Posts Tagged ‘Success’

What Blocks You From Doing Your Marketing?

In the last post I talked about what blocks people from doing their marketing. The fear that comes up over and over is this:

If I do my marketing regularly and well, I’ll attract too much business, and end up working seven days a week. My service level will drop off, everyone will get mad at me, I’ll lose a bunch of customers and be back where I started, except worse off because a lot of people will be mad who weren’t mad before.

Three Alternatives

Of course there is another alternative to this scenario. Three, actually. Raise prices, start a waiting list, or hire people to help. This week we’re going to talk about raising prices.

This option frequently scares people. It’s also not right for everyone. There are scenarios where you can’t raise your prices; and perhaps even if you could, you wouldn’t want to. That’s up to you to decide; but before you reject this idea out of hand, read on.

Raising Prices

If you absolutely love doing the primary work of your business and you don’t want to delegate any of that to someone else, and you don’t want to supervise employees, raising your prices is a good option.

How Do I Do It?

Here’s what to do. First, delegate everything you don’t enjoy or aren’t good at (bookkeeping and administrative work being two possible candidates). You can hire other companies or other solo entrepreneurs to do this work for you so you don’t have to directly employ anyone. Independent bookkeepers, virtual assistants, organizers, and lots of other kinds of administrative support people abound. Talk to your business friends about who they use and take the plunge. This should begin to free up some of your time.

If You Are The Spiritual Type

Next, if you are the spiritual type, read this blog post by Mark Silver about setting prices using your heart.

If this idea makes you scoff or cringe, read this blog post anyway. It contains some very practical advice about how to price.

If Your Are the Analytical Type

If you can’t stomach the spiritual approach, research your competition on line, even risking calling some people in your same business outside your competitive area and asking them what they charge.

Now Do It

Then raise your prices. Don’t go crazy, obviously, but I’m guessing that in your research, or in doing Mark’s method, you found that your prices were too low in the first place. Some customers may leave, but you’ll have less business at a higher price, which should give you some breathing room.

By the way, this is the law of supply and demand. Things in greater demand (non-stop plane flights, homes in good school districts) cost more. For some reason, we think this law doesn’t apply to us in small business. But it does. If you are great at what you do, your perfect clients want what you do, and you are communicating to them regularly about how you can help them, you’ll earn more business than you can handle. The demand will exceed the supply. One way you can respond to this is by raising your prices.

Got comments? Post them here.

Tags: Fear, Marketing, Pricing, Success

The theme for this week’s blog post (I know, it’s already Friday- I had to think a lot about this first), is marketing.

Revolutionary Idea

What if you picked a marketing activity you enjoyed doing?

What might that activity be?

Luckily for us, the Internet has expotentiallyexpanded our marketing choices. You can blog, tweet, have a Facebook fan page for your business, arrange in-person groups via MeetUp, write articles showcasing your knowledge, link with other business contacts on LinkedIn … but where’s an overworked business owner supposed to jam all this activity into our already over-scheduled days?

A Different Way to Think About This Problem

Instead of fretting about which kind of marketing to do, take one step back and come at the question from the opposite direction.

Since marketing in its purest form is nothing more complicated than communication between your business and your clients and prospects, ask yourself: how do your clients want you to talk to them?

Better yet, ask your clients.

Comments I’d love to read:

1. You talked to your clients and here’s what they said.

2. You talked to your clients and here’s what you’re doing as a result.

Tags: Customers, Marketing, Relationships, Social Networking, Success

This month’s newsletter is about how authenticity (real authenticity, not the fake stuff), is actually a great marketing tool. I promised the people who read the newsletter and wanted more examples of people who were using their authenticity to attract their perfect clients: here are three more examples.

www.therawfoodcoach.com

This is a person who actually eats nothing but raw food, and wants to help you do the same.  Perhaps this isn’t as much of a stretch as some of the other businesses listed below; her clients are not going to be put off by the raw-food-only mission. But if you come to her site not as one of the converted, you might be surprised to see how adamant (and convincing) she is about eating nothing but raw food. Yes, people actually do this, and I can say from (limited) experience that raw food can be pretty tasty.

www.communicatrix.com

This is a consultant who teaches corporate marketing department people how to use social media. There is a certain amount of cussing going on in her blog, plus at the bottom of her “About” page, she says this: “Okay, my ACTUAL mission is “To Be a Joyful Conduit of Truth, Beauty and Love,” but that tends to draw a lot of blank stares in traditional networking-type situations. Plus it doesn’t cover much in the way of worldly overhead outside of your average ashram. (Although I swear I’m putting it on my next business card anyway.)” She charges $120/hour. Read a few of her blog entries; you’ll see a person who is authentically herself in all her opinionated glory.

And the last one for this blog post, is Escape from Cubicle Nation. The woman who owns this business said this to a group of corporate executives (and reported the story in her bio): “Wow – you look just like the gang members that I work with. They look at me like that when they want to intimidate me. What’s up?”

After a tense silence (when I was wondering if I had finally lost my mind), they burst out laughing and immediately changed their demeanor.”

When was the last time you wanted to tell a room full of corporate executives that you were training, that they looked like a group of gang members? Did you go ahead and do it?

I’m on a quest for more authenticity; in plumbers, chiropractors, dentists, contractors, and all other types of businesses. Anybody got more examples?

Tags: Authenticity, Marketing, Success

I sent my email newsletter out last week with an article about telling the truth, especially the hard truths, and got more response to it than I’ve gotten to all my other wonderfully helpful articles about marketing and customers and all the other ones about doing business better. Here’s the text of the article:

“I have a friend with a heart problem (the physical kind). She needs to have a procedure done to fix it, but has not been willing to do it. Like all “procedures,” behind this word is pain, a stay in the hospital, anesthesia, and the (small but always present) risk of death. The risk of death is higher if she doesn’t get the procedure done, but it’s hard to remember that part when you’re not dead right now, and you are contemplating the hospital stay with all its accompanying pain, lack of sleep, and other uncomfortable features.

My friend’s cardiologist has told her for the past year that she needs to have this procedure done. This doctor is kind, gentle, knowledgeable and trustworthy.

Yesterday, I witnessed a different cardiologist tell my friend the same thing. This cardiologist was abrupt, harsh, and when my friend started to argue with him, held up his hand and said, “I don’t want to hear it. My job is to tell you the risks. I don’t take it personally if you don’t take my advice. I just want you to know the facts.”

At first I thought “what a jerk.” But then I started to think about my friend and her heart and what’s best for her. The second cardiologist (the first one too, just not as harshly), had my friend’s welfare and the truth of the situation uppermost in his mind. He might have presented it more kindly, but to him, the information trumped the delivery.

It got me thinking. Where am I mincing words? Am I doing that with any of my clients? Would a truthful conversation with someone, without worrying what they thought of me as I delivered the message, help the person, or the business, immeasurably?

Is there a conversation you need to have? Does one of your clients need to take an action (or even buy something from you) that is in her best interest, but she is resisting? The key to this is having the person’s welfare as your top priority, without being attached to the outcome. Deliver the message, let go of whether the person hears, or heeds it.”

So that’s the article. I got at least ten replies from people who took the advice to heart and had their difficult conversations, every one with unexpectedly good results.

People said things like: “Happens to be just what I needed to hear…”
“Your words inspired me to get in a quiet space and think about the conversation I was going to have that brought me some fear.”
“I did it!”

The moral of the story, at least today, is that even though I do want to provide helpful business information, sometimes the best information for us small business owners is the stuff that addresses the human side, the relationship side of business.

I used to think these subjects were taboo, as if I’m supposed to leave my personality (and all its foibles, shortcomings and quirks) at the door. Judging from the response to my newsletter, I was wrong.

Tags: Fear, Relationships, Success, Truth

I am working on a book: You Hate to Market, and What to Do About It.  I got the idea from my clients, especially the introverted ones (i.e. the ones who recharge their batteries by being alone).  Many of them thought that marketing meant either cold calling or networking; both activities they hate.

This book is based on the idea that the best marketing is the marketing you actually do; and if you know who you are, it’s easier to figure out what that “best” marketing is.

If you want a complete picture of your type (as described by the Myers Briggs type indicator), go here and take the test, or buy the book Please Understand Me.

Here are some preliminary marketing recommendations, based on what type you are:

Introverted, Thinking type:  LinkedIn (a place for you to tell people about your professional credentials, and to link to other people).

How to start:

1. Fill in your profile completely, including a flattering, professional picture (sign up for the free account if you haven’t done that already).

2. Become a visible expert in your field.  Click on the Learning Center, then on Answers, then on Answering Questions.  If there are questions that LinkedIn users are asking that you have expertise in, consider answering these questions.

There are many more features and ways to use LinkedIn; if it captures you and you enjoy doing what I have suggested above, there are many websites (including the LinkedIn site) that will tell you how to use the site to your best advantage.

Introverted Feeling Type:  Blogging

How to start:

1. Read 10 other blogs written  by people in your same business (find them at www.technorati.com)

2. If any of the blogs you read interest you, post your own replies to their blog posts. (Make it more interesting and intelligent than “I like your blog.”

3. Write down ten possible blog post topics.

4. Write 2 or 3 blog posts (just in a word processor to start with), and see how you like writing.

5. Ask yourself if you can handle negative replies to your posts.

6. If you like writing, can handle the occasional negativity, and you don’t have a blog already, go to www.wordpress.com and sign up for a free account.

7. Start blogging.  Set aside an hour a week to do 2 posts.

If you are an Extraverted Thinker: MeetUp (a site where you can post your interest in creating a group where people actually meet face to face).

How to start:

1. Think about the characteristics of the people you would like to meet with in a group.  These might be your perfect clients, or they might be people who also work with your perfect clients.

2. Use the search function in MeetUp to see if a group like that currently exists.  If it does, go visit.

3. If it doesn’t, follow the directions on the MeetUp site to start your own group.

And if you are an Extraverted Feeling type: Facebook.

How to start:

1. Sign up for a (free) account on Facebook and set up a personal Profile.  Be careful what level of personal information you put on your page.  Only the people whom you accept as friends can see this information, but make sure you don’t disclose too much at the beginning.  You can go back and put more information in later.

2. Use the Facebook search to see if any other businesses like yours have Facebook Pages (these are different from Profiles in that they are visible to the whole Internet.)  If there are some businesses similar to yours that have Pages, take notes on what you like and don’t like.

3. Create a Page for your business.  Click on Advertising (at the bottom of your Profile), then click on Create a Page.  It will take you through the setup in five minutes.

4. Put useful information on your Page that your customers care about, then tell them about the existence of your Page by email, by putting the Facebook logo on your website, putting a note in their monthly invoices; and ask them to become Fans.

There are more details to learn about each of these types of marketing.  I will be starting teleclasses in March to help you understand both who you are, and what kinds of marketing will work for you.  In the meantime, if something calls you, look into it.  The best marketing is the marketing that gets done.  CONSISTENTLY.

Tags: Marketing, Social Networking, Success

I was coached yesterday by two skilled coaches: Carolyn Parrs of Mind Over Markets, and Noriko Ogami.

I am getting close to picking the designer for my first book.  This part is hard, and I was whining to them about making a mistake.  Of course, the biggest mistake is to agonize over the decision and make it take longer, but hey, I don’t want to Do It Wrong.  In the meantime I was bogged down by all this, which Carolyn and Noriko picked up immediately.

People have written a lot about this place.  In coaching school they called it “The Dip.”  When I had an IT company and we were in the middle of a big installation that looked like it would never get finished, I called it being in “the valley of the shadow of death,” (thanks to the anonymous psalmist).  Whatever it’s called, you’re supposed to recognize that these dips happen, even when you’re doing work you love, like I am; and you’re supposed to Slog Through.

The part that was fun in the coaching was the idea that I could slog through this with a different attitude.  I am an eccentric person, so weird things like puppets and sequined scarves and cat-eyed rhinestone glasses and 12 different colors of white board markers make me feel better already.

The coaches showed me it’s possible to slog eccentrically, which makes it feel less swamp-like and more fun.  It’s  possible to wear cat-eye rhinestone glasses while slogging, which makes me laugh.  It’s possible to make the whole thing less of a slog.  Evidently all you need is some rhinestones.  Or maybe some sequins.

Tags: coaching, eccentricity, Success, writing

The end of the writing road (and the beginning of the design and print and market and sell road), has come for my first book.  Thanks to Matt MacEachern of Lidera Consulting, it has a great title: Passion–Plan–Profit: 12 Simple Steps to Convert Your Passion into a Solid Business.

The experience of completing a book is different than I expected.  I thought the hard part would be the actual writing.  That part was challenging, but it’s one thing to finish writing a book and something else altogether to take the final two steps to get it published, even if I’m doing it myself and can control every step of the process. The book isn’t actually finished until it’s designed and printed.

I always thought this book was a good idea, but now I’m risking finding out if other people agree.  Yikes.

Tags: Add new tag, Business Plans, Success, writing

I have coached three people in the last week who are starting up new businesses, but have not yet seen (made/generated) any revenue.  Their plans are in place, the demand is there, but no customers yet.

The first check from a real customer is crucially important when you’re starting up. I know this may be a big DUH for everyone else, but I really got how the First Money will change all three clients’ attitudes about their ventures.  They’ve done a lot of work to make sure the market is there and that they are charging the right prices, but nothing will confirm they’re on the right track like a paying customer.

So if you’re reading this, and you’re starting a new business, where can you get your First Money?  Sooner rather than later.

Tags: Marketing, Success

This is my first official blog post on my new site.  Nobody cares that this is a first for me (except you, my darling friends who know me).  The fact that it’s my first post isn’t important.  What is important is that I’m starting it, and that I will be consistent.

I’m writing a book called “You Hate To Market, And What To Do About It.”  I got interested in this subject through coaching a lot of small business owners.  With one voice, they all say they hate to market.  The reason for this is most people think marketing is either cold calling people who will cuss you out and hang up on you; or it involves going to large networking events where you know no one, and trying to talk people into buying things from you.

You can market like this if you want, but there are a lot of other ways to do it that are much more effective.  I’m going to blog about this over the next weeks and months as I do more research and see what people are doing.

The moral of the story today is that if you look at marketing as if it is a conversation with people (your beloved customers), it takes the pressure off.  A friend of mine calls her marketing “visiting.”   The difference with “visiting” is that you talk to people with them in mind; their needs, what’s important to them.  You don’t go visit someone to cram a message down their throats (usually :>).  The other part of visiting is that for it to be meaningful, you need to do it fairly frequently.

What kind of conversation can you start up with your customers today?  I’m going to blog and post some tweets on Twitter (more about that in later blogs).

Tags: Consistency, Marketing, Success