Archive for October, 2009
Get More Done in a Day
Posted by: | CommentsEver get to the end of the day, and realize that while you worked hard, the things that really needed doing still aren’t done?
I know I have, and I’ve found a simple solution.
At the end of each day, make a list of the things you need to do tomorrow. Then, first thing in the morning, tackle the top priorities on your list. And when I say first thing, I mean it.
Do NOT check emails. Do NOT make phone calls, or even answer phone. Just take care of your top 1-3 tasks right away. Chances are good that with no interruption you can get a ton accomplished in 30 minutes to an hour.
Otherwise, if you start checking emails and answering the phone your day will be taken up doing what everyone else wants you to do, instead of what really needs to be done. And trust me, most emails and phone calls can wait an hour.
If you do this, I promise you will be at least 50% more productive than you were before. Best of all, you’ll be making sure the most important tasks really do get done.
Heard About ‘Free Days’? by Bernadette Doyle
Posted by: | CommentsIf you’ve been in my community for awhile, you already know I’m a reformed workaholic who now makes exercise and awesome vacations a priority in my world. And I’ve learned from experience that when I take time away from business that’s just for myself, my business actually grows faster and easier.
So, rather than just hear this from me, I’m excited to share an article on the subject from another top marketer—Bernadette Doyle. Enjoy!
Heard About ‘Free Days’? By Bernadette Doyle
Imagine the following scenario. It’s Wednesday afternoon. You and a friend are having lunch at your favorite restaurant. After lunch you might go for a stroll, visit a local attraction, or just go home and read. It doesn’t matter which. Your phone and email are switched off, work is the farthest thing from your mind, and you’re committed to nothing more than simply relaxing. You return to the office the next morning, guilt-free and feeling rather energetic.
This is what Strategic Coach Dan Sullivan describes as a Free Day, a 24-hour period completely free from work-related problem-solving, communication, and action.
It’s not so easy to imagine, is it? For most business owners, the whole notion of free time, particularly midweek, is nothing less than far-fetched. How can you possibly take free time when there’s so much work to be done, money to make, commitments to be kept?
Most people think of Free Days as a reward for hard work. I don’t. Now I see Free Days as an essential precondition for achieving success and optimum productivity. The key to free days is recognizing that it means booking time to rejuvenate before — not after — your productive periods. Several years ago I started to notice that many of the successful business owners I admired talked about the importance of ‘downtime’ and blocking out periods of time where they did absolutely nothing.
Because I was interested in replicating their results, I paid attention and started to wonder how I could incorporate ‘free days’ into my own schedule. It wasn’t easy at first. On any given day, most business owners would consider themselves extraordinarily lucky (or seriously pressured) to be able to squeeze in a bit of free time, let alone a whole day. It happens only IF they can first get “a few things” done, IF there are no unexpected crises, and IF they can just clean up a few “little messes” around the office. Not surprisingly, this seldom, if ever, happens.
But if you want to improve the quality of both your work and personal life, you need ‘Free Days’. So how can you incorporate free days into YOUR schedule?
Right now, most of us figure out how much time we need to work and make money. Then, if there’s anything left over, we devote it to free time. But this concept doesn’t work for time any more than it works for money.
Successful savers know that you have to work out what you want to save, take it off the top of your income, and live on the rest. If you don’t, you’ll get to the end of the month and find there is nothing left. Free time is just like savings: it has to come off the top. So you need to plan your Free Days first, and then work everything else around them.
It won’t come easy at first. You’re not used to it. Like anything else, Free Days take time and practice. But it gets easier when you see free days as a necessity, rather than a luxury. When you’re running a business YOU are the most important asset. In the words of Coachville founder Thomas Leonard ‘Without you, there is nothing.’ So you need to make taking time out for relaxation, rejuvenation and what Stephen Covey calls ’sharpening the saw’ a priority.
How should you use a Free Day? Well that all depends upon YOU. Some people are rejuvenated by engaging in highly energetic activities. They need to be out and about, on the go all the time. Others (like me) are just the opposite. They just want to relax, curl up with a book, listen to music, get a massage, lie on a beach, or have a good conversation. Whatever you choose, your Free Day should allow you to be in a different world, away from responsibilities, concerns, worries, and goals.
Start NOW. Don’t let this be a ‘good idea’ that you’ll get around to ‘when you have time’. Take out your calendar and mark out your next ‘free day’. Keep it sacred! If a whole day seems like too much to start with, then start with an afternoon. I promise that when you make a habit of ‘free days’ and you notice your creativity and productivity soar as a result, you’ll be hooked. So start TODAY.
© Bernadette Doyle, 2009
Bernadette Doyle publishes her weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, then get your free tips now at www.clientmagnets.com
The Right Keywords are Key
Posted by: | CommentsIf you want to get found by search engines and prospects alike, you need to make sure you incorporate the right keywords on your Website. Keywords are the words and phrases your prospects type in when they’re looking for someone who offers what you sell (Hint: These keywords rarely include your name or business name).
All too often people either don’t understand keywords, or don’t really know what people would use to search for them. Thankfully, there are a few no-cost keyword tools you can use to find out.
One of my favorites is Spacky.com.
Just type in whatever keywords you think are key, and see how often they get searched. Ideally you want keyword phrases that get about 100,000 searches a month, but have less than 500,000 competitors already using them.
Once you know your keywords, be sure to use them in your page title, url, headlines and subheads whenever possible (without making your content sound like it was written by a 6 yr old).
7 Simple Ways to Generate Content for Your Blog
Posted by: | CommentsHave you been thinking about starting a blog, but stopped because you couldn’t imagine writing all that content?
Or maybe you even started a blog, but couldn’t find the time to write regular posts.
If so, believe me, you are not alone. Given that you need to write at least 2 posts a week—at a minimum—to make a blog effective, generating enough content can seem like a herculean task.
Yet having an active blog is a terrific way to get the word out about your business. So if you don’t already have one, or you haven’t been updating yours, you’re missing out.
Blogs are designed to be incredibly well optimized for the search engines. That means the search engines notice you, and you’ll tend to rank higher for your keywords than you would with a traditional Website. Plus there a boatload of cool plug-ins and widgets that let you link your blog with your social networking sites, Website and more.
Thanks to my blog, my content is now syndicated by two companies and republished around the world! That means WAY more people are getting a taste of my marketing wisdom. And ideally, they’re finding their way back to my Website, getting on my email list and becoming more successful entrepreneurs as a result. Plus I’m getting loads of back links from all this syndication so my sites rank even higher in the search engines.
So if you’ve coming up with loads of content has been your stopping block, take heart. Below are 7 easy ways around this problem.
1) Repurpose your other articles
If you’re already writing a regular newsletter, or have written a book, then you have a source of content at your fingertips. There’s absolutely no reason why you can’t reuse that same content on your blog—either with or without editing.
If you do public speaking, record your talks on a simple digital recorder then have them transcribed. Edit the transcripts into a series of articles (or have someone do it for you) and you’ve got reams of content.
2) Online article submission sites
These days you can find reams of content on almost any topic under the sun, ripe and ready for the picking, on article submission sites like ideamarketers.com and ezinearticles.com (though there are hundreds more). Typically, all you have to do is include the author’s byline and links and you can post their content anywhere you want.
3) BloggerLinkUp
Another, similar option to HARO is BloggerLinkUp. But this email service is strictly devoted to people who need blog content or would like to provide blog content. Sign up for their no-cost email subscription at bloggerlinkup.com
5) Subscribe to other newsletters that let you repost
Oftentimes, people will let you repost the articles from their email newsletters. And it never hurts to read what other folks are saying anyway. So subscribe to a few newsletters from other experts in your field with complimentary specialties. Then look at the bottom of their emails to see if they have a blurb giving permission to repost their article. Again, typically they just ask that you keep their name, byline and links at the end of the article.
6) Write a short intro with a link to another post
Anytime you run across a blog post on someone else’s blog you enjoy and feel would be of value or interest to your community, simply write a short blurb about it then include the link back to the original. Your intro can be as short as a 100 words, or longer. And it can include an excerpt from the original post, or not. As long as you don’t repost their article in its entirety without permission, and you include the link back, it’s fair game.
7) Trade with others
Know other small business owners who write great articles? Talk to them and see if they’d like to set up a regular article trade. You can write one a month for their blog and vice versa. This can be a nice way to establish new relationships while getting your blog content written for you.
Want to Get More High-Paying Clients Without Doing More Selling?
Posted by: | CommentsWanna learn a proven effective approach for attracting your ideal (and highest-paying) clients, without feeling like a slimy, pushy salesperson?
Or how ‘bout systems for running your business that let you consistently make more money—without running yourself ragged?
Who wouldn’t, right?!?
For most small business owners, the two hardest jobs are:
1) Getting new clients in the door
2) Finding time to get everything done
The thing is, once you know how to attract your ideal client, you really don’t have to do much selling. In fact I’ve found it’s easier to target my ideal client, and get paid what I’m worth, by using “Pull” style marketing focused on helping and building relationships instead of “Push” style marketing that’s focused on making sales.
Pull marketing draws your idea clients to you like bees to honey, instead of forcing you to chase them like a lion on the hunt. And it’s especially easy to do these days thanks to the Internet.
You don’t even have to do all the work yourself (nor should you)! That’s one of the beauties of attracting clients instead of going after them—especially on the Web. You can automate or outsource a lot of it.
While I’ve learned a good bit about all this by doing it myself over the past few years, I’ve found someone else who’s actually developed an entire “Client Attraction” system—Fabienne Frederickson. This month I’m going to be interviewing her on my regular Small Business Success Teleseminar!
Join us for FREE by going here to reserve your spot on the call:
http://www.success-stream.com/teleseminar-17.htm
Fabienne has promised to share her secrets and system for:
- How to break down the marketing process into easy steps
- Using the secrets of PULL (versus push) marketing to get clients effortlessly
- Getting clients who happily pay you what you’re worth
- Delegating, automating and systemizing every aspect of your business (so it runs without you!)
- Your chance to ask Fabienne your own Client Attraction questions live!
Fabienne has a reputation for turning her clients on to resources they’d never even heard of in their fields. And those solo-entrepreneurs that follow her advice end up standing out in even overcrowded marketplaces and snagging the best clients and customers.
The teleseminar calls are no-charge, but phone lines are limited. So be sure to reserve your spot right now while you’re thinking about it:
http://www.success-stream.com/teleseminar-17.htm
Got any specific questions about client attraction you’d like Fabienne to answer? Leave your question as a comment below and I’ll make sure we cover it on the call.
Grow Your Business in just 15 Minutes a Day
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the best tips I ever got was to make sure I did at least one thing to market my business at the start of every day. And that one thing doesn’t have to take long, be difficult or cost a lot. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Comment on a blog post, online article or forum question
- Call a past or current client to check in
- Send a thank you or greeting card to someone who deserves it
- Twitter something useful or inspiring
The Right Way to Respond to a PR Query
Posted by: | CommentsBack when I was in high school, I learned a simple yet valuable lesson that let me almost always make decent grades—regardless of how much I studied. All I had to do was listen carefully whenever the teacher gave an assignment then deliver exactly what they asked for, when they asked for it.
If they wanted a 20 page term paper by February 15th, that’s what I gave them. If it was a 5 page essay by end of class Friday, I turned in a 5 page essay on Friday. Even if my work wasn’t stellar, at least I knew I wasn’t going to get an F because I’d followed the instructions.
When I got to college I was amazed at how many students didn’t follow the professors’ instructions to a tee. Instead they turned in something other than what was asked for, or were late turning in assignments, and their grades immediately tanked. Now I realize that behavior has carried over into adult life for many people.
These days if you actually do what you promised, when you promised it, you’re already miles ahead of your competition. This holds true in your business, your life, and just about everything else.
It also holds true when it comes to getting great PR.
Here’s a perfect example…
Recently, I posted a query on the online PR resource newsletter HARO looking for new guest experts for my monthly teleseminar series. Because HARO goes out to more than 60,000 readers, I knew I’d be slammed with responses.
So I asked for very specific information in the responses knowing this would cull out folks who were unprofessional or unprepared. And make it easier for me to wade through them all.
Here’s the query I placed:
—–
Seeking small business experts on a variety of subjects for monthlyeducational teleseminar series. The focus is on small business success, and the moderator is a Practical Marketing Expert. So any topic related to growing/running a successful small business will be considered. Past topics have included social networking, blogs, branding, virtual assistants, online video, teleseminars, and more. Please send the following: Name,Website address, contact info, Short bio, Title of topic along with short description and 3-5 bullet points addressing what folks will learn.
Testimonials are welcome but not required.
BE SURE TO PUT – HARO SPEAKER QUERY in the subject line.
—–
I got 131 responses.
Of these…
> 6 were nothing but a sales pitch and info about a company…
> 41 didn’t provide the requested topic title with short
descriptions and bullets…> 37 didn’t include HARO SPEAKER QUERY in the subject line (I found these in my trash box)…
> 17 provided a topic title or idea and maybe bits of an author bio, but no other info…
> 5 offered a topic that had nothing to do with small business (How to stay employed, how to find a new job, etc.), to be presented by people who don’t work with small businesses…
> 16 didn’t include a bio…
> And one didn’t even mention what they were emailing about!
That means only 26 people followed directions. Most of the otherresponses were deleted because I didn’t have time to guess about their topic or credentials.
What’s truly mind blowing is that most of these came from PR firms pitching on behalf of their clients. I can maybe understand how someone who isn’t a PR professional could make these mistakes…But these people are hired to do this!
So today I want to show you the right way to respond to PR queries so you can get more press with less effort.
#1 – Only respond to queries that truly relate to you and your expertise. No off target pitching.
#2 – Follow the guidelines in the query exactly. If they ask for a 200 word tip, that’s what you give them. If they want a bio and some info on your expertise, give them that. If they just want you to get in touch, that’s all you do.
#3 – Reporters and editors are looking for experts and content that will be of interest to their readers. Do your best to show them you are indeed the best resource to address their questions or speak on their topic by referring to it specifically and giving a little info or specific examples to support that.
#4 – Keep it on the shorter side, but include enough info to make them want to follow up with you.
I typically use this formula when crafting my query responses:
+ One line intro specifically referencing their topic and query on HARO or PitchRate or wherever
+ A short paragraph speaking directly to their topic and giving them a sense of why I’m the right expert for their needs
+ A couple tips, examples or any other info they’ve specifically asked for
+ A short bio with links to my Website, blog and online press kit where they can learn more
+ My contact info (even though it’s in my email signature too)
Tip: It helps to keep a doc with your bio, contact info, and a few versions of your query responses so you can quickly cut and paste in the future.
Ready to harness the power of free PR to grow your business?
Sign up to be notified of PR opportunities at no charge at:
http://www.helpareporter.com and http://www.pitchrate.com
Then start pitching.
Small Business Owners…Improve Your Productivity with this Email Tip
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s an easy way to improve focus, concentration and productivity…
Turn off your email alerts. Yep. You heard me right. Turn off that little box or bell that signals you each time an email arrives in your Inbox. That way your concentration isn’t broken and you’re not tempted to stop what you’re doing to respond.
Even if you don’t always read emails when they come in, you know you stop and look to see who it’s from when that alert shows up (admit it). This breaks your concentration and can suck you away from the task at hand.
Once you’ve turned off the alerts, set specific times to check email, say twice a day. Because let’s face it, for most of us very few emails need immediate attention. Taking a half-day or day to respond is perfectly fine.
It also helps to NOT check email first thing in the morning. Do that, and you lose control of your day because you’re now attending to everyone else’s wants and needs instead of your own. I find checking them at midday and end of day works perfectly for me.
To turn those pesky alerts off in Microsoft Outlook:
- Go to “Tools” at the top and click “Options.”
- On the Preferences tab under Email, click “E-mail Options.”
- Now click “Advanced E-mail Options.”
- In the section titled “When new items arrive in my inbox” un-check all the boxes.
After a few days you won’t miss those little alerts one bit. And chances are good you’re going to feel relieved to get that email monkey off your back!
Are you overwhelmed by email?
Have you already done something about it?
Please do share you thoughts by leaving a comment below…
The Impact of Washington’s Destination Based Sales Tax on Your Small Business
Posted by: | CommentsIf you live in Washington State, new changes in sales tax laws that may impact you went into effect mid 2009. Basically, it used to be that if someone bought something from you over the Internet, you charged sales tax based on your location. Now it’s just the opposite. You have to charge taxes according to the rate at the “ship to” location.
This means you have to know their address, and find out what the tax rate is there, in order to charge clients properly—Whether you’re shipping a physical product or selling something that’s downloadable.
So far this has proved to be a huge pain in the butt. In the first month my bookkeeper informed that I paid her $25 to figure out that I owed a customer less than $1 in overpaid sales tax thanks to this new law. Jeez!
For now we’re looking up the sales tax manually each time in order to charge the correct amount. I haven’t come up with a simple solution to this problem, but my bookkeeper is on it. I’ll keep you posted with what I discover.
In the meantime, you can get all the details about the new law and find tax rates for cities in Washington State here:
http://dor.wa.gov/Content/FindTaxesAndRates/RetailSalesTax/DestinationBased/MoreSST.aspx
What’s your opinion on this new law?
Have you found a way to simplify dealing with this new tax law?
Make the Most of Your Small Business Email Marketing with Proper Linking
Posted by: | CommentsIf you own a small business, at the very least you should take advantage of the marketing power of your email signature by including links to your Website and/or blog. The key is to ensure your links are live so people can click on them and be taken straight to the site.
To do this, anytime you put a Website link in an email be sure to include the http:// part before the www. Like so: http://www.success-stream.com. Although your link may still work if you don’t, it’s much more likely to work properly if you do this every time.
“WARNING! You could end up spending WAY too much for a Website that does nothing to make sales or grow your business!!”
Learn:
If you can plan a vacation road trip, you can write a highly effective small business marketing plan with this e-book!
Discover:
Ready to jump-start your small business sales?
