Archive for January, 2010
Increase Your Visibility
Posted by: | CommentsYou may have a strong business idea and a great product, but are you doing everything you can to be seen by the right people? Increasing your visibility can change the way that potential customers see your business.
Visibility is the glue that holds all other strategies together when it comes to achieving success as a business owner. Each strategy gets your name out among other business owners, movers and shakers and potential clients. Being seen goes a long way with the word-of-mouth crowd.
Here are a few ways that you can increase your visibility:
- Attend business seminars
- Public speaking
- Write press releases
- Start a blog
- Publish a newsletter or ezine
If you are comfortable doing what you are doing and it works for you, still try at least one or two of these ideas. No one ever became a success by playing it safe or being comfortable. Trying new things and getting out of your comfort zone is one key to gaining visibility.
For some business owners, business can become stale. They only want to do certain things all of the time. This goes back to the issue of comfort level. When you are on Facebook and a fellow business owner is looking for speakers for his online conference or a local event in your area, throw your hat in the ring. Try something new that will increase your visibility.
Does someone in one of your associations need advice or a speaker for the next meeting? Take that spot for yourself. Every opportunity places another feather in your cap. It is a point that you can add to your bio and to your press releases for new products or events.
And, you can create newsletters for your customers. Sending a monthly or quarterly newsletter about your business gives you the chance to add information about accomplishments that have occurred since the last newsletter. Each solidifies your expert status in the eyes of current and potential customers.
Once you put all of this in place, keep a monthly check list on your ventures to be sure that they are still bringing about the desired effect. Some of it won’t require much tweaking – just checking in with the movers and shakers to be sure they still know your name.
Achieving expert status inspires confidence on the part of customers and fellow business owners. Increasing your visibility is the first step and the information in this post can help you do just that.
The Great Organizing GiveAway Starts Today
Posted by: | CommentsDid you know that getting organized always lands in the Top 10 list of New Year Resolutions? That must be why now is the perfect time for this GiveAway. There are many outstanding resources available to help you organize, but you know how hard it can be to to find the right ones for you. The Great Organizing GiveAway has solved that problem by collecting about 100 FREE resources in one spot!
The Great Organizing Giveaway starts today!
Go to the site and simply register to get access to the resources such as e-books, tip sheets, audio programs, complementary consulting and more! You can also enter into drawings for amazing prizes. My colleagues have really stepped up to the plate to deliver quality content just for you and it will cost you nothing!
Information at the site is divided into three main categories: your office, your time and your home. Business professionals, parents and students will all find expert material that fits their personal productivity and organization needs.
Here’s just a sample of the material you’ll find there:
And there’s lots more. While you are there, look for my free report – Efficient Computer Use.
Here’s the link again so you can find the right organizing tool for you.
Visit Reader Blogs and Get to Know Them
Posted by: | CommentsReaders visit your website each day. They are there for information to start. They may keep coming back because of your knowledge or to get to know you before they try your product or service offerings. Let them know that you are a real person by returning the favor and visiting them too. It’s great add a comment to your blog post where your reader commented, but it’s another game all together to return the favor by commenting on their blog.
Everyone is a real person but not everyone comes off like they are. Business owners who intentionally stay aloof from their readership set themselves up for all sorts of scathing comments. They are like royalty in ivory towers – high and unreachable.
You are one part of the business equation. Your readers (potential customers) are the other part. Without traffic, you can’t hope to make a sale. Unless you build relationships with the readers, they won’t see any reason to stay loyal to you.
Blogging
Chances are, at least one third of your readers have some sort of presence in cyberspace. More than likely it will be a blog. They may be professional bloggers, recreational bloggers or online entrepreneurs like you.
One way to get to know them is to visit their sites. If you have your own blog for your business, have a category devoted to reader news. Take some time to highlight some of your regular readers on a bi-weekly or monthly basis.
Next, visit their blogs. Read what they have to say and the kind of topics they talk about. Leave helpful comments that show you actually read the posts and not just wishy-washy “I came to visit you to say hello.” Really get involved. Remember the old saying, “treat others the way you want to be treated?” This old saying, when put into practice, can really catapult your expert status.
If you have an RSS reader, you can include all of their sites in it so that you will be notified when there are new updates. Participate just like any other follower of the site. They will recognize your name.
Sites, that you like, will benefit when you link back to them on your site. Organic links rank higher in search engine eyes than simply doing each other a favor and exchanging links. On your blog, you can post reviews of their blogs or just write posts that highlight each one. This is essentially a review without calling it that.
Interacting with your readers and getting to know them in this way is mutually beneficial. Those organic links work both ways. Besides, you never know who will hear about your business through these comments and other relationship building techniques.
Organize Your Business
Posted by: | CommentsAs an entrepreneur, your systems are the processes and procedures by which everything in your business runs. When your systems work, everything runs smoothly, or as smoothly as possible when running a business.
Systems are essentially a step-by-step process written out for each aspect of your business. They help you stay on track, they make you more efficient, they streamline your business and they help you see where you can improve and where your business is excelling. When your systems work, everything runs smoothly. When they don’t work…well you get the picture.
Some potential systems include:
- Customer service
- Marketing
- Sales
- Product creation
- Product development
- Purchasing
- Production
- Producing an ezine
- Billing
- Invoicing
- Outsourcing
Systems are particularly useful when you’re outsourcing a task to a virtual assistant. If you’ve done the processes in advance, then, you’ll have everything written down from the very first to the very last step, and your virtual assistant will know how you like your business handled.
Creating your systems
The first step to creating systems is to realize what processes your business uses. Simply make a list of the processes you go through on a daily or weekly basis. Once you have your list, it’s time to actually create your systems. They’re created initially by simply writing down the steps to accomplish a task. As new processes are added to your business, you’ll simply create a new system for that process. For example, if you add on an affiliate program then you’ll have several new system like a payment system, a communication system, a recruiting system and so on.
Once your systems are created, the processes can be fine-tuned by using several steps. Firstly, you may want to simply evaluate the process you’ve written to see if it works and if there are any loopholes or steps you’ve missed. Secondly, you may want to include goals and measurements to determine whether the system is a success.
For example, if you have a customer service system and your goal is to have 100% customer satisfaction, and you end up losing 20% of your customers due to an inadequate customer service policy, then you know the system needs to be tweaked.
Storing your systems
Because you are a business owner, you are probably on your computer at least 50% of the working day, and more than likely you’re on it almost 100% of the working day. This means it makes sense to organize your systems on your computer. A simple file with the date and the name of the system will make them easy to access. You’ll also want to organize your goals and how you’re going to measure the goals.
Systems are a business owner’s best friend. They’ll help keep you on track and running smoothly today, tomorrow and for years to come.
