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What I Learned Today…
Today, April 26th is Bring Your Child to work day. My 7 year old asked me last night if he could go to work with me. I thought about it and decided that would be an awesome idea.
By coming to work with me he would get a chance to learn what I do all day, little day to day things that go into owning a business and he would get to work on some things he is interested in like writing and art.
The plan for the day is for him to learn all different types of things so he can see what my business is like.
One of the first things is this blog post. Not only has he written part of it but he learned how to post it online also.
So now I’m going to let him take over and tell you a little about himself, why he wanted to come to work today and what he hopes to learn.
Hi, my name is Sal and I like writing, books and grammar.
I want to learn about
- grammar
- blogs
- graphics
- how to start a business
- client calls
- ma (one of my mom’s other business’)
- marketing
- working with a team
I used to think my mom just sat around playing games on the computer all day but she does marketing copy. I am learning a lot that I didn’t know before.
Sal 
Marketing…Do You Have a Plan in Place?
Did you ever hear of the pink spoon offer? Basically it was named after the Baskin Robbins little pink spoon that you can get to taste flavors before deciding on what you want. It works the same for your business. Your pink spoon offer is a taste of what you can offer prospects that they can use to decide if they want to work with you instead of someone else.
This can be a free report, which may come from another part of your products, it can be an audio or video that you are using to teach them a valuable technique they can use to start solving their problem right away.
You always want to make sure though that your pink spoon offer has a way to contact you if they want to work with you further.
This is also a way that you will build your list as people sign up. Most times people will sign up for your offer, then they will start receiving your newsletter and emails and eventually they may decide to work with you. Sometimes this doesn’t happen and they just stay on your list indefinitely, other times they sign up with you right away and yet other times it may be months or years before they sign up for your product or service. By being in front of them though on a regular basis you are not allowing them to forget about you. That is why when the problem they are having gets to the point that the decide they need help with it, they are going to probably contact you instead of someone else because they feel they have built a relationship with you.
There are a few ways to market to your target audience. When you are marketing offline you will be touching people in a setting rather than through the internet. Some ways you can promote yourself offline are:
- press releases
- interviews
- promotional talks
- face to face conversations
- Phone conversations
- Your business card
When you are marketing online it can be easy and fun even if you are not the most computer savvy person. One way of marketing yourself online is to do so through social networking on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked in and You Tube. They let you build a relationship with your prospects by giving them valuable info in short bursts. You can also share about yourself personally to build a relationship with people. Prospects are more likely to buy from you when they think of you as a real person they can relate to. If you bonded over your dogs and their dogs stories, they are going to think of you as a friend not just an acquaintance.
You can also have people write recommendations for you on Linked in. I have met a lot of business people that I have done work for on Linked in. It is a great place to find JV partners as well. Look in the groups that interest you and you will find a lot of resources you didn’t have before.
Online marketing is all about relationship building. You aren’t face to face with people or on the phone so to gain their trust you have to build a relationship first. Now, always remember that no matter how your client/customer come to you for the first purchase, you need to keep the relationship going if you want them to purchase again. Your business no matter what kind it is should be about relationship building.
Is Your Website Working For You?
There are a couple things you want to keep in mind when creating your website.
1.) Content is king – search engines look for content. What you say and how you say it is essential. If you don’t like to write hire someone to do it for you. (I would be one of those rare breeds that loves to write;)
2.) Make sure you have a call to action so that your website is working for you even when you sleep or go on vacation. It can be building your list, selling your products and services and providing valuable info.
Every Website must have:
- Home page: this is the page that your visitors will see first when they arrive at your site. You want to make sure that this page is interesting and holds their attention. Don’t make it too wordy or hard to read. People don’t have a lot of time and they want to find what they are looking for quickly. Make it easy for them to see if you provide the answer they are seeking. You also want to build your list on this page. You want to give away a free offering that is a sample of what you can provide so that people can see without taking a risk if you may be a good fit for them. You need an opt in box to do this. An opt in box is the box you see on websites that allows you to enter your email, and name so that you can download something or join a newsletter list. In order to have an opt in box you need a company such as Aweber or Constant Contact that allows you to collect email addresses and then stores them for you in an online database. This is the company that will also send out your free offering, or a newsletter and once you have these names you can market to them again and again through this same database. This is one of the most important things for your website because without a list, you have no one to market your new products and services to. These people in your database are people that want to hear from you. They are what is called in business your warm leads and they will be the ones getting your message and product/service out to others as well.
- About page: This is the place that you will tell about you and your business. This is where you will put your background and any interesting information that will help people relate to you and realize why they should work with you. If you have a picture of yourself that you could add to this page that is a great way for people to connect a face to a name and feel more connected to you.
- Contact page: This page will have your name, address, phone number, email address…any contact information that you want clients to have so they can get in touch with you and learn more about how to work with you. You may even have a contact form on this page.
- Services page: This is the page that you will list your products/services on with a description of them as well. If you are offering services it is up to you if you want to put your prices.
I would suggest as well doing your website as a WordPress website. This will make it easy for you to have someone design it but you or your assistant can make simple changes to it. You don’t need to know coding or anything when you are making changes…it is like typing into a word document!
Get Excited…Your Prospects WANT to Talk to You!
Having conversations with prospects can be both exciting and scary. You’re excited to be talking to possible clients about how you can help them solve their problem and why you’re the best choice but you’re also scared to death that they’ll ask something you don’t know or won’t like you right?
If a person asks about something you aren’t knowledgeable about tell them so. Let them know if you are willing to learn it or if you don’t want to do so give them a reference to someone who does handle that or just say “I’m Sorry, I can’t help you with that”. It’s OK to say no!
Also, be sure to be fully present in the conversation. If you feel that you can’t be present in the conversation and really listen and hear what the other person is saying than it is a good idea to see if you can reschedule the call. The same goes for them. If you feel they are not present with you on the call ask if there is a better time to talk. Explain that you won’t take much of their time but that you would like them to not be multitasking while they are talking to you so they don’t miss important information that they may need later.
It would be helpful to have a binder on your desk with all your offerings at all times. This way when your brain freezes ( and it will happen from time to time even if it is a scheduled call and you think you are ready for it) you can resort to that to make sure you are telling the prospect what service/product they are asking about, what comes with each and the price. This gives you a reference right in front of you to go to.
Decide before the call that it is OK to pass the job up if it doesn’t feel right to you. When you have a conversation with a prospect be yourself. When clients are asking the next action step, or want to schedule another call, or are ready to provide you with what’s needed to work with you…then you know it is a good feeling with them. You’ll feel the energy in the conversation.
In your conversation find out what problem the person is having, how they feel now, how they would feel if that problem were solved. Then explain to them how you think you can help them solve this problem and why they should work with you. If you have been where they are let them know that. This will help them relate to you and see that you have had this experience and can help them because of having gone through it already and come out on the other side. By reaching out to the person you are talking to and having them relate to you and get to know you, you have a higher chance of them becoming customers.
Once this happens, you want to keep the relationship going. Send them a card for their birthday, or a congratulations note on an accomplishment they made or an award they received. People like to know they are cared about and when that comes from someone they have done business with and is not expected that makes it even more special for them. By keeping the relationship going you are likely to get referrals from these customers as well as have repeat buyers. As you put out new products or services these same people are likely to buy from you again and again because of the value they got from the first product or service.
Do You Have The Right Person for the Job?
One of my daily tasks is running an intern team of Virtual Assistants. This can get interesting. The thing is I change their roles from time to time for a few reasons.
1.) I want them to experience new roles so they can learn new things.
2.) I want to make sure they are doing something they enjoy
3.) I want to make sure I have the right person for the job.
This accomplishes many things. I am able to teach them new things that they can use in their business, they are learning what tasks they enjoy and what they don’t enjoy. I am also seeing their hidden talents that often they didn’t realize they had.
Recently I unearthed a few hidden talents in an intern that surprised her when I mentioned them. Through changing up tasks I discovered that she is amazing at social media. This is not a skill that she had down on the list originally that she sent to me. This was a task that was thrown at her and she excelled at.
She is also amazing at booking speaking engagements. This seems to be a true gift for her and another that she can provide to her own clients in her business as well.
These learning experiences can be fun and often teach you more about yourself. You find out about skills you didn’t know you had, you learn skills that amaze you and that you find you love and you also get to figure out what skills you have that you really don’t enjoy. This gives you the freedom to change up your offerings and do the things that truly bring you joy in life.
When you own your own business you want to be sure that you are living up to your dreams. This means not working for people that you don’t enjoy, doing tasks that you despise. It means aligning your work and clients with your true, authentic self. It means being able to say no or pass on work that does not fulfill you. It means taking on projects that bring you joy and that allow you time in your life for the things that are most important to you.
The way to have loyalty and top notch work is by ensuring people are doing what they enjoy and are talented at.
Do You Have Confidence in Your Pricing?
Are you confident in your skills and pricing? You can fake it for a bit but people will see through you in time so it is best to make the decision now about how you want your image and business to show up in the world.
What does confidence mean to you? To me confidence is not worrying about what others think of you….you do what you set out to do despite the opinions of others. If you feel that it is right for you, then it is the right thing to do.
Have you ever met someone that exudes confidence? Have you ever bought a product or service from someone because they had so much confidence in it that you felt that too? Sometimes, you didn’t even know the person or seen anything of theirs before but the confidence and poise they showed you was contagious and you just KNEW it was going to work, whatever it is they were selling to you.
If you don’t have confidence in yourself and don’t believe in your product or service, no one else will either. I know we all have had times in our lives when we thought we were going to purchase a particular product or service and we were all ready to sign the contract but the salesperson was tired, or sounded bored, or just didn’t follow up or care enough about you as a person to take more time with you. They just wanted to make the sale and be done and you could sense that right? I know I’ve had those moments and I refuse to buy in that situation as well. Even if they have the best deal anywhere around, if they have put me off by their attitude and how I was treated, they will not have my business no matter what they end up offering me! I sincerely believe that you get what you pay for. Don’t get me wrong, I love a great deal and will search for the best one but I also want great customer service and attentive sales people as well. When I have the whole package that’s great…if I don’t like the attitude they lost my business.
Take the time to connect with your inner guidance and decide how you want to present your offering, what is included with it and what price feels good to you. Why do you go one place over another? Because they have tapped into your energy and you feel good about it. Something they do resonates with you and makes you feel good…and let’s face it, we all want to feel good about our purchases…especially if they are costly!
Price points are a huge issue for most business owners when they start out. I even did this myself starting out. There are ways to make this easier.
If your gut feeling is off then your offering is off. Only you can know what feels right and makes you happy. Only you know what price feels right to you. If you can’t say it out loud and feel confident in your charge you are not charging the right price for you.
Research what others are offering for ideas but put together offerings that resonate with your knowledge and talents and what you enjoy doing. See what they are giving for offerings, services, pricing, ideas. Now determine what resonates with you. If it doesn’t feel right to you it won’t feel right for your client.
Do You Have a Strong Foundation?
Do you know how to put a good, strong foundation into your business so you can start to see success right away?
When starting a business you need to decide what type of business you are going to have. Is it going to be a sole proprietor, LLC or corporation? This is entirely up to you.
Some things you want to consider first when starting a business are:
- Your Business Image – what do you want your business to look like to people?
- Planned Business Growth – what goals do you have for your business? Where do you want to be in 30, 60 or 90 days…how about 1, 2, or 3 years from now?
- Cost of Start Up- what costs will you incur that you can think of right now in starting your business?
- Cost to Maintain – what costs will you have monthly in maintaining your business? Don’t think of these as bad though…they are investments in the future of your business.
- Financing Needs – Do you need any financing? Will you be applying for a loan or a grant?
- Amount of personal risk you want to take – How much money of your own are you putting in right now to start your business? Are you comfortable with that?
Once you have thought about those things you will be able to make a better decision on what type of business formation you want to have.
Next make sure there is a market for what you are offering. Think of keywords that describe your product or service and go to Google and see what you find. Look at the sites that come up and see what they are offering as well. This will give you a place to start with how to best get your offering out there. Don’t think of everyone as competition. There is plenty to go around and you have to remember that you are unique so what you are offering is always going to be different from someone else, even if it seems similar. Look at this part as a learning experience.
Make sure your business name is registered with the state. Then use that name exactly if possible or a close variation as your domain name. You can go to www.geektools.com and click on the “who is” tab to find out if the name is available. If it is register it right away through a domain registrar.
This is the start to setting your foundation to build on. Your house has a foundation and so should your business model!
Do You Have A Strategic Plan For 2012?
Do you have a strategic plan in place for your business? If not it’s time to do that!
There are a few things to put in place.
1.) Your schedule – when are you working, what are you doing? Make sure your schedule fits with your goals. Work on projects that are income producing, bring you closer to your dreams or are fun for you and something you WANT to do. Make sure to also schedule in family time and fun time. Put your personal care on your calendar as an unmovable appointment. This is extremely important also for your success. Even if it’s an hour a day to exercise, make sure it gets on and stays on.
2.) Your marketing – who is your target market, where are you going to find them and what are you going to do? It is extremely important to have your target market in place. This will allow you to be able to find them, market to them and get them into your inner circle. People do business with people they know, like and trust. In your marketing you want to focus on your target, speak directly to them, show them the problem they are having and your solution and let them get to know you as a person.
3.) Your sales – without sales you have no business. You probably think you’re not a salesperson but you are. You sell someone on the restaurant you want to eat at, the movie you want to see, etc. Children are master salespeople so watch a child sometime and pick up some tricks on how to get someone to buy what you are selling.
Spend a day and map out all the above. For example: When are you doing your blog, social media, marketing tactics, networking etc. Put this all on a marketing calendar so you know the plan and can follow it daily.
Planning is how you will hit the goals you set for yourself. If you are just winging it each day you will not get very far, you will burn out and you will end up out of business. That is not what any entrepreneur wants to have happen!
Remember that a strategic plan is what’s going to keep you on track and moving forward. The only place to go is up in your business when you know what you want to achieve!
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