Michele – Page 24 – Michele Christensen

Measurement basics for solopreneurs

One of the key activities in building a successful business is measuring how well your efforts are working. There’s the obvious measurement of whether profits

Michele Christensen on how solopreneurs can measure their efforts — Measuring your efforts is the only way to make sure they work

are increasing but you don’t earn profit in a vacuum. Your profits are directly related to a myriad of other activities you do and many of these can and should be measured. Most solopreneurs I talk to don’t like numbers, so it’s important to keep any measurement efforts simple, quick and informative. Almost nobody gets things right in their business right out of the gate, so the difference between success and failure is to be always measuring and adjusting to what you do.

The first step to measuring is to be strategic about what you decide to do. It’s not enough to say “I’m going to start Tweeting” or “I want to blog more.” There has to be an objective to your activities and preferably it should be one that can be measured in some way. Ultimately, of course, the objective in a for-profit business is to serve more people and make more profits but it’s likely that many of your activities will have results that are intermediate steps to making profit. For example, you may want to increase the number of people you meet through networking, but adding numbers alone will not result in more business. A more strategic way to think about this would be “I want to meet more people through networking so I can have 10 meetings per month with people who can refer business to me.” Your progress on this goal can be measured – how many people did you meet this month, and how many potential referral partners did you meet up with? It’s also an intermediate step to profit – empowering more people with what they need to know to refer to you can result in more referrals which can result in more business. Once you begin measuring these 2 things – people met and meetings set, you can see how well your efforts are working. Later, when you have some data over time you can see how much business you got from these referrals and have a sense of the dollar value of your networking efforts.

Conversely, if you didn’t measure this but only went to event after event and added to that ever-growing stash of business cards, you’d have no strategic goal, no way to measure and no way to know if the time you invested was paying off. This is why it’s so important to measure your results – continuing to invest time and energy into things that are not working will hurt your business. You do have to do this for yourself – you can’t just do what other businesses do because every business is different. As far as how to track the figures, I use a simple spreadsheet which I fill out every Friday. If a measurement has improved, the number is green so even with a quick glance I can see how I’m doing.

What do you need to start measuring in your business? Leave a comment and tell me about your plan.

What’s the best thing to learn to grow your business?

Michele Christensen on solopreneur business growth — The best thing to learn to grow your business

This is an interesting question. I was participating in a forum discussion on this topic and the answers were varied – marketing, time management, technical skills related to what you sell, sales and a few others popped up. While I agree that all of these are important, my answer was “how to be a business owner.” This is the single most important thing to learn to grow you business. You can be the best at what you do but if you don’t know the skills required to run a business with those skills then it’s improbable you’ll have a business. What does it mean to be a business owner? What are the skills you need to run a business well? How does this apply to solopreneurs?

Being a business owner encompasses everything that is not involved in delivering your product or service. Imagine owning a restaurant – the main activity is serving food to customers. The owner may or may not be involved in food service, but he or she has to do all sorts of things to make sure the staff can serve food. The owner has to make sure all the supplies are in house, proper licenses and inspections are maintained, all applicable laws are followed, inventory is managed in a cost effective way, customers continue to come through the door, profits are adequate, staffing needs are handled and that the customer experience is consistent from visit to visit.

Normally in a restaurant, there are levels of staff such as owner, manager and supervisor to make sure all the tasks get done correctly. As a solopreneur, the challenge becomes being good both at the product or service we sell and being a good business owner. Business ownership actually encompasses many different skills, so aside from having a great product or service there’s a lot to learn. I’ve worked with lots of people who were shocked to find out it wasn’t enough to simply have a great product or service and in fact I learned this myself after first launching my business with a slightly different focus than I have now.

So what should you do to get started on building your business skills? Here’s a list to help you along.

Make sure you have a great product or service and that you are continually adapting to what your market wants. If you don’t have a great product, no amount of business skills will build you a viable business.
Commit to serving people in the highest way you can. Make it your goal that both you and your customer leave every transaction better off than you were before.
Realize that building business skills is like keeping physically fit – you’re never done. Like fitness, you’ll first need to develop a base level of competency and then keep up your efforts forever.
Pick a handful (not too many!) of businesses who you love to purchase from and study what they do. What makes you love them?
Feed your brain a steady diet of information and learning on the topic of business skills. Blogs, newsletters, forums, podcasts, books, etc are all good sources of information.

Teaching solopreneurs business skills is a huge part of my mission so I’d love to help you with this!

Solopreneur Growing Pains

Most solopreneurs I’ve worked with start small and bend the rules to establish themselves. It’s common to start by giving away some free services in exchange

for testimonials or referrals and offer big discounts to hone your craft and gain some momentum. Policies are only loosely enforced if they exist at all in those early days. What almost always happens is that at some point the business is humming along and the business owner still has clients who came on board in the early days and this can create tension for the solopreneur who now has to serve those clients under the old rates or service plan even though it’s no longer appropriate for the business. In those early days, it was fine to get a last minute cancellation since your days were wide-open, but now that means lost income from an empty slot you could have filled with more notice. Maybe some of those early clients are only paying about half of what you charge now.

So what do you do? How do you handle these growing pains?

Start by getting clear on what you want. What rate do you want? How much notice for cancellations do you want? What travel reimbursement do you want? What services do you no longer want to do? Don’t worry if you don’t think you can get all these things right away and still fill your practice – it’s important to know what you want so you can at least begin moving toward that model.

Decide on how much you are committed to the model you want. If you adhere strongly to your model, you may lose some clients off the bat. It may be okay to phase things in over time or give someone a grace period. You may decide to keep some clients even though they don’t line up exactly with your desired business model. When making a change like this, you can do it gradually or all at once depending on your comfort level and your market. If there are services or products you’ve offered that you no longer want to do, consider offering them at a premium price instead of not offering them.

This can be a painful and uncomfortable process but it is necessary to continue your business progress. Your policies, fees, business model and array of services will continue to change and grow with you. At least a few times a year, check in with how you feel about these areas of your business and see if it’s time to grow a little.

Put some PERSONALity in your business communications

Michele Christensen on using your personality in business writing — Put some personality in your business communication

As a solopreneur, you ARE your business and this is the case even if you use outsourced help. When people hire your company, they are placing much more emphasis on the part of your business that is you. When people are thinking of hiring you, it’s likely they don’t want a big, faceless company or they wouldn’t be thinking of you in the first place. Therefore, it’s imperative you give them a peek into who the person behind the business is. A potential client can see if you are qualified on paper by looking at your website, but they can only know if they like you enough to work with you by getting to know you. For some businesses, it’s even important as social proof for your business – you have to show that you live what you teach others.
They key thing to letting business contacts into your personal life is moderation. Tell people some of what you are about, not all of it. You can surely share your personal triumphs and tragedies but do it with tact and decorum and not in a way that makes people feel like a voyeur. Here are some tips for including some personal information in your business communication:

Always keep in mind the purpose of sharing personal information in your business communication. It’s to allow clients to get to know you so that they can make a decision about going further in their work with you and to establish that you practice what you teach.
Don’t use your blog, newsletter or other business communication to vent or process your feelings. When your feelings are still raw, you are too emotional to constructively share the experience.
Leave out the gory details! Last year, I unsubscribed from 2 different newsletters after getting long, drawn out narratives of the authors’ respective break ups with a significant other. They were too gut-wrenching and painful and I felt dumped on and like I was being invasive. In each case, the narrative went on for several issues of the newsletter and included things like descriptions of subterfuges needed to retrieve belongings, arguments in the middle of the night and how many hours were spent crying. Yuck is all I can say.
Always assume that whatever you write will be on the web forever and read by lots of people. Will you feel proud in 100 years if someone reads what you wrote?
The passage of time may change how you share something. It’s much easier to hear a story about someone’s death, divorce, sickness or loss from many years ago than last week. There’s often lessons to be learned from these events that can be used in business but keep your readers’ comfort in mind.

It is important for solopreneurs to share themselves and let potential clients in, but what you share should be tailored to the audience and purpose you are writing for.

Integrity – one of my favorite traits of solopreneur businesses

Integrity is part of being a solopreneur

Business in general has gotten a bad reputation in the US. Headlines are filled with bad or socially irresponsible actions taken by businesses, and usually the culprit is a big company. We’ve grown familiar with a win-lose model of business – if somebody wins, then that means that somebody lost. This thinking has become so ingrained in out thinking that for a lot of people who are not associated with ethical, high-integrity, high-service businesses the idea that business can be a force for good is foreign to them. I often spend time trying to dispel this myth, and I always strive for a win-win-win business model: the business owner wins, the customer wins and the world wins in some way.

One of the reasons that big companies often behave badly is that it’s easy to hide behind the organization itself. Decisions and responsibility are spread over many people so that no single person can be blamed. This is the opposite for solopreneur businesses, and that’s one reason why integrity is common in one-person businesses. If you do business with Jane and not a big anonymous company, Jane can’t hide her actions behind any facade. As solopreneurs, we bring so much of ourselves to the business. We use our life experience to benefit others, and we often share our current struggles and triumphs when they serve our customers. The incentive to maintain high integrity comes from not wanting to sully our personal reputation with unsavory activities as well as the natural human desire to be of service and make a contribution. When we see others benefiting from our work, we naturally want to do more of it.

The solopreneur business model tends to encourage and reward integrity, but this works in the opposite direction as well: in my experience, people who are drawn to the solopreneur business model tend to be those who strive for integrity and high customer service. Otherwise, they’d choose a different business model that allows more anonymity. If a person is looking to get rich quick through some scam or near-scam, it would not be wise to create a brand and business built around yourself. As an example, whenever I’ve visited websites for those scam-like products that promise the moon and a money back guarantee, there’s never a person involved. It’s hard to know who works there, where they are or even how to get a hold of a person. This to me is a red flag that nobody who works there is willing to be attached to the product or business.

If you’re a solopreneur or find yourself drawn to this business model, take a moment to enjoy the fact that you are choosing a business model that lets your integrity shine through!

Your blog – front page or another page?

There’s no question that blogging is a key factor in running a successful solopreneur business. Blogging give people a chance to get to know you without any commitments. They can see if, over time, you show that you know your stuff. It’s easy to look good in a short interaction, but you can only maintain appearances for so long. Your blog also allows people to see your personality and if they feel like you’re a good fit for them. I know when I’m considering whether to work with someone or buy their product, I often check their blog to get a feel for what they know, what they stand for, how polished their work is and if I get a good feeling that they are someone I’d like to work with.

You know you need a blog, but you also need some other pages such as an about page, a contact page and pages for your products and services. So where does the blog go on your website? Should it be the front page or somewhere else in your website?

Both are good answers, and of course it depends on your business and the purpose of your website. For most solopreneurs who offer services and products though, I think the blog needs to be somewhere other than the front page but easily accessible in the navigation. The best front pages help the reader quickly determine if they are on a site that is relevant to them. Your home page should contain information that speaks directly to your ideal clients in their own language and helps them realize that your site is exactly what they need. You can use questions and bullet points to make it easy to scan.

The problem with putting a blog on the front page is that people are so hugely busy and have so much information to sort through that you may only get a few seconds before they decide to stay or go. If the one day they land on your site and find a front page with a blog post that isn’t applicable to them you’ll probably lose them. For example, if I’m a weight loss coach with a specialty in gluten-free living a person may find me through a Google search and click to my home page. If they find questions and bullet points on gluten-free living and weight loss they’ll know they are in the right place and I have a good chance of keeping them on my site for a while. If the first thing they see is a blog post on low calorie treats I found on vacation in Europe, that might seem irrelevant and uninteresting to my visitor and they’ll probably leave quickly without taking the time to see that I am a good fit for their needs.

You do need a blog, and it needs to be highly visible through your navigation but it isn’t the best use of your front page. Use your front page to help your visitors know without question whether they are in the right place or not.

Don’t forget the customer in your marketing

Always focus your marketing on the customer

I’m not sure if it’s a common practice everywhere, but where I live we often get flyers placed in the door by real estate agents. I’d never let a flyer like that influence my decision to hire an agent, but even so there are good and bad examples of these marketing tools. Yesterday, I got a very plain, no-frills flyer advertising an agent who specializes in my area. What was noteworthy about it is that he ignored the fundamental rule of marketing: “What’s in it for me?” or “WIIFM” for short. WIIFM means that any time you present information or ask someone to do something (click a link, like something, buy something, etc) you focus not on yourself but what’s in if for the potential customer. Even people who like you and your solopreneur business are more interested in what your products and services can do for them than they are that those products came from you.

Here’s an example of ignoring WIIFM: “Come like my Facebook page where I update several times a day with all of my daily activities.”

There’s nothing here to entice me. Why would I care? The only time this works is for celebrities who have fans that do want to know what they are doing all day.

Here’s an example of showing your reader WIIFM: “Come like my Facebook page and you’ll get priority notice and special prices on all new releases.”

Now here’s an enticing call to action! With one little click, I get something of value to me.

The real estate flyer was like the first example. I found a plain text flyer with this on it: “See what my clients have to say about me and check out my website” and “I just launched my new site this week. Check it out at {link}.” My first thought was “Why?” Why would I want to check out his site? I don’t know him so there’s no personal interest. He hasn’t given me any incentive or told me WIIFM if I go there. While I don’t believe it was meant to be egotistical, it did sort of come across that way.

I did check out his website in order to write this article and it actually had some great information on it like a search function, trend information and links to service providers he recommends. It was a useful site, but had I not been doing research for this article I would never have gone there. What he could have put on the flyer was something like “Curious about home sales in your neighborhood? Come to my website and use the custom search function to find the exact information you want.” He could have also called attention to the other benefits his site offers, and then I’d have a reason to visit.

Take a fresh look at your marketing material from the perspective of your customers. Make sure you’ve explained the benefit to your potential customers of every action you want them to take,

5 tips to help you guard your time

Time is a solopreneur's most valuable asset

I was talking to some acquaintances this past weekend and we got on the subject of how we value time. I realized that my value of my time was much higher in dollar terms than the other people present and that a big part of that difference was due to being a solopreneur. The conversation revolved around various trade-offs we could make where we spend time to gain money (e.g. fixing up something you want to get rid of in order to sell it rather than just donate it) or spend money to gain time (e.g. driving instead of taking public transportation).

As a solopreneur, your personal and professional life are more closely linked than they are for a lot of other professionals. Work and home life can easily bleed into each other to a detrimental degree. Your decisions about time and money are interrelated.

My litmus test for any time and money question is to weigh it against how that time would pay off if invested in my business. If I save $5 by taking public transportation, but spend an extra 2 hours doing it then that’s not worth my time (environmental impacts aside). I can make way more than $5 by investing 2 hours in my business even if I’m doing long-term activities.

As a solopreneur, activities that cost time have to be done very conscientiously. Your time budget is at least as important as your money budget. You make money by spending your time correctly. Your time, even though you’re not punching a clock, is not free. There is an opportunity cost to every minute you spend both in financial terms and in terms of other activities you give up to do that activity. Guard your time like the most valuable asset it is.

Here are some tips to help you guard your time:

End your appointments at the stated time. It’s your job to watch the clock, so make sure you start closing up the conversation early enough so that you can finish on time.
Set limits on tasks that tend to expand – for example, give yourself 20 minutes to clear your inbox. Even if you don’t make your deadline, you’ll have an idea of how long this job takes.
Use a timesheet. I do this myself, and it really helps me stay on top of how long I spend doing things.
Create checklists and procedures for tasks you repeat. Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Don’t do anything free just because it’s free in dollar terms. Make sure the activity is worth the time it takes.

Above all, placing a high value on your time should be a guiding principle in your business activities.

Should you use a title in an elevator pitch?

Should solopreneurs use a title in their elevator pitch?

Does any one single thing cause more angst than the elevator pitch? You know what it is – that 1-sentence description that you use for short introductions that is supposed to sum up all the amazing things you do with all the different people you work with and all the additional things you could do. I’ve seen it go bad in lots of ways – too little information, too much information, too much jargon, too many hollow phrases, or just being vague. I get that it’s hard – mine is constantly being tweaked and tested and I feel that I need at least a few different versions for different settings. One big point of controversy is whether to use a title or not, e.g. should you say “I’m a fitness trainer who……” or something like “I help women over 50 to…….”

The downside of using a title, especially one that most people know, is that once they hear it sometimes their brain closes off to the rest of the statement. They hear “I’m a fitness trainer” and their mind goes to their own unique picture of fitness trainers and they never hear the rest which is actually what makes you unique. They won’t get an accurate or full picture of how you practice your craft and they may not have any idea of the kind of problems you solve. It also limits who they think might benefit from working with you. They might have no one in their life who has been lamenting their lack of a fitness trainer, but might have lots of people with problems that could be a fitness trainer’s specialty such as low back pain, post baby weight, sleep trouble, menopause, post surgery issues, etc. If you’re in a setting where further conversation is possible, you might find that you first need to uncover their preconceived notions about your work and dispel them just so you can explain what you really do.

The upside of using a title is that it gives people a word to grasp on to that you can begin to describe. If I say something like “I help women over 50 get their energy, vitality and self-esteem back,” you have no idea if I’m a doctor, vitamin salesperson, acupuncturist, yoga teacher, therapist, body worker, nutritionist, etc. But if I say “I’m a fitness trainer who helps women over 50….” it’s instantly a much clearer picture. If you’re a solopreneur, you can make up a title that is more clear than what other people in you line of work may use but be careful not to be too grandiose about it.

The bottom line is that I don’t believe there is just one magic formula for an elevator pitch. You have to test several versions in a variety of settings, and you will probably need at least a few for different purposes. Pay attention to what feels most powerful to you and what you feel most proud saying. Another good clue is if you get any questions in response. If someone asks for more information, your elevator pitch has done it’s job.

Be up front with your opinions

I’ve been writing and posting web content for business in various forms for several years. When I first started, I was shy about causing controversy. I didn’t want to offend

anyone or go on record saying something that someone found offensive. I was striving to be accurate and useful but not necessarily bold in my work. Over the few years I’ve been writing for business, I’ve gotten just a little bolder and in the last few months I’ve really begun to write about what I believe, what I value, what I’ve learned and what I think. It has been a bit unnerving to be so up front when you know that lots of people could read it and that your writing could exist forever. My own business has undergone some big changes in the last year and some things were just bubbling up and needed to be said.

The surprising result is how much more successful my writing is! I’m getting more Tweets, comments and emails from people reacting to things I’ve written. My community is growing. Believe me, nobody expected this less than me. It felt a little self-centered to be honest, spouting off about what I think and feel. I kept thinking that I should be sharing what the big name gurus say, not what I say. Results don’t lie though, and I’ve changed my thinking to reflect that this is how I can provide value. Here are some ideas you can use to be more up front in your business writing:

Pay attention to what people ask you. Even if just one person asks a question, chances are more people have the same question.
If something happens that you feel strongly about, see if you can use the experience to generalize a larger point.
Conversely, if you are writing about a general rule try to use some specific points to illustrate it. Including your own experiences can be great!
Don’t be afraid to show your mistakes. Successful business owners do make mistakes, they just react to them differently than unsuccessful business owners. Be sure not to undermine your authority when sharing your mistakes.
If something disturbing happens, by all means you can use it in your business writing but take some time to react to it privately first. Don’t use your business writing to process your feelings.
Sharing yourself is great, but {opinion here!} I don’t appreciate hearing the gory details of someone’s personal issues when I’m part of their community to read their professional work. Everyone goes through things, and sometimes you can illustrate coping skills and fortitude by sharing some of your personal life in your business writing but keep it in check.

If you have great things to share, try being a little more bold with your opinions. You can be strong in your beliefs without making others wrong for disagreeing.