Archive for Small Business
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…
Who are your customers, and why do they buy?
Posted by: | CommentsI flew to St. Louis for the Glazer-Kennedy Info Summit. This is a 4-day event about how to create and market information products (think ebooks, teleseminars, coaching groups, membership sites, live seminars and more).
This is the second time I’ve made it to this event, and once again I took home a ton of fantastic ideas. So for the last month I’ve been going through my notes and getting started on some of the new products and services I was inspired to create.
Of course, there’s ton of information on marketing and small business success in general. So I thought I’d share a few of the killer tidbits of business-building wisdom I picked up.
Today, I’ve got a really interesting way for you to look at your target customer and why they buy. This comes from the copywriting workshop Dan Kennedy presented on the first night…
According to Dan, you can put your customers in one of 6 categories…
1) Slight Edge Buyers – These folks are always eager to do better. They’re constantly looking for ways to improve and get a slight edge over the competition, or bring just a little more to the table. If you sell information in any way, shape or form (consultants, speaker, authors and coaches take note) these are generally your best customers.
2) Junkies and Addicts – These people are passionate about or have a deep interest in a subject or subjects, and/or a strong attachment to a particular author(s). So they buy everything on the subject, or everything that author puts out.
3) Reinforcement Buyers – Unlike the last two categories, these people aren’t really looking for new information. Instead, they want to buy things that reinforce the opinions and conclusions they already have…Sometimes because this gives them the courage and conviction to finally move forward with their ideas.
4) Unplugged Joiners – Some people are joiners who feel compelled to always belong to or be a part of something. So if they are unplugged from one thing they go in search of something else right away. This is why “recent expired lists” are so valuable in newsletter business…Because if they’re subscription or membership to one thing just expired they may very well be itching to “belong” to something else. Also in this category are the chronically unsatisfied, the legitimately disappointed, the people looking to move-up, and the lonely.
5) Desperate/Life Raft Grabbers/Magic Pill Buyers – This group of buyers is typically confronting new or unexpected adversity, sudden change or marketplace disruption. So they’re desperately in search of a solution. Also in this category are the perennial losers who buy lots of stuff but never use any of what they buy.
6) Life Event Driven Buyers- As life changes, so do your wants and needs. This has a tremendous impact on this type of customer. A couple great examples of folks in this category would be anyone going through a mid-life crises, or whose kids just went off to college. These events weren’t surprises, but they definitely impact what and why someone will buy. This is one reason why baby boomers are such a hot target market.
Chances are, whether you sell products or services, you have clients from a few of these categories. Which of these do you recognize in your business?
How could you market to them more effectively now that you know what motivates them to buy?
Planning for Your Small Business Success
Posted by: | Comments“The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before
the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations
beforehand.” Sun Tzu
This week, I’ve got a question for you…
What is one of the critical differences between successful businesses owners and unsuccessful businesses owners?
It’s not how much money they start with, or where they come from.
It’s not their level of education.
It’s not who they know.
The majority of truly successful business owners have one thing in common…They are really good at deciding exactly what it is they want. Then creating a detailed plan for getting it and putting that plan into action.
You see, successful people don’t just wait around for things to start happening…They make things happen. And not just any old things…The right things.
That’s why, last week, I talked about the power of creating and writing down clear, well-defined intentions or goals for your business.
If you’ve already done that, congratulations! Just taking that one simple step is often enough to get you moving down the right path.
But here’s the catch…If you really want to achieve success quickly, you have to do more than just set clear goals or intentions (A la The Secret). You need to come up with a doable plan for achieving them.
Now I’m not saying you have to spend weeks creating a 30-page business or marketing plan (though that’s a good idea in some situations). But you do need to have a well-thought out, written plan of action.
So, in order to help you do just that, I’m going to take you through a simplified version of the process I use to create highly-effective Marketing Success Action Plans for my clients…
Let’s say you want to grow your business by 30% next year.
Start by listing three objectives, or targets, you could hit that would let you reach that goal. I don’t advise choosing more than three unless you’ve got people to help you. Otherwise you can get overwhelmed and never get anything done. Fewer than three is fine. For example, you could decide to increase return visits by 10%, attract 20 new customers per month, and develop new products or services to generate an additional $X a year.
Whatever you choose, always give yourself specific numbers, or targets, to hit. That way you have benchmarks you can refer to later to make sure your plan is working.
Next, come up with one strategy for achieving each of your objectives. More if you have fewer than three objectives.
Say you want to increase return visits. A good strategy could be to send out a regular newsletter to your current clients. Or a series of follow up mailings.
Now, make a checklist of all the steps you need to take in order to put each of your strategies into action. Whatever you do, don’t skip this part…It’s critical.
So to start a print newsletter, at minimum you’re going to need to: pick a marketing angle, come up with a name, decide how often you want it to go out, write or get content, purchase a template or hire a graphic designer, choose a printer, find a mailing house, compile your client database and get the whole thing put together and out the door.
Finally, create a detailed timeline with deadlines to get it all done.
Whew! Now you have a goal, and a plan reach it. And you can start taking action by checking things off of your new to-do list.
Of course, don’t forget that some plans are going to be easier to implement, and/or more effective, than others. So take your time researching options and choosing strategies. Better yet, unless you really know your stuff, consider hiring a professional to help you make the best decisions for your business and your goals.
Remember, this is the blueprint for your future success. It’s worth the extra effort!
If you’re struggling with this, grab a copy of my e-workbook “Putting Your Business on the Road to Success to help you along. It’s filled with simple worksheets and checklists that make writing a powerful, 2-page marketing plan as easy as planning a vacation road trip…literally!
You can find it at http://www.2pagemarketingplan.com
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.
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.
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…
“WARNING! You could end up spending WAY too much for a Website that does nothing to make sales or grow your business!!”
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If you can plan a vacation road trip, you can write a highly effective small business marketing plan with this e-book!
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