YOU’RE FINANCIALLY FREE WHEN…

You’re financially free when you’re no longer afraid. Imagine what that could feel like!

You’re not afraid of emergencies. Between life insurance and your fully stocked emergency fund, you and your family are prepared for the financial ups and downs of life.

You’re not afraid of losing your job. You have enough saved for retirement already that you don’t depend on your paycheck. Besides, you may even have a side source of income (or three) to help make ends meet!

You certainly aren’t afraid to splurge on yourself. That’s right—you can spend your discretionary funds on the things you love and care about, footloose and fancy free.

You’re not afraid of your future. Why? Because you have a strategy in place, and you’re sticking to it. And you’re on track to retire with wealth instead of want.

Sure, there are metrics and benchmarks and numbers you should be concerned with. Ask a financial professional about what those would look like for you and your situation. They’re different for each person.

But the feeling is always the same—the end of fear, and a sense of peace. You’re ready to focus on the people and things that matter most.

Are you financially free? What steps have you taken to eliminate fear of emergencies, losing your job, treating yourself, and preparing for your future?

It makes sense. Life is hectic. Schedules are full. Sometimes, you feel like you hardly have a second to brush your teeth, much less have time to sit down and enjoy a heart-to-heart conversation with a friend. And so important decisions get pushed further and further into the future.

That’s fine in some cases. Do you need to decide how to organize your garage right now, at this very moment? No, probably not.

But with something like your finances, procrastination can cause disaster. Why? Because time is the secret ingredient for building wealth. The sooner you start saving, the greater your money’s growth potential. Likewise, the sooner you get your debt under control, the more manageable it becomes.

And with your money, the stakes couldn’t be higher. After all, it’s your future prosperity and well-being that could be at risk. Procrastination is downright dangerous.

That urgency, however, doesn’t make it easier to start saving. In fact, you may have noticed that finances suffer more from procrastination than anything else.

There’s a very good reason for that. Procrastination is driven, above all else, by perfectionism. Failing feels awful, especially when you know the stakes are high. Your brain sees the discomfort of trying to master your finances and failing, and decides that it would feel safer to not try at all.

It’s a critical miscalculation. Making an attempt to master your finances can at least help move you closer to your goals. Procrastinating never does.

Think of it like this—50% success is better than 0% success.

The key to beating procrastinating, then, is to conquer the perfectionist mindset and fear of failure. It’s no small feat. Those habits of mind are often deeply ingrained. They won’t vanish overnight. But there are some simple steps you can take, like…

Break big goals down into small steps. This relieves the overwhelm that many feel when facing important tasks. As you knock out those small steps, you’ll feel empowered to keep moving forward.

Don’t go it alone. Procrastination thrives in isolation. Seek out a friend, loved one, or co-worker to help hold you accountable and share the load—even if it’s just a weekly check-in to see how each other are doing.

Work in short, uninterrupted bursts. Set a timer. Put down the phone. Work. After about 15 minutes, you’ll notice something strange happening. Time starts to either speed up or slow down. Distracting thoughts vanish. The lines between you, your focus, and the task at hand start to evaporate. You feel awesome. This is called a flow state, and it’s the key to productivity. Make it your friend, and you’ll probably notice that procrastination becomes rarer and rarer.

Now that you know the cause of procrastination, try these tips for yourself. Set a 30 minute timer. Then, break your finances into tiny action steps like checking your bank account, automating saving, and budgeting. Work on each item in a quick burst until you’ve made some progress. Then, talk to a friend about your results!

Just like that, you’ve made serious headway towards beating procrastination and building wealth. Look at you go!

Is your Phone Making you Money?

So, your Patriot Owned Business is up and running. Inventory is set, signs are outside, website is great, social media is… social; you are ready for the phone to start ringing… or are you?

How you interact with customers when they call is just as important as the steps that it took to get them to call, are you prepared? Take a look at some basic customer phone skills that every Patriot business in the should be aware of.

Hello? Is it me you’re looking for?

How many had a Lionel Richie flashback! Now think about to consider how you answer your business phone. “It’s just so amazing how people answer the phone at a place of business,” quoted from Rick Brewer, small business counseling specialist; “it blew me away when people answer the phone like they’re talking to their spouse or best friend with a hello, what’s up attitude.”

Even in the digital age, the phone is your single greatest marketing tool and line of communication for your customers. If not used correctly, it can cost you a sale without the customer even stepping foot in your Patriot Owned Business. Here are some simple, easy to follow guidelines when answering the phone to go over your team with:

  1. Before you answer the phone, pause… collect yourself and answer the phone line calmly and confidently. When you answer a phone in a frustrated or hurried tone the customer can pick up on that.
  2. Identify the name of the business and YOUR name. This helps establish a personal connection with the customer and makes them feel more at ease.
  3. “I can help you” not “how can I help you”. Let your customer know by this simple phrasing that you are the person that can take care of their inquiry. Industries with the highest customer satisfaction scores have incorporated this simple phrase report the highest customer satisfaction indexes in their industry. (examples: Lexus and Honda)
  4. Ask their permission if you need to place them on hold. At the end of the day it’s about treating your customer with a level of respect. We’ve all been on the phone with the “call center mentality”… How did that make you feel? Just like a number right? Well think of the impression that will make when you asked them: “Would you mind if I place you on hold for just a moment, I promise I’ll be right back”.
  5. Never leave them on hold for more than 30 seconds. While it may take more than 30 seconds for you to find the answer to their question, you should check back with them every 30 seconds to let them know that you are working on the solution.

This next phone answering tip brings us to our next category:

Ask For The Sale!

The phone for your business should never be treated like a triage helpline. This is the mindset of helping the customer answer a question fast enough to free up time for the next caller. Your team must appreciate that the person that is on the phone is currently your single most important customer at that very moment.

If you have answered their question in a satisfactory manner, ask them when they might come in? Or ask if you can hold the product? Agree to a time or book an appointment? Look for some level of commitment that will help encourage the customer to follow through and come do business with you.

Many auto parts retailers will offer an incentive to hold a product for their customers, further reinforcing the opportunity for the customer to come in. With competition for many retail and service level businesses, asking for the sale may be that one technique that keeps them from calling your competition.

A Little Bit Goes a Long Way

We all know about overhead, employees cost money. However, not having enough employees to properly give your customers the time and respect that they need will cost you much more. By empowering your team to take that little extra time to properly care for your customers over the phone, will project a quality mindset that will extend into the store. This type of one-on-one sales/service approach is echoed in those companies that consistently identify with the highest customer satisfaction scores in their industries.

Author Note: Customer service will become the main reason why people frequent a business. Post Covid customer service, lowering of expectation and task oriented lackluster employees will make a customer friendly business stand out. People will GLADLY pay a little more for a better shopping experience. Remember my fellow business owners, you are paying your employee as a representative of your company. This means the MUST respect and identify with your company standards and methods for the appropriate treatment of your customers. To lower that standard to get a warm body to fill the need, may help in the short run; but will cost you much more in the long run.

Your management team should regularly observe, test and train employees on proper telephone etiquette and sales tactics. This will help to ensure that they are adhering to your guidelines. If an employee has an inappropriate attitude or is unwilling to adhere to established guidelines, then this individual is costing you more than an hourly wage; they may be costing you a sale and a potential long-term customer. Patriot Owned Businesses can’t afford that.

Websites by Patriots Award Winning Customer Service

Let’s face it, website developers are not known for their customer service. It’s the call most people even dread to make. Websites by Patriots has worked hard to have a knowledgeable team that can also provide the customer attention and support that customers deserve. So much to the point that the parent company has earned the highest marks in customer service through Angie’s List for 10 years straight! Need a website? Give us a call and experience the difference.

You’ve Got a Rep to Protect – Facts about Review Resources

In today’s ever-changing internet market, everyone gets an opportunity to have their say. As a Patriot Owned business, accepting this reality will benefit your business in both the short and long-term success. With so many resources available on the internet for potential customers to both use and abuse, is important to understand a little bit about these review resources and how they can both benefit and hurt your business. Below are a few of the most common customer resources used to review your Patriot Owned Business.

Using Google Reviews

While Google did not pioneer the review process they certainly did make it one of the easiest to utilize. By providing an established path for your customers to review your Patriot Owned Business through Google it will make it easier for little Google bots to use the geo locator program to tie your location, website, reviews and more together. This makes it easier for customers to find you both online and at your place of business. The more Google reviews you have the more popular your Google listing will be, therefore allowing your website to perform better in search engine rankings.

USER BEWARE: While Google is the easiest way for your customers to leave you a review, it is also the most dangerous. Google does not validate reviews meaning that bogus reviews, no matter how damaging; will not be taken down because of their content. While Google does have a path to challenge the review however, most businesses online report that Google rarely will take down a review even if you can prove that the review is bogus.

Verified Collective Review Sites

Verified Collective review sites are those membership services that advertise that they validate real, honest reviews. The most popular of these collective review sites would be Angie, Home Advisor and Yelp. The natural advantage of these types of review sites Patriot Owned Businesses is the fact that they validate the review, establishing a level of trust between you and your customer before they even call. These sites are free for their users to look up information (as of the time of this article) but charge the company, or advertiser, for the use of their service.

While these sites have the validated review system there are not as easily accessible as Google. Angie, for example, will only provide a couple of reviews without you logging into an account; the others are similar by not displaying all available information unless you are signed into that particular company’s account.

BEWARE: While these companies promote themselves quite well (TV & Radio) they don’t do the best job of promoting their clients, unless you’re paying big money for them to do so. Their “validation” process also leaves much to be desired as they don’t really validate a review unless you challenge it. That challenge process can take upwards of six weeks for them to “investigate”. In the meantime, you may have a very damaging review on your account that may cost business. You will want to make sure that you have these companies on speed dial as you will have to call them frequently to make sure that changes, corrections and updates are done in a timely manner.

The Better Business Bureau

An old-school leftover of the review system is the Better Business Bureau. Still viewed by some as the ultimate review source, few actually utilize it as a place to leave positive reviews. For years the Better Business Bureau has been identified as a reporting service rather than a review service, in some circles it is even perceived to be connected with a government agency. In actuality, the Better Business Bureau is no different than Angie, Home Advisor and Yelp; where companies pay to provide customers with an outlet for reviews.

For years the Better Business Bureau’s claim to fame was that they certify businesses that are listed with their agency, which is false. The Better Business Bureau does not interview, validate or certify businesses; they are simply a paid collective review resource.

BEWARE: Because of the representation the Better Business Bureau has projected many consumers will use this as a threat to a Patriot Owned Businesses saying “I’ll report you to the Better Business Bureau!” … While the Better Business Bureau does provide avenues for customer disputes, remember it’s not a governmental agency; it’s a nonprofit reporting agency.

The Better Business Bureau has no power to levy fines or force a company to do anything that it does not feel is acceptable. This author echoes the Better Business Bureau’s advice to take all customer complaints seriously however, understanding the limitation of these reporting agencies will help you in just how far you take a customer’s threat. (Especially if you didn’t do anything wrong)

Websites By Patriots knows the Internet!

A great looking website is only the first step of getting your name out on the internet. Proper content, structure, saturation values, citation, rep score, reviews, listings and waaaaay more ALL come into play. Websites by Patriots has been building quality websites for years. We know the in’s and out’s of the internet and SEO/SEM performance. we even offer courtesy classes to our customers to ensure you get the most out of your website. Call us today and put our years of experience to work for you!

5 Things every Patriot Owned Business Should Have

At Websites by Patriots, we have been in the business arena long enough to see Patriot Owned Businesses come and go. Many great businesses failed even though they had great service at a reasonable price but lacked the business structure needed to sustain. With that in mind here are a few things we see that are a must for every Patriot Owned Small Business to get started:

1. A Planned Focus

We’ve all heard the adage: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” ~Benjamin Franklin. As we said before, there are many people that have a great product or service; but did not sit down and lay out their business plans or mission focus. By thinking through where you want your business to be in six months, one year, five years and 10 years; you can help yourself set achievable goals with an established structure. Simply going with a day-to-day “let’s see how it goes” mentality, will have you spending wasteful dollars chasing ideas; rather than thinking the process through toward your desired goal.

2. Establish a Budget

We’ve met so many Patriot Owned Businesses over the years that simply live “out of the cash register”, meaning that they don’t establish a budget; rather making purchasing decisions based upon surplus. This type of budget will doom you to fail as impulse purchases can quickly drain the surplus leaving you broke, when a true need is present. When setting up your business be sure that you lay out an appropriate budget. Determine in advance what you will need to pay yourself, your employees, your marketing, your overhead (rent and utilities) as well as any necessary insurance, licenses or permits that are required for you to responsibly be in business.

3. A Logo

A logo, for any business, can be the focal point for branding and marketing. It is part of what people will remember your business by and associate with; because it is so important – don’t skimp. So many Patriot Owned Business startups will use stock logo generation programs, or Microsoft publisher to slap together a cheap logo; with no thought of the branding or impacted that a logo might have. Consider hiring a professional through a local sign company, or marketing agency that has top-quality talent; and ask to see examples. A well designed, simple and descriptive logo can be one of the primary things that sets you apart from your competition.

4. A Business Card

It might sound old-fashioned, but a business card is still one of the fastest and easiest ways to get the message out about your Patriot Owned Business. A business card is literally a first impression of your business, so make it a good one. Make sure that the design of the business card matches the branding characteristics that you have laid out for your company. Use a quality business card supplier that can provide you with a thick 16 PT business card at a reasonable price. Stay away from cheap and fast places like Vista Print and support fellow Patriot Businesses. You might pay a few $ more, but will go a long way in supporting the Patriot Owned Business movement!

5. A Website

A website in today’s business climate is your digital business card, but it goes beyond that. A website is the platform that ties all your other marketing approaches together, literally the landing pad for the visual impression that you want to give. When customers see that you have a cheap cookie cutter website it sets the climate or impression that you can reflect to your customers. Using a WIX or GoDaddy site may be inviting as a way to save money, but these free website builders lack the infrastructure for proper search engine optimization and market branding. Support for these types of services either cost way more than you think, or are simply non existent.

When choosing a web developer, note that there is a difference between the web development company, a search engine optimization company and a marketing company; each offers the other’s services, but only specialize in one of the three. That is why we recommend choosing the best of each: Hire the best web developer, then hire the best search engine optimization service and then wrap it all up with hiring a good marketing company. If each of these three services are at the top of their game, they should be able to work together to provide you with the web presentation that you’re looking for as well as being a powerful lead generation tool.

Websites By Patriots

Websites by Patriots is made up of a diverse group of liberty loving people who actually enjoy what they do. This hand selected team consists of former businesses owners, public safety officers, disabled veterans, lifelong patriots and even a former Baptist pastor who have all come to call Websites by Patriots their home. We’ve been on both sides of the business market, so we just don’t read about it in a history book; WE LIVED IT!

We seek to work with small business owners who have a drive and passion to provide excellence in the products or services they supply to their customers. With our assistance, they will be able to achieve greater results based on years of experience in the web development industry. Coupled with our “work around” skill set we have been able to find affordable (and sometimes free) solutions that save time and money for those who need it the most.

Tim Labatzky – Founder

I believe there is always a silver lining behind every dark cloud. I created POB in October of 2020. Seeing so many businesses struggling during this time and receiving little support, I realized that something needed to be done. Memories I have growing up as many were not always great ones but non the less were memories. Two I remember are seeing my Grandfathers (WWII Veteran) business in Michigan struggle and close during the late 70’s during the fall of the Michigan economy. This was a family run business that was unable to hold out thru the times of struggle. My Father and Mother (both Army Veterans) had a small business that was forced to close during the housing market crash in Texas. I remember hearing my parents sitting at the kitchen table discussing what sacrifices they would have to make in order to keep the employees paid.

I have remembered that for many years and seeing the small businesses across this country fail, not because of being bad business owners but because of things beyond their control, made me ask myself, are they sitting around the kitchen table deciding the future of their employees and business? So here we are today with this amazing organization full of Patriot Individuals and Businesses uniting and supporting each other as True Americans do. As we grow everyday with amazing members, I hope we reduce the kitchen table talks for businesses today and future generations. 

 

Shannon Labatzky – Founder

I am the co-founder for Patriot Owned Businesses. I come from a very grassroots, conservative family that raised me to believe in family, friends and to achieve the American dream that other countries do not allow their citizens to achieve. I believe in the foundation that POB is setting to bring Constitutional Americans together in a friendly atmosphere where everyone can come together and share their businesses and information to assist members that may not own a business.

I was with Tim when he was upset that now one was protecting small businesses in 2020 and he was upset about the time that every American was facing. I told him, don’t just get mad about it, do something. Well here you see the results. POB is here to support, encourage interaction and bring Conservative individuals and Businesses together to achieve a parallel economy. All I can say is if you are not a member, JOIN TODAY, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. 

Kasey Britton – Admin

As a stanch advocate of our Constitutional rights, firm believer of upholding the law, and love of God and Country, blessed me with the honor of being a part of Patriot Owned Businesses. This group is a movement spreading across the USA and is firmly planted in all the things I hold dear to my heart. I am constantly fighting for our voices to be heard whether locally or state-wide. I am proud to call Texas my home.

Patriot Owned Businesses is movement about Patriotism, defending our Constitution as written, honoring those who believe in the freedom of individual liberty by standing with our Veterans, supporting businesses and non-profits forged through American courage and resilience, and building a community of members armed to protect conservative values.

God leads us down many paths of unknown destinations to teach us lessons. I live to serve you, the Patriot community, uniting under the foundational principles of our country and love for God. We give the Glory to HIM. Let’s continue His movement as a vessel to drive change and champion Patriot Owned Businesses!

One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for ALL.

God Bless the USA!

John – Webmaster

About Websites By Patriots

Websites by patriots is made up of a diverse group of liberty loving people who actually enjoy what they do. This hand selected team consists of former businesses owners, public safety officers, disabled veterans, lifelong patriots and even a former Baptist pastor who have all come to call Websites By Patriots their home. We’ve been on both sides of the business market, so we just don’t read about it in a history book; WE LIVED IT!

We seek to work with small business owners who have a drive and passion to provide excellence in the products or services they supply to their customers. With our assistance, they will be able to achieve greater results based on years of experience in the web development industry. Coupled with our “work around” skill set we have been able to find affordable (and sometimes free) solutions that save time and money for those who need it the most.

About the Owner and Team

John started his career as a sign business owner/operator in San Bernardino, California when he was just 19 years old. With a love for graphic design, technology and helping businesses improve their image; John was already armed with everything he’d need for the up and coming “World Wide Web”. To be a successful business owner in the fast growing/ever changing sign, printing and screen printing industry; John never said no, rather learning from each challenge increasing in knowledge and confidence. As his company grew in popularity so did the internet, so customers began asking about websites. Seeing the rapidly growing need for a business’s online presence, John began educating himself in html, php, and javascript to built his first website. After a few short years John sold his sign company to pursue his new passion of designing and building websites full time.

In 2007 Websites By Patriots opened it’s digital doors, with the desire to take the skills he honed in his successful sign company; and apply them to website creation. With his success came growing pains. John needed a way to have customers be able to edit their own websites, He worked with a developer to create CuBit; a easy to use Content Manager. This allowed John to take on additional clients while still maintaining a high level of design and support services.

As business continued to grow John hand selected support members that shared his passion for customer service. This diversity allowed him to increase the services that he could offer to his clients and ever growing business. As the internet continued to evolve, it prompted the need for a more powerful CMS to meet the ever-changing needs of the World Wide Web. Over an 18 month period he crafted a more powerful WordPress based system he named Teamero.

John finds great satisfaction in knowing he has empowered over 1000 small businesses to manage their own website without having to learn complicated programming or needing to pay a web designer for continued updates. The end result has been a flawless marriage of stunning graphics and website functionality all in a single website package. Pairing that with award winning levels of support, Search Engine Management and more; Websites By Patriots and truly become a picture of the American dream.

A Conservative Mindset

It’s not old fashioned values that makes a conservative business owner, but it sure seems like that is how we are labeled. Just owning a business and creating something with your own 2 hands, using your God given talents along with hard work and taking the financial risks of success; seem to set businesses apart in today’s marketplace as conservative. If that is what “ol’ fashioned is, then I suppose that’s what we are)

We’re not sure how big a company needs to get before you become liberal minded, but I suppose we haven’t reached it yet. However, it doesn’t take a genius (which we definitely are NOT) to see how liberal policies of high taxation and regulation destroy the backbone of America, the small business owner. It is this mindset that has carried this company for so many years to support small businesses achieve big business success with a small business budget.

Christian Owned and Operated

If we needed to put a label on this business I would have to say that we are a Christian Owned and Operated Website Development Service. What exactly does that mean? It means that we are dedicated to serving and honoring our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as a result; we are accountable to a higher authority. One that holds us to a higher level of standards. We believe in the following principals and we expect you to hold us to them.

Honesty – At whatever the cost, we choose not to lie or even stretch the truth because we know that God cannot work in us or even through us if we insert a lie into the situation. And in order to achieve the impossible (as we are often asked to achieve) we need His guidance, energy, direction, inspiration, and yes, even His blessing in order to design at our best.

Integrity – When we say we’re going to do something, we mean it. We will do everything in our power to make that happen. Our Word means more to us than the dollar because we know that our financial needs are met by God who calls us to focus on His plan for our lives and the needs of the people he brings into our lives (You, our clients).

Diligence – The Bible talks about doing your work as though you’re working directly for God and we take that statement very seriously. We are truly working for you, for us and for our future but most importantly, we have a boss in heaven that we are trying to please. Sometimes it takes more than the 8 hours in a regular business day because the job we’re working on just takes more time. We don’t give up, we make it happen even if it takes some extra effort, extra coffee, and extra time.