Find the systems you need to grow your business
Here in the states it’s Independence Day so – sorry to all the Brits out there but – we’re celebrating with a day off, lighting shiny things on fire and barbeque.
One of the reasons I enjoy holidays such as this is that the history is inspiring. While we celebrate national independence today, it’s also an important practice to celebrate your personal independence.
Here are 3 of the freedoms to embrace every day as you celebrate personal independence: Continue Reading ￫
Several months back I was unsurprised to hear of the mercy killing of Google Reader, the easy to use blog following tool that millions used to keep up with their favorite sites. Today the service is officially retired and I think it’s a necessary and welcome change.
In the beginning, using Google Reader was great! No more checking your favorite blogs day after day while bored at work to find out who has a new post – they get delivered to you automatically. Of course, the interface didn’t easily support graphics and since some of our favorite posts had original drawings or photography that was a bummer. And let’s not mention that videos and gifs didn’t work either.
So when Google Reader was “retired” it seemed like a hassle for loyal users to migrate to a new service, but I believe it’s one of the best things that can happen to an avid blog follower and here’s why…
Continue Reading ￫
All across the world in millions of cities every day a new employee arrives for the first day at work. Imagine the chaos, in the business world and personally, if all those bosses turned to the new hire and said “well, we don’t really know what you’re going to be doing so just hang around, check in, you’ll get the hang of it. Break room is over there.”
It would be a disaster, both for the business which is paying for help that isn’t productive and for the employee who is now confused, struggling and worried.
And this is what happens every week in online businesses when new contractors arrive, ready to work, only to hear “well, we don’t really know what you’re going to be doing yet…”
What if hiring a new team member wasn’t a cause for stress because you had your very own, up to date, accurate, useful and accessible operations manual ready to hand over?
Continue Reading ￫
Every time I see a challenge, goal or intention to “grow your list” something inside me rebels. While on the surface there’s nothing against growing your list of subscribers to your ezine or newsletter, it’s missing the point.
3 Reasons why Growing Your List isn’t the goal:
1. Quality, not quantity should be the focus. You know how it is, someone says they have 3,000 friends on Facebook and 9,000 twitter followers and still no one to help them move. The number of connections isn’t as important as the quality. After all, you can have a list of a hundred thousand but if none of those leads are qualified or interested in what you’re offering then it’s nothing more than a vanity number.
Continue Reading ￫
As a hobby photographer, I love traipsing around the world with my camera. But it took me 3 years to find the simplest solution for a common problem: my disappearing lens cap. The cycle was always the same:
Plan trip
Take camera
Lose lens cap
Be paranoid rest of trip
Order new lens cap
And then, a few years ago something changed and I found a solution. The best part? It was free.
After a trip in 2011 I ordered yet another lens cap and this one came with a string… a little black string that attached from the lens cap to the lens and has survived all this time.
Do you ever find yourself looking too long and hard for the solution and discover it could be as easy as a little piece of string? Searching for the perfect software for your problem and realize you already own it?
Here’s the thing I really love, this company that included that little string knew what I didn’t: that it’s really easy to lose a lens cap that isn’t attached to the camera! They thought through my problem and provided a solution. They gave me a system that works. I love this because they gave me something to help my life, even if it hurt their profits. Because I would have certainly continued to lose my lens cap and return to buy more every few months.
But that’s not how you gain loyalty. Providing solutions for your clients and giving them proven systems may mean you get hired less frequently. However, you’ll increase client satisfaction and probably referrals and testimonials.
Funny story to tell you today… I’d planned to write on this topic way back in March. It was something that had come up with a few of my clients when they’d hired help and things were just not working out.
I tend to have anywhere from 40-75 blog topics ruminating on my list at any time so I go in, decide which ones are most topical and requested, and then write them when I’m really in the flow of writing.
My content manager takes the post, occasionally reminds me to submit the content, and then posts for me.
So what happened? Why didn’t this post come out in March? The reason my blog post didn’t go live is how you know when it’s time to fire.
Continue Reading ￫
Your desk is piled with papers, you’re getting a new email every 2 minutes, everyone is pulling for your attention, and personal tasks keep piling up in your mind. How do you manage it all so you don’t go crazy but do make progress? One step at a time.
Over the Memorial Day holiday, I began a big project which reminded me of the importance of working steadily to accomplish your goals.
See, often we’re sold on the dream. The million dollar a year business, a beautiful and comfortable home, that perfect beach body or the smooth launch campaign. And we want that so badly that we jump in with both feet and tackle the project with ye-haw! and ‘this is awesome yo!’
But invariably there’s a little bump in the road, or many bumps, and it’s your choice to keep on rolling or get off track entirely. In my experience there are 5 stages to go through:
Continue Reading ￫
Have you ever been caught in the trap of perfectionism or had someone else hold you to their (impossible) standards? It’s a modern hostage situation and one that we most often put ourselves in.
That launch can’t happen, I haven’t written the seventh follow up email yet! Or this web page isn’t ready, it’s not dynamic and flexible on the most obscure of operating systems and every version of Internet Explorer still in use by those stuck in 1999. This copy just isn’t good enough yet and that blog post isn’t ready – I need to research more and more and more.
I’m here to lovingly suggest that you let go, wise up and stop holding yourself back, both in life and business, because perfection isn’t arriving anytime soon honey. Continue Reading ￫
So you want to engage with your audience and maybe even secure a commitment. Here’s a NOVEL idea, you have to talk more than once.
And the conversation can’t be one sided.
You also shouldn’t just focus on yourself.
Got it?
In online business there are a lot of ways to engage. Today we’ll be covering what NOT to do.
When someone joins your list, don’t immediately pitch them to buy something from you. This is the social equivalent of asking for a wedding date the first time you meet.
Don’t be so self-involved that you’re only talking about what you do and what you’re interested in. Reach out, ask through email or surveys or conversations on social media what they need. What are the hopes, dreams and fears.
And please don’t ask just so you can check it off a to do list. You need to be authentic and real if this engagement is going to last!
Just like a personal relationship, there has to be back and forth. Invite a response and then reply – don’t leave the other person waiting for days at a time. There has to be some flexibility too, as you get to know each other, then you can adapt your expectations. Maybe your initial impression was that this lead would be great for your 6 month program, but after a few conversations they’re only interested in your group program.
You can be stubborn and lose the entire relationship, or work together with respect, to discover the best engagement level.
It’s not that hard to get engaged, especially when you act like a human and think of the way relationships work in real life!
There are a lot of things we have to do in our businesses as entrepreneurs – many of them new and difficult. In some ways it was much easier working in a corporate environment because someone else brought in the business, handled payments, did payroll, cleaned the office and paid your health insurance.
As an entrepreneur there are a hundred things to learn and it can be overwhelming. So what’s an entrepreneur to do?
Hustle. Continue Reading ￫
