| TECH TOOLS YOU CAN REALLY USE: MS WORD I really hit a soft spot when I blithely suggested adding a table of contents to a Word document in a recent newsletter. I received several requests...and one demand: how do you do that?
Get More Links to Your Website and Increase Your Expert Status By Writing Articles
Writing articles is one of the three prime marketing activities for One-Person Business owners.* With an increasing number of distribution opportunities on the web, and a carefully crafted
"resource box", business owner/authors can position themselves as experts in their niche, drive traffic to their websites, and increase the incoming links search engines value.
Use More of the Tech Tools You Already Have: MS Office E-MailQuick tips on how to use Entourage/Outlook features so you can be more effective, save time, have less rework for careless mistakes, and look more professional.
Follow up: Key to Networking SuccessFollowing up on networking is crucial. Many small business owners don’t follow up either because they don’t know what to do or feel they need to do too much. Two networking follow up experts tell you how to follow up easily and effectively.
One Product/Service/Client Does NOT
Make a Business
Recently a new client came to me in total frustration. She
had been working with another coach, who had insisted she
focus on offering, and aggressively marketing, only one
service. Now she was out of energy, out of money, and
couldn't understand why she was failing. A great
salesperson in her previous work, she was struggling to
sell enough of this one service to support herself.
This talented and skilled professional was on a slippery
slope to a failed business. She was using one of the most
enticing and dangerous models for the direction of her
business: Offering just one service to just one market.
One service, one big client, one product, does not make a
one-person business that can thrive.
Don't let your Website Hold You, and Your One-Person Business, Hostage
The great myth that stops many one-person business owners in their tracks is
their website needs to be perfect, or at least wonderful, before they can use it
to market their business.
In fact, there's lots you can do before you have a real website, or with your
current website, to market your business.
Budget is not a Four Letter Word
Your budget, your financial records, and record keeping systems, lets you decide how to best leverage your strengths, knowledge, and skills to increase the income and profitability of your professional services business.
Develop Your Ops Manual
Your Operations Manual, is a crucial tool in your Internal Management tool kit. It contains all the information you need to run your business day-by-day, face crises calmly, and lets you to back fill in a hurry.
Sales:
It's all in the Timing
Recently one of my coaching clients was sharing
her frustration with contacting potential
clients in an industry new to her.
She
knew they'd have a need for what she offered.
And, she'd done enough work in the industry
to know she was a good fit. And, their season
was fast approaching.
With
enthusiasm, she started making calls to
her prospect list. Each of the people she
spoke with was pleased to hear from her.
But, they all had the same response when
she asked for the sale.
Get
Your Systems In Place NOW!
When I first started making the transition
from therapist to speaker, Somers White offered
me the opportunity to visit his office where
he was running his successful speaking and
consulting business. I came away from my visit
with one basic rule (and a multitude of tips)
firmly in mind: get your systems in place
first.
Somers'
advice is as timely today as it was then.
Get your systems in place first, especially
if you want to automate your business.
Marketing:
Push or Pull?
In
traditional marketing parlance, there are
two primary ways of filling your professional
practice. You can push your message out
to the public, or to your narrower niche
market. You can send letters, announcements
of your new services, or call people on
the phone.
The
second way, the way that is more comfortable
for most of us, is to have your phone ring
because of all the things you are doing
that aren't really traditional marketing
activities. Have what you do with your current
clients, your professional network, or even
the community events in which you participate
as just one of the folks, not necessarily
in your professional role, pull potential
clients to you.
"Sell
the Sizzle, Not the Steak!"
It
is a sad truth to face, especially when
we have worked so hard on getting trained,
educated, and experienced. But, most of
our prospects don't really care what we
do, where we got our training or degrees,
or what tools we use.
At
least not at first. First, they want to
know what can you do for me? what problem
can you solve, what new idea can you bring.
Their primary concern is some version of
"When will I stop hurting?" or
"When will I start getting more of
what I want?"
Reprinting and
Reposting
An
electronic version of these articles is available if you
wish to reprint or repost one of them. Please contact Dr.
Pat Wiklund for permission to reprint, and to see if there
is a royalty required for reprint.
If permission is granted, we request a hard copy of the
publication in which the article appears. We request you
include Pat's bio at the end of the piece, along with
contract information, and preferably, a photo. We'll happily
supply a 5x7 black and white or color photo if you can use
it.
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