is not a place where you will find the creeps and freaks.  Usually creeps and freaks don’t have successful small businesses, although we all know exceptions.

I admire Kimberly, who came into this field from a completely different profession and saw a need and decided to fill it. It is not an easy business, especially if you want to do it right and not prey on people’s insecurities. She works very hard at what she does and deserves your patronage should you decide this is something you would like to try.

Can’t recommend her enough from what I’ve seen and been told.  If you find yourself  alone every night after a tough day doing battle in the business world, give Palm and Associates a call at (949) 706-5596.  They may find someone that will ease and enrich your busy life.

Wow.  Here is the take from TechCrunch.

Let’s say you’re a small business owner and you procrastinate.  A lot.  Well, you’re in luck.  There is still time to get in on the American Express Small Business Saturday campaign.  To get started, go here and sign up.

Believe it or not, here are a lot of people out there who would rather buy from you than an impersonal, packed full of crazies box store.  Take a few minutes and take advantage of this promotion but be realistic.  This is about American Express pushing their brand more than anything else.  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some ways you can’t smartly take advantage of it for yourself.

Know that American Express does NOT limit the promotion to businesses that accept its card and that it does offer special bonuses like a $25 statement credit for card holders who shop at participating stores today.

Also, there are some cool free tools you can get that are perfect for the holiday season like $100 in free LinkedIn ads and the exposure you get from participating in a campaign “liked” by more that 2.4 million Facebook users.  Go to the page here.

Start by liking that page.  Then click on For Your Biz on the left navigational menu.  The free Facebook ads are gone but you can still get free in-store signs, digital marketing materials and LinkedIn ads to use AFTER the holiday weekend.  If you post an in-store sign, email a picture of it to AmEx at socialmedia@open.com to potentially have it posted on that Facebook page.

To get the digital marketing materials, click on the Get E-Marketing button (who says e-marketing anymore? AmEx that’s who), then the Print Yourself button and download the .ZIP file.  Warning: it’s not intuitive at all.  Your marketing materials are contained in the print materials package.

AmEx either thinks you’re an idiot or lazy because they have put together an email message, Facebook posts and tweets for you to send out about the event.  There are links to create a Facebook Business page using the Small Business Saturday page creation wizard if you are still living under a rock and don’t yet have a page on Facebook.

Good luck!

Jenny is one of the featured speakers at TEDxIrvine on November 17th.

The truth can be ugly.

Nothing changes unless you allow it to happen.

After hundreds of hour with hundreds of small business owners and I can tell you that there are only a handful who truly want to learn anything new, especially anything new about marketing.  Add “online” to that and the numbers get even lower.

Why is that?

Why is there resistance to something so fundamental as marketing?

I’ve identified five main reasons.

The biggest reason is that it’s  not tangible.

It’s conceptual and therefore not respected.  It seems like all talk and a bunch of gobbledygook.  Especially if it doesn’t translate immediately into sales.  If a small business owner doesn’t see an instant benefit to himself he is not going to listen.  He simply doesn’t have the time.

The second reason is that most small business owners, if they are truly honest with themselves, really don’t want to grow. Doesn’t that sound strange?  But it’s true if you think about it.  Growth means more work, more responsibilities, more stress.  And not everyone is equipped to handle that.  And that’s ok.  We just need to be honest about it.  Because it’s not somebody else’s fault. It’s not your partner or your employees.  Buck up.  It’s you.

The third reason is that small business owners are often very averse to anything they don’t understand right away.  They simply don’t see themselves having  enough time to learn so they push new stuff away.  If something is a bit hard or confusing they go back to what they know.  What they miss is if they can’t just bust through that. If they can catch a little insight or a tip, it can make a massive difference.  I’ve seen it and it’s true.

The fourth reason is they view everything in terms of themselves and not through the eyes of the customer.  They will spend a ton of money on their store and on making their website pretty but they never ask themselves if it truly will appeal to their customers.  They think features and not benefits.  Or they don’t want to know where there customers really are and what they are doing and the tools they need to reach them.

The final reason is a very, very simple one.   They just don’t understand that everything today is marketing.  The world simply offers plenty of everything and it’s everywhere – at the touch of a button or on your phone or down that street. How are you going to compete with that?

Marketing.

That and being willing to learn.

It’s  not easy.  Don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying this stuff is easy.  It will suck at times.  You have to really make a concerted effort to change how you do things and you will make mistakes.

But that one  insight, once you have it down,  once it is in your DNA, can make a huge difference for you and your business.

Sometimes it’s just all about being at the right place, at the right time, to really embrace a new way of doing things.

If you would like to join me on November 17th for a night of learning from some amazing Orange County small business owners at a beautiful Spanish villa in Santiago Canyon, then come to TEDxIrvine.