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Have you ever noticed how some small business owners get more done than others? I’m talking about increased productivity that isn’t because of working longer days or multi-tasking to madness, either. You know…those incredible people who have successful businesses and still manage to have a life.
What I’ve learned is that it’s not about how hard they work…It’s about how smartly they work.
There was a time when I was new to running my own business and “working smarter” seemed so pie-in-the-sky. It was something other people somehow pulled off. I wasn’t even convinced it was real. I didn’t have time to stop and think about better managing my time because I was working too hard!
Somehow, it was clear that other entrepreneurs were better at doing things that truly created more efficiency for themselves—in how they completed tasks, achieved goals, arranged their day, got found by potential clients, and so on. So I’ve spent the past eight years learning how to make this happen for myself and my clients.
The thing is, it’s clear working smarter doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Most small business owners have to, well, work at it a bit. But it’s worth the extra effort up front to get more done with less effort later.
Wanna be one of those folks who works smarter instead of harder? Here are some simple tips for you to get started…
- For starters, let’s take multi-tasking. Believe it or not, studies now show that multi-tasking doesn’t increase productivity or speed up the completion time for each task. (Just type ‘Juggling Too Many Tasks Could Make You Stupid’ into a search engine for a great Wall Street Journal article by author Sue Shellenbarger. Or go here: http://208.144.115.170/columnists/workfamily/20030228-workfamily.html)Americans are a distracted bunch, and we have so many more ways now that things compete for our attention. You know the drill—the phone, email, Facebook. You may have a huge sense of busy-ness, but don’t mistake it for true productivity. Basically it ultimately creates a kind of stress response and messes with your memory so you get less accomplished and everything takes more time.
Stop doing it and work on just one task at a time until it’s done.
- Create more hours in a day by staying focused. Be committed to setting aside time for doing work with your phone and email turned off, and your office door closed.Few things come in via email or voice mail (remember that handy tool?) that must be handled right now. A few hours or a day later is typically just fine. So actually schedule time in your day to focus on a project, or time in your week or month to sit in a quiet space and do some planning.
- Stop reinventing the wheel! While for most people the idea of sitting down and creating process docs for the different tasks you do seems like about as much fun as a trip to the orthodontist, it needs to be done—even if you’re a solopreneur.Otherwise you end up wasting time figuring out how to do the same thing each time and your efforts lack consistency. Plus, when you are ready to hire an employee or outsource tasks, those process docs are worth more than their weight in gold.
- Get it off your plate! This is one of my favorite solutions for getting more done with less effort…If you’re really strapped for time, or you have tasks you just can’t stomach doing or are bad at, hire a Virtual Assistant (VA).They can do everything from answering email to setting up social networking profiles to building blogs, creating newsletters, sending holiday cards, and more. Some even specialize in online marketing. I hired my first VA 4 years ago and it’s been the best thing I’ve ever done for my business.
- Turn it down! Not the volume—rather, be more choosy about work that you take on. Juggling as many projects as you can doesn’t inherently mean more success for your small business.Especially in the beginning, it’s easy to take on any and every client or job that comes your way because you need the cash. But it might well end up being just more tiring to take on more work rather than adding significantly to your bottom line. Plus, you want to make sure your more lucrative projects/clients don’t suffer from your diluted attention and efforts.
- Make it happen, even on a budget. If you know you need to put more energy into marketing but you keep putting it because of funds there are some very inexpensive low-hanging fruit to go for.Try putting out press releases online, using social networking sites and doing email marketing. And when is the last time you spruced up your personal bio? Or committed to attending live networking meetings? If you have stuff to say that potential clients might want to hear—have you thought about blogging? You can create a blog for free on WordPress!
If you need more info on these marketing ideas, or other ways to manage your time and grow your business more easily, I’ve got another terrific resource for you…
While today is the last day of my f*r*e*e* Small Business Success Telesummit 2010, you can still join in for the final four experts. And you can also grab a copy of the audios and/or transcripts so you can listen in on all 12 hour long calls.
Five of the presentations cover information exclusively devoted to helping you run your business more efficiently and drive up your productivity. The other seven are devoted to things you could be doing to spread the word about your business, products or services and help more potential customers find out about what you have to offer.
Here’s a list of all the speakers that joined me for the three-day event:
Social media expert Nancy Marmolejo, PR experts Shannon Cherry, Diane Ennen and Nancy Juetten “The Bio Whisperer”, Time Liberator Susan Lannis, The Tips Booklet Queen Paulette Ensign, Savvy Networker Zita Gustin, Results Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Founder of the HUBstreet social networking site Nancy Fox, New Business Mentor Leah Grant, Internet Marketing Strategist Erin Blaskie, and Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas. Plus, everyone receives a bonus ebook packed with helpful articles from these experts.
With the help of these amazing experts, you can get the info you need to transform your business without traveling anywhere!
Phone lines for the calls are limited, so get all the deets and nab your spot right away by going here:
http://www.smallbusinesssuccesstelesummit.com/
If you’ve already missed the live event (the last call ends at 2:30 PST Thursday, January 21st), you can get your very own copies of the recorded audios and/or transcripts right here. Or, if you register on the live events page listed above, you’ll be taken to a page with all the purchasing options.
http://www.smallbusinesssuccesstelesummit.com/sales.html#up
Do you have other tips and tricks you use to get more done with less effort? If so, I’d love to know about them. Please do share by leaving a comment…
Entrepreneurs can Get the Latest Information on How to Better Market and Grow Their Small Businesses—Both Online and Off—By Attending (Via Phone) this FREE, Three-Day Telesummit Event. Featuring 12 Expert Speakers Plus Live Q & A to Make Sure Attendees Questions are Answered, this Event is Designed to Give Small Business Owners the Jump-Start They Need to Achieve Their 2010 Goals.
Entrepreneurs everywhere looking to jump-start their small business growth are invited to attend a free, three-day teleseminar event featuring 12 expert speakers Jan. 19th – 21st at no charge. Topics include using social media and other online tools for marketing, creating a more compelling personal bio, mastering in-person networking, how to market your expertise using tips booklets, time-management techniques and more. Registrants can attend from anywhere via phone. The hour-long calls are live and include time for audience Q&A with the experts.
Speakers scheduled for the three-day event include social media expert Nancy Marmolejo, PR experts Shannon Cherry, Diane Ennen and Nancy Juetten “The Bio Whisperer”, Time Liberator Susan Lannis, The Tips Booklet Queen Paulette Ensign, Savvy Networker Zita Gustin, Results Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Founder of HUBstreet social networking site Nancy Fox, New Business Mentor Leah Grant, Internet Marketing Strategist Erin Blaskie, and Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas. Plus, everyone who registers receives a bonus ebook packed with helpful articles from these experts.
Stacy Karacostas is hosting this event in an effort to give more small business owners the information they need to grow and better run their businesses in 2010 and beyond.
Karacostas, the owner of Seattle-based Success Stream Sales and Marketing Solutions, specializes in helping small business owners take the stress, struggle and confusion out of marketing. She regularly hosts monthly teleseminars interviewing a range of experts on topics important to small business success such as how to attract new customers, podcasting and Internet radio, online video, bookkeeping basics, Facebook marketing, and other current topics.
“I love doing monthly teleseminar interviews because they’re a terrific way to help small business owners get the info they need to really thrive. And my community loves the info other experts bring to the table. This Telesummit will concentrate a ton of great information—from business basics, to outsourcing, to the latest in online marketing—into three consecutive days. The goal is to help entrepreneurs harness the energy of a brand-new year and get the info they need to achieve their business resolutions” Stacy said.
The Telesummit details, schedule, speaker bios, and registration are available online at http://www.smallbusinesssuccesstelesummit.com
Registration is free and open to everyone!
If You Want to Grow Your Small Business, You’ve got to Attend Events!
Posted by: | CommentsMy first few years in business, like most new entrepreneurs I was nose to the grindstone all the time. The problem with that is an awful lot can pass you by when you’re so focused on working, working, working. And these days, thanks to the Internet and the economy things are changing at an incredibly fast pace.
People everywhere are changing their priorities and their buying habits. While at the same time, new tools and technology make it easier to get your message and marketing out there. Unless you pull yourself out from behind your business periodically to see what’s new, chances are good you’re going to be left behind. That means your business is likely to suffer.
I’ve found one of the best ways to combat this problem is to regularly attend conferences, events and workshops outside of my industry. Because, while reading about the latest and greatest online or in books is great, nothing substitutes for meeting and talking with other people. Or hearing experts speak live about what they’re doing and what’s new.
Since I attended my first big seminar event back in 2006 my business has been completely transformed. I’ve changed my marketing, started creating my own products, help workshops, and even launched a membership site. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t learned how to do it by hearing other experts explain the nuts and bolts. As a result, I’ve made a commitment to attend at least one or two big live events each year.
But let’s face it, shelling out a few grand and taking a week off work to go to a conference or seminar isn’t always in the cards. So the next best thing is to attend live Webinars and teleseminars. These events let you get most of the benefits of an in-person event (sans the networking of course) without all the hassle and expense. And the best ones even let you ask questions live…Something you rarely get to do a big conference.
That’s why, this year, I’ve brought together a stellar lineup of small business experts for a FREE 3-day “Small Business Success Telesummit”. It’s all done by phone, so you can attend every session, or just one or two, from the comfort of your own home or office.
Topics include everything from using social media and other online tools for marketing, creating a more compelling personal bio, mastering in-person networking, how to market your expertise using tips booklets, time-management techniques, outsourcing secrets and more. I’ve even convinced all the speakers to stick around for live Q & A segment at the end of each call.
Here’s a list of all the amazing speakers scheduled for the three-day event:
social media expert Nancy Marmolejo, PR experts Shannon Cherry, Diane Ennen and Nancy Juetten, Time Liberator Susan Lannis, The Tips Booklet Queen Paulette Ensign, Savvy Networker Zita Gustin, Results Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Founder of HUBstreet social networking site Nancy Fox, New Business Mentor Leah Grant, Internet Marketing Strategist Erin Blaskie, and me, Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas. Plus, everyone who registers receives a bonus ebook packed with helpful articles from these experts.
Now you can get the info you need to transform your business without spending a penny!
So what are you waiting for? While the event is totally free to attend live, phone lines for the calls are limited. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level go here and register for the Telesummit right away:
http://www.smallbusinesssuccesstelesummit.com/
What’s the biggest ah-ha moment you’ve had listening in on a teleseminar or attending a live event? Please do share by leaving a comment below…
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.
Get Images for Your Small Business Presentation or Marketing Piece for Free!
Posted by: | CommentsNeed images for an upcoming presentation, or marketing piece but don’t have much budget? No worries! Thanks so the Internet there are plenty of options for finding free and low-cost images you can use for your small business.
For example, you can find all kinds of images at no charge from the Creative Commons on Flikr. Just go to flickr.com/search/advanced/. Choose “Creative Commons Commercial License”. Then enter a search term in the box at the top of the page to find the type of image you’re looking for.
Source: Seth Godin http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/03/where-to-find-g.html
Have you used flikr for images? How was your experience? Please do share by leaving a comment below…
Got Questions About Small Business Bookkeeping? You’re not Alone!
Posted by: | CommentsDo you hate doing your own bookkeeping for your small business…?
Does QuickBooks drives you crazy because the data always seems to be messed up, or you don’t really know what to look at in there anyway…?
Did you hire an accountant or bookkeeper but find your books are still confusing…?
If so, you are so not alone!
Before I hired my current Virtual Bookkeeper, Jen Petersen, 3 years ago I’d been through 2 bookkeepers and years of bookkeeping hell. First because I did my books myself in Excel, which meant I ended up spending about 10 hours a month just doing invoicing!
I came to hate bookkeeping (and I don’t use that word lightly!!). So I decided to get QuickBooks, and even hired a bookkeeper to get it all set up for me. When I finally made time to look at my books after 3 months they were a total mess!
I found duplicate entries, missing entries, and almost nothing in the right categories. Then, to add insult to injury, it took me months to get all my files back from that bookkeeper. And she came via referral, mind you.
My next bookkeeper made some headway in straightening out my books. But then she handed my files off to another woman at her firm who did a terrible job. So I was paying them, then spending 5-6 hours a month finding all the problems and having them fix everything.
During those years I literally had no idea how much money, if any, I had in net profit from month to month. I was pretty much going off gut instinct and my total receivables. So I never knew what I could invest in my business. Or if I had the money to, say, replace a computer that died suddenly.
Plus, as a marketer, it drove me nuts because it was really hard to track the return on investment of many of my marketing strategies. Or the value of a customer. Or which products and services were most profitable. And it was sure hard to plan for future initiatives.
Not having a handle on my bookkeeping was really, really stressful and held my small business back in a big way.
Then I found my wonderful Virtual Bookkeeper, Jen Petersen. She straightened out my books in a jiffy.
Finally, for the first time in almost 3 years, I actually knew what was going in my business financially at any given moment (instead of just at tax time)!
She also gave me a tour of QuickBooks, explaining which reports and numbers were important to me and why. And she’s been invaluable in helping me keep everything straight as my online business has diversified and grown.
As a result I’ve been able to invest more money in the right aspects of my business. And I stress about my cash flow WAY less!
That’s why, for this month’s Small Business Success Series teleseminar I’m interviewing my own Virtual Bookkeeper and QuickBooks expert Jen Peterson.
Jen is going to show you everything you need to know to get the bookkeeping for your business under control so it’s no longer a headache, hassle, and huge time-suck. And so you can actually use the info to grow your business.
Best of all, you can listen to the call for FREE and ask Jen your specific bookkeeping questions! Or request a recorded copy of the call if you can’t make the call live.
http://www.success-stream.com/teleseminar-16.htm
Here are just a few of the things that Jen has promised to share on this call:
#1 Do you really need a bookkeeper, and if so, how do you know when you’re ready to hire one?
#2 The difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant, and when you need each.
#3 Many small business owners start out doing books in Excel…When and why to use QuickBooks.
#4 Should you go virtual? The pros and cons of hiring a Virtual Bookkeeper.
#5 Critical areas of your books and budget you should be keeping your eye on in order to maximize cash flow, grow your business and pay yourself a good salary!
#9 Tips for organizing your bookkeeping files to make life easier for you, and your bookkeeper.
And much more!
If you’re still doing your own books, find you get overwhelmed or confused anytime you open the QuickBooks, or are thinking of hiring a Virtual Bookkeeper, this free call is for you.
While it’s free to join us on the live call, you do need to register because phone lines are limited. Even if you can’t make the call live, you can request a copy of the interview audio.
Go here for all the details:
http://www.success-stream.com/teleseminar-16.htm
Got questions about small business bookkeeping or Virtual Bookkeepers? Leave them in a comment below and we’ll make sure to cover them on the call!
Years ago, I worked with a small business owner who had a love affair with “free or cheap” marketing and advertising. Just like someone who is addicted to coupon shopping…If it wasn’t “free or cheap” she wasn’t going to do it. And if it was, you can bet she would jump at the chance—no matter what the opportunity was.
She simply could not seem to help herself.
She advertised on a bench at a golf course because it was only $200. She had a “free” column plus an ad in a community newspaper because it was only $50 a month. She put together a packet to be handed out by someone else to their clients, because it was “free”.
Her goal with all of these was to get new clients now.
You see she had started a new small business, and was badly in need of clients. Plus she didn’t think she could afford to do anything else. As a result, she ended up spending thousands of dollars on the wrong ideas.
How so?
Well, the graphic design and copywriting for the bench cost money. Plus an ad on a bench is more of a branding piece—like all the McDonalds or Coke ads you see. It was not the type of marketing that gets someone to take immediate action. So if she needed new clients now, the bench was probably not going to do the trick.
As for the free column and $50 ad, well…She wasn’t a writer. So she paid a couple hundred dollars a month to have the column ghostwritten. Plus she paid for copywriting and graphic design for the ad.
Not a bad idea, if you are looking for a way to gain visibility and build a reputation as an expert over time. Unfortunately, she did not check the paper’s circulation, where it was distributed or who the target audience was. So she ended up promoting her business to people who would never buy what she was selling.
The packet had the best chance of getting new clients in the door because it included a special, limited time offer. But it was far from free. She still had to pay for copywriting, graphic design, printing and materials costs. Plus spend time folding and putting the packet together (it was pretty fancy).
In the end she was easily spending over $1000 a month on “free or cheap” marketing and advertising.
And you know what the saddest part was? None of it was working.
Because she was choosing her tactics based solely on the up-front cost. Not on whether they were actually the right fit for her and her business, or would reach her target market. Or whether she really had the time to execute them well. And certainly not on whether they would help her achieve her number one goal—get new clients now.
The moral of this story? There is no such thing as “free advertising”, and even cheap advertising usually isn’t. So don’t base your marketing and advertising decisions solely on initial cost.
To create a good marketing strategy, you have to consider your goals, the true costs and the potential gains or ROI of every tactic. Not sure how? Try using the quick list of questions below to help you make your decisions.
1) Will this get me in front of my ideal client or target market?
2) Will this help me achieve my end goal or desired result?
If you answer no to either of these, stop right there and pass on the opportunity. If you answered yes to both, then it is time to calculate true cost.
3) What is the initial, up front cost?
4) How much time will it take to put everything together?
Now add on 1/3 more time than you think you will need, then multiply the number of hours by your hourly rate to calculate your time cost.
5) Will I need any professional services like printing, graphic design or copywriting to complete the project?
6) If so, how much will it cost to get my project done by the due date? Not sure? Call around and get estimates.
7) Do I have time to do this right, or will I have to pull an all-nighter to get everything done?
If you have to work late, count it as time and a half and multiply by your hourly rate.
Now add up all these costs and ask yourself…
8) Does this fit my budget?
9) How many new clients would I need to break even on the investment (Divide the total cost by the average revenue generated by one new client)?
10) Is that even possible, let alone probable?
Now you should have a reasonable idea of the true costs of your opportunity. And I bet it is more than what you were thinking when that “cheap or free” ad, trade show booth, or marketing opportunity first came your way.
The bottom line is…never make a marketing decision based solely on cost. After all which is more expensive: A $5000 campaign that brings in 20 new clients who each spend $300 (net profit of $1000), or a “free” ad that really costs you $800 to create but does not bring in any new business at all? You decide…
“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?
