Olathe, Kansas — July 28, 2009 — A new e-book from Operating Sooner, a sales and marketing resource for small business, is a hand-picked collection of articles that provide insight for entrepreneurs and owners as well as sales and marketing professionals to succeed. The articles first appeared in its Operating Update newsletter and they were written by its founding entrepreneur, Becky Rawls-Riley.

“Over the years, I have sought fresh ideas that could help me in my business and I wrote articles for the newsletter that offered my thoughts on various topics. I wanted this first e-book to include a variety of topics, so it could quickly provide other entrepreneurs a place to rummage through for ideas that they could strike out to incorporate”as is” or refine it them fit the needs of their business. Thus, the odd assortment of topics range from what we can learn from man’s best friend for business growth, to applying closet organization tips to an aging customer and prospect database to revitalize its value, and certainly leadership and teamwork, plus more. I hope those who get a copy will find their imagination nudged and they will noodle on at least one of the ideas and apply it to improve their business,” said Becky Rawls-Riley, President of Operating Sooner.

“Operating Updates Through the Ages” may be downloaded from http://www.operating-sooner.com/newsletter/operating-updates-through-the-ages/. The complete list of topics in the e-book and the form to purchase the $4.99 e-book is there.

About Becky Rawls-Riley

Becky Rawls-Riley founded Operating Sooner, Inc. in 1996. Prior to starting the company, she worked for Black & Veatch, Chicago Aerial Survey, International Harvester, and Bendix just to name a few of the organizations. She earned her Masters in Business Administration in marketing and general business management from the Henry W. Block School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a Bachelor of Science in computer science management from Marycrest College, and Associate degrees from Hamilton Technical College and Indian Hills Community College.

About Operating Sooner

Operating Sooner, Inc. is a sales and marketing resource for early adopters and entrepreneurs, owners, and sales and marketing professionals who seek practical, real-world results proven things they can quickly do to make the necessary changes to reach customers and grow. Operating Sooner is a reseller for many products that maximize sales and marketing efforts and works with micro and small business customers as they build skills and strategically apply software to achieve success. For more information, visit www.operating-sooner.com.

Contact:

Becky Rawls-Riley, President of Operating Sooner, Inc.

(913) 397-8071

 osbr@operating-sooner.com

Lenexa United Methodist Church Launching Group Facilitated by Member and Founder of Operating Sooner

Olathe, Kansas — April 16, 2009 — Startup hopefuls and entrepreneurs unite in new Entrepreneurs in Action Group in old town Lenexa. The Lenexa United Methodist Church members and those in the community it serves have not been immune to the changes that have occurred over the past year. The group is not a job club. It is designed to serve the needs of those who own their own businesses with the desire to grow and thrive in these changing times and those who will start new businesses. The group is open to members of the Church and those in the community.

Becky Rawls-Riley, founder of Operating Sooner and Lenexa UMC member, has worked with Linda Stoker, Director of Children and Family Ministries, to become the first facilitator of the group that is aimed at meeting the needs of Entrepreneurs and those who are seeking to start new businesses in these changing times.

May will be the initial meetings for the new group, so those seeking to establish the frequency and direction of the group are encouraged to attend. These meetings will be held at LUMC on Wed. from 6:30-8:00. Initial meetings will include networking and focus on a topic of interest to the members. Scheduled topics include:

• May 6 and 13 will consider the ideas expressed in the book, “Tuned In: uncovering the extraordinary opportunities that lead to business breakthroughs” by Craig Stull.
• May 20 and 27 will be explore the ideas expressed in the book, “The Art of Spiritual Leadership in Business: How to Lead with Spiritual Purpose, Values, and Creativity” by William C. Miller.

Those interested in participating are encouraged to contact Becky Rawls-Riley at 913-397-8071 or via email at osbr@operating–sooner.com.

About Lenexa United Methodist Church

The families who founded Lenexa in the late 1800s also founded the congregation of Lenexa United Methodist Church. Its close-knit, family atmosphere has persisted. It becomes a starting Church in the lives of many and holds its members participation even when their work and other family changes take them to other locations within the metro making it a destination Church for old-timers and new alike. The Church is heavily involved in extending their ministry beyond its four walls and members to those in the immediate community and more distant locations through its mission work. www.lenexaumc.org

About Operating Sooner

Operating Sooner, Inc. was founded in 1996 by Becky Rawls-Riley and helps owners, sales and marketing professionals build skills and strategically apply software to effectively reach customers. It provides marketing and small business coaching to those with the desire to grow quickly and profitably.  www.operating-sooner.com.

About Member Becky Rawls-Riley

Becky Rawls-Riley’s family started attending Lenexa United Methodist Church back in 1987, when her daughter Beth announced she was going to go to Church that morning. The friendly lady who answered the call about the Church that morning to confirm they still had time to make it was a real gem. The family has continued its membership even after a move from Overland Park to Olathe.

Contact:

Becky Rawls-Riley, President of Operating Sooner, Inc. www.operating-sooner.com

(913) 397-8071 or osbr@operating-sooner.com

Operating Sooner Seeking Candidates in April to Kick Off Its 13^th Anniversary Celebration

Olathe, Kansas — March 19, 2009 — Operating Sooner, a leader in helping micro and small business owners, sales and marketing professionals build skills and strategically apply software to effectively reach customers, announced today that it is seeking candidates for its fourth non-profit or governmental agency grant. To help celebrate its 13^th anniversary and give back to the community, nominations are to be received by April 30, 2009.

In January, Operating Sooner, made its first award to a governmental recipient – Miami County, KS. The recipient, Economic Development Director Janet McRae, states, “The challenges facing businesses today makes it even more important for me to be organized, responsive and knowledgeable about our region. Becky and her staff have worked with me to help streamline my contact information allowing me to work smarter and more efficiently. The time and resources they have helped me save can now be passed along to our county’s businesses.”

In addition to the ACT! by Sage software and related services, this grant included establishing a CAN-SPAM compliant e-mail service at the basic service level making it free. This minimizes the risks and concerns the County has with email communications. By starting the service at its reseller site, http://www.swiftpage.com/partners/partnerall.asp?Partner=OperatingSoonerInc, Operating Sooner conveniently is the reseller and the service may be managed by the County as its needs change.

“It was truly a rewarding experience working with Janet. She is making a positive impact on those she serves. As a result, I will expand the anniversary offering of this award to include governmental agencies,” said Becky Rawls-Riley.

The details for the “Non-Profit or Governmental Agency Grant” include the following and submittals are required by April 30, 2009. The recipient will receive a copy of ACT! by Sage Premium 2009 and related services (a $1200 value). Selection will be made based on the need and impact of the recipient. Nominations must include the following information and self–nominations are welcome:

• The agency’s name;
• Proof of non–profit status and population served for a non–profit agency, or a statement of the economic impact and population served for a government agency;
• The mission or purpose of the agency;
• A brief explanation of how they could benefit from using ACT!; and
• As the nominating party, your name and your organization’s name along with contact information.

The deadline is Thursday, April 30, 2009. Please, submit all your nominations to osbr@operating–sooner.com, or contact Becky Rawls–Riley at 913–397–8071 for more information.

About Miami County KS

Located to the south west of Kansas City Metropolitan area, Miami County consists of 592 square miles and includes the municipalities of Louisburg, Osawatomie, Paola, Fontana, and a portion of Spring Hill, and the villages of Bucyrus and Hillsdale. Approximately 30,000 people make their homes in Miami County that is located only 45 miles from the heart of Kansas City. It is one of eleven counties comprising the Kansas City metropolitan statistical area and offers the balance of small town living with big city conveniences. www.miamicountyks.org

About Swiftpage

Swiftpage is a subsidiary of Summit 5, a software development company. It created its Swiftpage service to make email marketing easy and cost-effective for individuals and organizations of all types and sizes. It has helped thousands of for-profit and non-profit organizations. Operating Sooner’s reseller site is http://www.swiftpage.com/partners/partnerall.asp?Partner=OperatingSoonerInc and for more information on Swiftpage, visit www.swiftpage.com.

About Operating Sooner

Operating Sooner, Inc. was founded in 1996 by Becky Rawls-Riley and helps owners, sales and marketing professionals build skills and strategically apply software to effectively reach customers. Operating Sooner is a reseller for many products that maximize the sales and marketing efforts of micro and small businesses. It provides marketing and small business coaching to those with the desire to grow quickly and profitably.  The company derives 80% of its business from the greater Kansas City metro and is a candidate for the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s 2009 Small Business Celebration. For more information, visit www.operating-sooner.com.

Contact:

Becky Rawls-Riley, President of Operating Sooner, Inc.

(913) 397-8071

osbr@operating-sooner.com

Past Successful Results

In January 2009, Operating Sooner, made its first award to a governmental recipient — the Economic Development Council of Miami County (www.miamicountyks.org). The award was, once again, for one copy of the ACT! by Sage Premium for Workgroups 2008 and related services. Becky worked with Director Janet McRae to identify how she could effectively integrate the application into existing marketing efforts. Operating Sooner:

• Provided the Economic Development Council of Miami County with:
  • Consulting to identify a best practice approach with ACT! to eliminate the use of separate spreadsheets for events, leads, and projects;
  • Add–on software to facilitate the Outlook and ACT! integration and created a database contacts from an existing list of Outlook contacts; and
  • Add–on software to take advantage of ACT!’s extended table capability and customized it to accommodate leads, events, and projects; and
• Registered their organization for a trackable email service, which provides a level of service for free to the customer, to accommodate a pressing need to be CAN–SPAM compliant without increasing monthly expenses.

Janet McRae stated, “The challenges facing businesses today make it even more important for mee to be organized, responsive and knowledgable about our region. Becky and her staff have worked with me to help streamline my contact information allowing me to work smarter and more efficiently. The time and resources they have helped me save can now be passed along to our county’s businesses.”

——————–

In March 2008, Operating Sooner provided its second award in the program: one copy of the ACT! Premium for Workgroups 2008 along with related services. The lucky recipient was New Journey Church and Pastor Ron Fisher.  It was indeed a pleasure to work with Ron in this project, and provided a unique way for these two long–time Olathe Chamber members to become more familiar with each others’ services.

“We’re very enthused about being chosen as the recipient of the ACT! software grant from Operating Sooner. At New Journey Church, we value caring for people and are always interested in how we can do a better job at that. Our understanding is that it is really going to help us,” said Ron.

In addition to the software and its installation, Becky Rawls–Riley sat down with Ron to understand how the church fulfilled its mission. She:

• Customized ACT! to accommodate the unique information and communication needs of the church, and
• Provided the staff with training on how to effectively organize their process and use the system to enable their mission.

To earn more about New Journey Church by visiting www.newjourney.org and more about the Olathe Chamber at www.olathe.org.

——————–

In 2007, Operating Sooner started its Non–Profit Giveaway program that included one copy of the ACT! software plus related services. The recipient was the Raytown Emergency Assistant Program who was nominated by Hall Harsh. After some discussions, they decided they wanted to use the program to aid in their communications with the many boards and support groups with which they work. Operating Sooner:

• Provided software installation and on–line training films,
• Customized the program to accommodate the Raytown Emergency Assistant Program’s unique groups,
• Imported their current contacts into the system,
• Created the initial communications and procedures, and
• Provided the individual training needed on that process.

Visit Operating Sooner’s web site at www.operating-sooner.com for additional information. Email Becky Rawls-Riley at osbr@operating-sooner.com with questions and submittals.

Olathe, Kansas — February 27, 2009 — Operating Sooner, a leader in helping small businesses get their sales, marketing and customer service “operating sooner,” announced today that Founder, Becky Rawls-Riley, is Kansas City Region’s first Infusionsoft Certified Marketing Automation Coach (CMAC).

Infusionsoft, the leader in marketing automation software for entrepreneurs and small businesses, trains highly qualified coaches and consultants with the skills necessary to help small businesses and entrepreneurs grow quickly and profitably. In the coming weeks, Rawls-Riley will host a series of events to educate local business owners about best practices for marketing in a down economy and increasing revenue through automated follow-up.

“Entrepreneurs and small business owners are facing serious challenges,” said Rebecca Sprynczynatyk, Director of the Infusionsoft CMAC Program. “As a Certified Marketing Automation Coach, Becky Rawls-Riley is equipped with the right expertise and tools to help struggling companies overcome their challenges and prosper in the current economic environment.”

“My passion is helping small businesses grow,” said Rawls-Riley. “I am looking forward to connecting with local business owners in a way that will have a positive effect on our economy.”

Rawls-Riley will present ‘Fix Your Follow-up Failure’ to educate small businesses owners about proven successful strategies that will dramatically increase sales, get more repeat business, and enable growth without increasing staff. Rawls-Riley can be reached at the below information to schedule a presentation.

About Operating Sooner

Operating Sooner, Inc. was founded in 1996 by Becky Rawls-Riley and helps sales and marketing professionals build skills and strategically apply software to effectively reach customers. Operating Sooner is a reseller for many products that maximize the sales and marketing efforts of small businesses. It provides marketing and small business coaching to those with the desire to grow quickly and profitably.  The company derives 80% of its business from the greater Kansas City metro and is a candidate for the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s 2009 Small Business Celebration. For more information, visit www.operating-sooner.com.
About Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft, the leader in marketing automation software for entrepreneurs and small businesses, is revolutionizing the way they grow. There are 25 million small businesses in America that need an easy-to-use, affordable, and powerful software solution that increases sales while freeing up their time. The company’s integrated marketing automation software addresses that need by helping small businesses automatically convert more prospects to customers, get repeat sales, and grow their business without growing staff. The privately-held, Inc. 500 company, based in Gilbert, Arizona is funded by Mohr Davidow Ventures and vSpring Capital. For more information, visit www.infusionsoft.com.

Contact:
Becky Rawls-Riley, President of Operating Sooner, Inc.
(913) 397-8071
 osbr@operating-sooner.com

www.operating-sooner.com

Answer: Fill the date with 00-00-0000 (note that these are zero’s)

Becky Rawls-Riley www.operating-sooner.com

Answer:
I would suggest breaking down your task to make it manageable and by taking that approach you may uncover new work — not a bad thing in today’s economy. Separate your list based on what you do know and from there you will discover the appropriate action. The objective should be to learn who should stay in your active list and who should be archived.

Pass One: Find out how the person got into your list. If you don’t know, don’t email. I always mark the person’s record with their source, but I don’t find that to be the case with every company. In this case, your initial communication should be a first-class letter or postcard because if there is a problem with the person, company, or address it will be returned to you. If the returned person’s record has a phone number, pick up the phone and call to find out who you should be speaking with. Most of the time people are very helpful and are glad to put you on the proper path within their organization. People move, change marital status, retire, and pass away. Companies reorganize, merge, get acquired, change names, and go out of business. If you don’t discover a fit, simply ask them if it would be okay to take them off your list and if not, get permission to use email as an occasional form of communication. If they are a real long shot on needing what you offer and they are unwilling to provide an email, put them on a yearly mailing for your newsletter if you want. Remember, it is your list and use your judgment about how important it is to keep them out of the archive.

Pass Two: How recent was it that you had any communication with them? Some companies are regulated and in other cases you should select a timeframe that you are comfortable with to determine if you should treat this person as someone like the first pass and only send snail mail. Put yourself in the position of the recipient and if it has been more than a year since you had any communication with them, how likely is it that they will recall anything about you or your company? When in doubt, don’t email and follow the mailing pattern from the first pass.

Pass Three: The remaining people can be clearly identified with a source and you feel it has not been too long for them to recall something about you or your company. At this point, you may decide you should pick up the phone and contact them or you may move ahead with the email. In both, always feel comfortable starting the message by sharing with them information about that last communication or how they became a part of your list. Be sure to conclude with the same permission request that was used in the first pass.

Some situation examples could be the following and all of them should have an opt-out link and, in the case of Infusionsoft, a personalized double opt-in link:

• To recall an event, share a picture from the event or reference it by name and then begin with a key take away that you had from the event that you feel they may have experienced as well.
• To recall you, share with them a picture of you.
• If they should recall an organization’s networking event, mention the event and possibly something that you feel has helped you and your business by your attending that event.
• To jog their memory of exchanging cards and you can not exactly recall the specific event from which you made the exchange you could start off with something like, “Please accept my apologies for the delay in connecting with you after you were so good to share with me your business card at a recent event. I am at a loss as to how I might best make up for my poor start, so I felt it best that I just come right out with a simple, “I’m sorry.” Let me try to redeem myself by….
• When they called you for assistance, you may start off with, “Hope you did not get stuck in moving past the issue we discussed when you contact me. I would be glad to stay in touch with you as we do with many of our valued customers. Sometimes it is best to get that sent quickly through email….”

By going with one of the suggested approaches there is the potential to solicit new business. If someone misses your regular emails while they are waiting for you to get through your list with one of the approaches, I bet they will contact you. However, you may still feel compelled to simply keep sending out your regular and previous unsolicited and non-opt-in emails. That may look like the following:

It has been a pleasure to send you my emails and you may want to list those with a bit about their purpose to bring to their attention all the benefits they include.

In an effort to improve their value to you, I hope you will let me know how I may make these better when you reply back to confirm you would like to stay on the list (link here to provide the double opt-in and the comment)

With so many concerns about emails these days, I have started using an email service that will help improve my abilities to get these emails delivered. Please let me know that you do want to continue to receive these (link here to keep them coming)

Sincerely,

P.S. My email service has told me if I don’t get your permission, the emails may not continue to get delivered. Please help me out by pressing here to meet their opt-in requirements.

To make it easy in the future with Infusionsoft, you may want to setup a follow-up sequence that you can immediately send out to anyone who contacts you or you meet at a future event to register them for your emails. It should have a personalized double opt-in and personalized opt-out. In some cases you can learn from those who opt-out by calling them in a day or two to find out how they decided to address their issue. At the very least you may be able to determine if you should archive them or continue to communicate with them through written communication.

Archiving is easy with Infusionsoft because you may setup a follow-up sequence to take care of those. Yes, the archive process should eliminate their email so you won’t accidentally email them and it should not take their name, company, or phone number off your list because you won’t want to accidentally pay someone on a purchase of a list to put the name back in your list or have a new employee put them back in again. For those who have opted-out, you may want to move their Email to the Email Address 2 because you can still email them a single email, but you cannot include them in a mass email process with Infusionsoft. Archiving in Swiftpage Email will depend upon the list source and may require you to make the same modifications in ACT!, Outlook, online on the list at their hosted service, or possibly in Excel. Some of these will not have a second email definition for you to move the existing email into for storage so you may need to simply delete that email altogether or setup a way to flag this record with “DO NOT EMAIL”.

The beauty of both systems is that all emails that are not valid and have been marked by the user to not accept emails will be flagged and you will not accidentally send the email again.

Author: Becky Rawls-Riley of Operating Sooner, Inc.

• Non-profit organization name
• Mission
• Proof of non-profit status
• Brief explanation of how the organization will benefit from the software and services
• Name of nominating individual and company (self nominations are welcomed)

Submittal required by January 31, 2009, to osbr@operating-sooner.com. Contact: Becky Rawls-Riley at 913-397-8071.

The recipient for the last non-profit giveaway was New Journey Church and Pastor Ron Fisher. It was indeed a pleasure to work with Ron in this project and it provided a unique way for these two long-time Olathe Chamber members to become more familiar with each others’ services.

“We’re very enthused about being chosen as the recipient of the ACT! software grant from Operating Sooner. At New Journey Church we value caring for people and are always interested in how we can do a better job at that. Our understanding is that it is really going to help us,” said Ron.

In addition to the software and its installation, Becky sat down with Ron to understand how they church fulfilled its mission. She customized ACT! to accommodate the unique information and communication needs of the church and provided staff training to effectively organize and use the sytem to enable their mission.

The prior recipient for the non-profit giveaway was the Raytown Emergency Assistance Program.

To drum up sales on the beverages, I normally call out, ”Coffee! Hot Chocolate!”, but with no hot chocolate and the heat, that would definitely not do. I tried, “Coffee! Ice Cold Beer!” and only sold 4 cups of coffee, but the beer sales went well.

On the food items, I normally call out, “Peanuts! M and Ms!” It seemed to me with the beer sales going well, it was only reasonable to consider calling out about our higher priced food items, too. I tried, “Cheeseburger! Hot Dogs! Chicken Tenders!”

On Saturday, I started the calling around 11:30 and we finished as the second highest selling concession stand on that day. The top one was a neighbor that was almost still within ear-shot, but certainly close enough for someone to hear the call on the item and shift from their position in the traffic to the cash register at their stand. On Sunday, I started calling when we opened and trailed off in the afternoon around 2. We did better on Sunday than we did on Saturday.

Thanks to all who stopped by our booth this year. We look forward to doing it again next season.

My lunch box contained the following message:
Dear Motorcyclist,

For the past several years we have been attending the Ride for Kids with our daughter Cassie, who is a brain tumor survivor. Cassie’s first ride took place when she was only one year old. We will never forget all of the motorcyclists who we met that first ride day and how dedicated they were toward the children, raising thousands of dollars for children they had never even met before. It was generosity at its peak.

After her surgery at six month of age, Cassie benefited greatly from her chemotherapy protocol. When it concluded, her tumor remained stable for almost two years. She recently experienced a recurrence of here tumor and began chemotherapy once again. We have thought of you often during this new phase and know that you are fighting the tumor right along with her.

The memories of past rides are strong in Cassie’s mind, and every time she sees a motorcyclist she says, “Ride for Kids – when can I go to the Ride for Kids?” She knows that you are riding for her battling tumors with her and that you are a huge part of the financial backing that servers to find better and safer ways to treat this life-threatening disease.

We are all grateful to you: for your time, your courage and your concern for children like Cassie. You give us strength to face what tomorrow may hold for her, knowing that you are behind us, every step of the way.

God bless you!
Rick, Kristen, Robbie & Cassie

The local event raised $57,154.

Pictures from the event: Me and by my bike before the ride and the kids.

Visit http://www.pbtfus.org/rideforkids/ to find out more about the event.