Grammarly wins.

How overdue is this for a tool YOU WILL USE every day? A quick download of Grammarly as a plug-in for your browser gives you the best proofreading system ever. It works on PC versions of MS Word and Outlook, not on Mac versions of MS Word as of yet. It's free, with an option to pay for more advanced critiquing of your writing available in the pay per month membership model.

I installed Grammarly as a plug-in for Chrome browser. I have a free account, so I can login from my PC at home or MacBook anywhere else. It quickly spell checks and analyzes the grammar validity of my musings. It checks for punctuation, wordiness, tense, use of colloquial phrases and more. It claims to learn your writing style, I haven't been on Grammarly long enough to see or benefit from any of this, but exciting if it's true. 

Once on their system, you can type in Outlook, in your browser (Think long Facebook posts...) or cut and paste your writing into their window on their site for the corrective process to take effect. I do read many online articles each day, it's such a relief to know tools like this are available to assist those who don't write well and remain as a nice reminder of "the rules" if you are more involved with online publishing.
Have a look, let Grammarly surprise you with corrections and suggestions you wouldn't get from regular old Microsoft spell check. Wordpress postings, Twitter, whatever you do, Grammarly can help sharpen your message. At the very least, it will keep you clear of producing and sharing embarrassing grammar and spelling mistakes with the world! 

www.grammarly.com

-dm

World Expo 2014 - The Insider's View.

Orlando, FL - "I cannot believe every single franchisee doesn't come to this event." ~ Mark, Appleton, WI.  

Me neither! If you could surround yourself with the best advice possible for your business, custom delivered to you, I say do it. Get to World Expo.

This year's return to the familiar Orlando World Center Marriott made planning the event a bit easier. We knew the convention space, where we could hold our sessions and how to decorate the rooms and manage the signage. The General Session Opening was very well done, Ray and franchisees from our different brands laying down the theme of "Entrepreneur Experience." Involving franchisees to be the "meat" or main content of the Expo was key. It's not about us reiterating what was taught in training class. We have so many really qualified people in their own businesses, who better to tell the story?

Our Wednesday evening opening reception was moved late in the day because of lightning on the pool. We knew by 7pm there would be no significant weather in the area, but with setup time 2-3 hours before, the lightning warning system from the golf course was firing off. This meant that no Marriott personnel could be working outside helping prepare for the reception. A quick decision to hold it in the Cypress Ballroom was made. That worked, but it wasn't as impactful as the outdoor venue would have been. It's great to reconnect with everyone at the first gathering for Expo!

With Maggie HarlowMaggie Harlow opened the Expo. Yes, the first person anyone saw on stage was our very personanble, successful, dual-brand franchisee from Louisville, KY., how awesome! She told her story in an abbreviated fashion, then introduced Ray. He stepped through some topics that were informative for all franchise brands. He reveiwed our company's Mission Statement and core beliefs. Next, as I previously mentioned, Ray used franchisees from several brands and countries to bring the attendees in tune with our theme. It was a great start to Day #1.

Our six unique business brands were then sent in several directions. The retail brands went to the Supplier Trade Show. The non-retail brands began their general content sessions, each in a different room. The schedule was packed - guest speakers, franchisee-led sessions, panel discussions, we had it all going.

For the trade show attendees, there were many new products, ideas, opportunities for training and networking. One franchisee I spoke with said it was the best trade show he has attended at our Expo, and he's been to all of our shows since 2005. The floor was packed with all exhibitor space sold. New additions were exhibitors for SuperGreen Solutions, Transworld Business Advisors and Experimac. Signarama and EmbroidMe Marketing Funds were both well represented in a spot on the floor that was crowded for two straight days! Lunch was served for all in the Exhibit Hall, so it was a popular place to be for Days #1 & #2.

Matt Fitzpatrick, myself, Lisa Royer, Leslie LaLandeOur Supplier Appreciation cocktail event followed, this was well-attended and everyone spent more time mingling and connecting to the sponsors and suppliers. I was part of the Mentor Chairperson Dinner later that evening, a nice meal and chance to meet in a quiet place with some of the franchisees that donate their time to help others.

Friday night we had our "social side" showing - the Pajama Dance Party! Bring together our crowd under a dress-up theme and we guarantee a memorable event. Most people had some sort of sleepwear or a strange interpretation of goofy pajamas. The DJ, a pro from Downtown Disney, really kept things on track as most of the evening was spent dancing and singing to familiar modern and classic tunes. Confession, I never got to try the ice cream bar with all the toppings. Too many people were lit up happy and partying beneath the flashing lights. Attendees were playing with inflatable instruments, lip syncing or "silhouette dancing" backstage for all to see. It was a neat and well appreciated event!

Saturday's schedule started with Jim Tatem interacting with a few more franchisees. Hearing about the growth and "How I made my business fly" stories is always inspiring. SuperGreen Solutions and BillboardConnection were well represented.

Shep Hyken - Guest SpeakerShep Hyken came on stage next, bringing his uber-positive message of Amaze Every Customer Every Time. Great stories mixed with some well-placed slight of hand tricks kept our audience laughing and engaged. Judging by the amount of follow-up business cards our audience brought to the stage at the conclusion of his presentation, it was a big hit!

Saturday's schedule continued with more "franchisee-first" content. Owner Panels, Roundtable Discussions, all with specific actionable content that franchisees could take home and begin using Monday morning! The event rolls well on Day #3, everyone has high expectations of what should be happening and World Expo delivers.

The final event at all World Expos is our Awards celebration. A great meal, nicely dressed business professionals and recognition across the board reads our script. Scott Mast was so on top of his role as emcee to start the evening, everyone knew it would be a memorable night. Some last minute changes to awards, slides and speaker notes out of sync and that made for some interesting developments. Pretty soon the stage was shared by Ray and Scott, bantering back and forth with the audience, not knowing if this was real or an "act." For the record, that whole exchange was live and unrehearsed! 

Franchisees from all brands and all four corners were included in the evening's awards presentation. We recognized new Million Dollar Club members, our top Mentors and Rookies, gave high achievement accolades and more. Finally, Ray ushered forth new inductees into the Hall of Fame. Several for both Signarama and EmbroidMe, plus BillboardConnection's first-ever member, Neil Spencer. It was a wonderful finish to our conference, sending all of our franchisees home on a high note.

The World Expo brings our UFG team together in a unique way. Each year we have new corporate employees that attend and work at their first World Expo. For them, seeing franchisees that are so successful and hungry to learn is important. The seasoned, well-trained experts that make the event tick year after year are so good at what they do - having developed such a passion for their roles at our event. Too many names to list, suffice it to say that we have team members that come ready to work amazingly hard and deliver a phenomenal show to our customers each year. They are the heart of World Expo. I have plenty of thanks and admiration for the UFG Expo Committee and team that makes Expo possible. 

General SessionThis is what we do. We plan, create, organize and deliver World Expo to bring more success to our franchisees and our group. We have so much evidence that the franchisees that will cut three and a half days out of their yearlong schedule to be a part of Expo will perform better as a result. More ideas, suppliers, motivation, education and camaraderie flow openly for these business owners. It's there for everyone. It is an investment in time and capital. I urge all that did not attend to speak to franchisees that did. Let them show you why it works. And plan on joining hundreds of your peers next June in Las Vegas for World Expo 2015. Caesars Palace is our stage - you will definetely return enriched!          -dm

Regional Meetings 2014

You're traveling to visit us?

Yes we are! So far, 18 cities are on the list for first quarter Regional Meeting visits. Scott Mast and I, along with local support staff will be hosting meetings for franchisees of all brands. Your Regional Vice President and their team will be providing the details as to when and where.

Our tour will include visits to franchisee locations before and after the meetings. We both are very involved with social media, you can be sure we will be posting plenty of pictures and proof of our travels on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Instagram!  

For what?

Our Regional Meeting swing will include information on local happenings, updates on suppliers, Training and education for franchisees and their staff, World Expo Preview, social media tips and examples and roundtable discussions. Most meetings are approximately three hours long. If meetings coincide with mealtime, we'll have food and drinks! A fantastic way to start your 2014 business year would be to make sure you're in attendance when your Regional Meeting comes to town.

"Rah-rah" high-fiving corporate propaganda?

Nope, plenty of to-the-point relevant examples that we know can help your business. 

Come and see for yourself!

-dm

Excited to meet!

Line 'em up! We are two events into a five meeting swing of Super Regional Meetings this summer. Dallas and Orlando are in the log, Los Angeles, Chicago and NY/NJ lie ahead. These are fantastic meetings for us to get the team together and share what's new among our franchisees. If you haven't made the first two meetings and you're considering or already registered for the ones coming up, here's what you can expect...

• News and updates for your brand. Our Marketing team, coupled with the Advertising and Marketing fund boards for SIGNARAMA and EmbroidMe have exciting announcements for you. See it, learn about them and get your questions answered in person. This is HUGE!


• Suppliers - A "mini" trade show from prominent suppliers dominates the first half day of your Super Regional Meeting experience. New material and product vendors, your business management software folks (Trade Only and SignVox) will all be there. Get great news and info on up and coming advantages you enjoy by being a part of a large organization.


• Your peers - It's amazing to see how far others have taken the same concept you learned in our Training School. What's working best, what's new and surging forward? Also as important but sometimes overlooked is what's NOT working. Share and participate in roundtable discussions, meals and after-hours activities with fellow franchisees. This to many is their best reason to attend.


• Distance - Shhh. I'm parting with a UFG secret here. We know you're most likely to absorb new ideas when you climb out of the day-to-day events in your store. If you can mentally distance yourself from your projects for a day or two, you'll open yourself up to better methods and plans to succeed. It happens most to those that ride the fence, wondering until the last minute if they should attend. I say it's these franchisees that benefit greatly. It takes some doing to say, 'Yes." Consider the stale alternative of not putting yourself where you could grab tips and new systems to build on. It's worth your time to attend the meetings that are coming to your region!

We have a full schedule of items on each city's agenda, that much I can promise. This series of meetings will allow you to keep rolling forward towards your 2013 goals, for which you have less than 6 months left. I won't be touring with the band this summer, so your postings to social sites and photos shared with our Marketing team will tell the story. Apparently I'm in the "on deck" circle, having been recently tapped to lead the effort to produce World Expo 2014 in Orlando. I'm happy to be spearheading the massive effort behind our Expo again. I'll bring new ideas, format changes and some of the fun and excitement that belong at our events. If you've been with us awhile, you know how it works. Many of your suggestions fuel the content for World Expo, speakers, sessions, events. etc. If you enjoyed San Antonio in 2006, Disney in 2008 or Caesar's Palace in 2009, you're already looking for the REGISTER NOW button to click! We will have that up and live soon so you can plan to be in Orlando during the final week of May. Now do you understand why we are so excited to meet?

It's a geat time to be growing a business - allow our traveling show of support services to help your efforts.

-dm

Is this working for you?

Social media. It is pervasive in our lives. A recent study done by IDC shows Facebook usership on smartphones is dominating the online landscape. Or maybe it's "eating up the time pie" as they say. Check these stats - Over the course of a week, the average number of times per day that an 18-44 year old will check Facebook is... 13.8! If you check Facebook less than that, you're below the average. Most people check their Wall/Newsfeed (82% of the visits), followed by reading or replying to your friend's posts (49% of the time). As compared to overall usage of smartphones, Facebook ranks third in popularity, trailing only email and your phone's web browser for popularity. Amazing, but not surprising.

My thought on this is, what are people doing with their social media? I mean specifically, what are most users looking to accomplish with all of this time and effort being poured into the compulsion that is Facebook? Start with this thought, what are you posting? What do you look to get out of spending this much time in a world that's online and shared amongst your family, friends, and business contacts? For the purposes of this post, Facebook is the focus, but my question bleeds into your use of LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+. I ask - How are you using social media and is your strategy working?

I'll start with personal use of Facebook, that's what the above referenced IDC study addresses. Do you check Facebook to see how popular you are? Do you care how many "likes" your posts receive from the friends in your group? Many people are hung on this, "What responses do I get?" For plenty of Facebook users, what happens on the popular social media site harkens back to a high school mentality - meaning they derive their perceived popularity and sometimes their day's mood based on the opinion of others. Have you ever heard or thought, "I can't believe he/she didn't comment or like my reply?" "Did you see what so-and-so put on Facebook?" It's definitely happening. What you choose to share online is a reflection of what you're thinking about. I have Facebook friends that routinely post negative information ABOUT THEMSELVES. True! Amazing as it seems, they voluntarily share their misery with others. "I have another headache today." Really? Is this newsworthy? Do you want sympathy or just recognition as being sickly? I don't understand this at all. I have other Facebook friends that post text or photos almost exclusively featuring themselves. Facebook allows for each person to be their own PR firm. You can dispense whatever information you'd like. Ask yourself or take a look at your posts and feed to determine the following - Is your information "all about you?" What part of your social plan does this satisfy? Imagine if you conducted yourself this way with your friends in person? Picture anyone saying the following in a group setting..."So, then I did this, have a look at these pictures, then I did that, see more photos, aren't I wonderful?" Hmmm. Does this constitute a "giving" mentality or a "taking" mentality? (Gut check here) It seems like the social part of this exciting media should be more about "giving" than "taking." Business use of Facebook? Same thing. You can fill your fans' walls with information solely about your accomplishments and marketing propaganda. Some do, but I doubt they have an engaged group of followers.  That "me first" mentality isn't attractive, in person or on Facebook. Take inventory - What do you offer to your friends, both personally and in your business dealings when participating in social media?

Here's what I see working best, in two segments:

1. Personally, the practice of spreading knowledge is the gem of social media. Look to share and give what you know to your flock. If each of us comes with expertise, we can lift all of those in our group by helping others. Yes, I post things about where I am, where I'm going and what I'm doing. However, most of my social media entries are me dispensing information, sharing humor, reposts of articles I've read, problems that have been solved and new things coming soon. Sharing what I know and find to help my network of friends and followers. 
2. Business-wise, I see our franchisees effectively spreading the word about their products and services with Facebook. Those that do this best aren't outwardly selling their wares, they offer relevant information, solidify themselves as knowledgeable experts in their field and transfer good feelings to their followers. The best franchisees engaged in social media are wrapped around "being the expert" in their communities. They feature local stories and happenings, even if they aren't at the center of the story. Franchisees inform their followers, keeping the mood positive and high. They give far more than they take. The selflessness that allows someone to make giving a priority pays dividends in other places and at other times. Good social communicators know this.

Have a look at your content. Question the core reasons for your involvement. If the social scene is as big as the statistics say, know why you're spending an ever-increasing portion of your day working to grow using Facebook and the other prominent social sites. It does work well if you can tailor your content to give. So many others will consume themselves with the take, take, take. Let the giving work for you.