Blog – Page 5 – Michele Christensen

How to Profit on YouTube – New Training

One of the easiest, and most profitable way to provide value to your prospects, leads and customers is through YouTube videos.

The more value you provide, the more valuable you are, priming your audience to become eager buyers of your products and services.

Have you started creating YouTube videos? I confess, I’m under-using YouTube. That’s why I’ve signed up for this training.

Maybe you have a few videos, but you are frustrated because they aren’t generating the interest you had anticipated and you aren’t sure how you can create YouTube videos that will drive high quality traffic to your sign-ups, website, and sales pages.

If you would like to make yourself more valuable to your prospects and clients while getting unlimited, highly targeted traffic to your website, hen I know you’ll want to join in this new training offered by my friend and colleague, Becky Sangha (a.k.a. The Online Video Marketer).

How To Create YouTube Content Fast For More Traffic, Sign-ups And Sales

This is a workshop training course where you will learn everything you need to know to use YouTube videos to generate value, and increase traffic, and your profits. There is no selling in this workshop, it’s pure training. She’s even going to have me on the workshop live as one of her examples! I honestly have no idea what she is going to tell me, but I can’t wait to find out!

Because it is a workshop, Becky wants to ensure that each participant gets maximum value, and she’s limited the number of people who can register. So click on the link now before it fills up and she pulls the page down.

How To Create YouTube Content Fast For More Traffic, Sign-ups And Sales

Becky’s just opened this up to the public, and it’s already generating quite a buzz, so don’t wait to sign-up, or you might be too late.

PS – I’ve worked closely with Becky for almost 3 years, and I am proud to be an affiliate for this training. If you decide to register, I’ll make a small commission.

Get more done daily – free report!

I’ve just put the finishing touches on a brand new free report that will help you get more done every day and feel less overwhelm! Having to much to do, running in circles and feeling disorganized are all common problems for solopreneurs. One of the biggest single complaints I hear is that business owners are overwhelmed. When you wear all the hats in your business, you have to be super-efficient and super-organized to get done what you need to.

Most people understand the basic concept of keeping a to-do list, but they make mistakes in how they keep it that cost them time, well-being and productivity. The good news is that this report gives you 5 really easy tips for writing your daily to-do list that you can use right away to start feeling more on top of things.

Fill out the form below and get your report right away!

Save time and improve quality with templates

As a solopreneur, using your time well is one of the most important things you can do. Anywhere you can be more efficient while maintaining quality will help you have a more profitable and fulfilling business. When you wear all the hats in your business, every single thing you do has to have a purpose and somehow help your bottom line.

One of my favorite efficiency techniques is using templates. A template helps you to do tasks more quickly by giving you a place to start or often a complete version of the end result. You can create templates for a variety of purposes such as:

Social media updates
Answers to questions you are asked often
Initial contact with a new person
Emails for various purposes
Promotional copy for specific events

If you have a task you know you’ll be doing again and again, begin creating your template the very first time you do the task. Revise it each time until you have the best possible version you can create. Be sure to test your template to make sure it works. Here are a few ideas to test your templates and see how well they are working:

When you answer a question, does it resolve the issue for the other person or do you get more questions?
Does the person take the action you direct them to take?
If you are asking for something such as information in your template, do you get what you need?
What kind of feedback are you getting?

Templates can be stored in a variety of ways depending on how and where you use them. Social media tools such as Hootsuite let you save drafts right inside them. Anything written can be stored in a plain text editor or word processing document. Any initial contact can be done via a form designed for the specific person using it (e.g. a potential customer, a vendor, a strategic partner, etc).

Start using templates as soon as you can. They will save you time and allow you to do better quality work. The people you deal with will get more consistent action from you and you’ll have more time to do creative and innovative work.

Templates are just one of the bonus strategies I cover in my book The Solopreneur’s Success Strategy: Automate Your Grunt Work. In the book I teach you 9 automation strategies so you can spend less time doing repetitive boring tasks. I also give you 3 bonus strategies (including how to use templates) that are related to automation. Grab the book on Kindle at the link below (you don’t need a Kindle device, scroll below the link for more information):

The Solopreneur’s Success Strategy: Automate Your Grunt Work

Note: You do not need a Kindle device to read Kindle books. You can get a free tablet or phone app or use the Kindle desktop reader. Click the book link above and explore the options in the Kindle store.

VIP Half-Day Planning Sessions available!

VIP Half-Day Planning sessions are closed right now. Please make sure you sign up for my mailing list using the box at the top of the right sidebar to get priority notification when new VIP opportunities are available. Thanks!

My first few years in business, I pretty much flew by the seat of my pants. There was so much to master, so much to do, and so many balls to keep in the air that I couldn’t find the time to think ahead. I was too busy reacting. As you probably know, this is not the best way to run a business. It’s like trying get somewhere by running really fast without knowing if you are going in the right direction. Fortunately, I learned that I had to plan ahead to be successful.

First I took baby steps, and just planned a few weeks ahead. Now that I’ve gotten much better at it, I plan my full year out ahead of time. In case you are wondering, things never go exactly as planned so my plan changes a lot as the year progresses. Nor does having a plan lock me into anything. As a solopreneur, I can change my plan any time I want. The key thing is having a plan to start with.

What will having a plan do for you? You’ll be able to make much better decisions about what opportunities to say yes or no to. You’ll know if you have space or can make space for something new. You’ll be working proactively and moving forward, instead of fire-stomping and treading water. What you do during the year will be laid out in a logical sequence.

Do you see how having a plan can help you have your best year ever? The benefits may be obvious, but how are you supposed to find the time to do a plan for a whole year? It’s one of those things that’s important but not urgent so it tends to get pushed to the back burner and before you know it months have passed.

To make sure you get your plan done for 2015, I’m pleased to offer you my support in a VIP Half-Day Planning Session. Your VIP experience starts right away with a questionnaire that I’ll review before our session so we can jump right in. Your VP Half-Day will be a total of four and a half hours – 4 hours of work with 2 breaks of 15 minutes. I’ll give you my custom planning tool, and we can even work collaboratively on your plan during your session (i.e. both of us working on the same document from our separate computers) if you want. This is not a group experience – you and I will be the only ones present and we’ll get your 2015 mapped out so this isn’t hanging over your head any longer. We will meet virtually and you have several technology options to choose from for our meeting.

To make absolutely sure you that nothing gets in your way, I’m adding in a 15-minute follow up call in February. We can revise your plan or talk about anything that you need help on to keep moving forward.

To recap, your VIP Half-Day Planning Session includes:

Pre-work questionnaire
Your VIP half-day
My custom planning tool in a choice of formats
A 15-minute follow up call in February

I offered this first to my email subscribers and as of this posting, there are 8 spots left.

To get started on your VIP Half-Day Planning Session, click the button below (terms and conditions here).

Avoid the trap of in-between time

One of the main skills you need to be an entrepreneur who works at home is how to schedule and block your time out. When you work for yourself on your own schedule, there is no natural start and stop time for anything. Creating your own start and stop times is the structure that you need to create in order to be successful at running your own business from your home.

It’s definitely great to work from home, but without the skill of being able to properly schedule and block out your time you may find yourself spending too much time in a grey area where you are trying to straddle your work and personal life and do both at the same time. You can end up with a lot of poorly used time where you aren’t really working and getting things done and you aren’t really enjoying yourself.

What are some examples of in-between behavior?

Checking work email on your phone when you are out having fun
Doing work while you are supposed to be watching a movie with a friend or loved one
Not taking true vacations where you are really away from your work
Eating your meals in front of your work computer
Not scheduling and sticking to actual time off

Any of these can be enough to cause you problems. You can end up with no time where you are really “off” work, and you end up with a lot of hours of poor-quality work because you weren’t fully into your work. Because you don’t take enough time off, this can lead to burnout, stress and lack of enthusiasm.

It’s super important to create time when you are 100% working and time when you are 100% not working. The grey area in between is not a good way to spend your time and needs to be minimized. There’s a Zen saying that comes to mind:

“When walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.”

In our entrepreneurial world, we could say “When working, just work. When off, just don’t work. Above all, don’t try to do both.”

Make sure every minute of your day is spent intentionally. Whether you are relaxing or working, what you are doing should be a conscious choice that represents the best thing you could be doing right now.

Tips for automated appointment scheduling

When I first started my business, I scheduled my clients via an email exchange. It usually took several emails to find a jointly acceptable time, and in the interim both of us were held up from booking something else that might interfere with a time we had already offered. This back-and-forth creates a spreading wave of inefficiency and is not a good use of time for a solopreneur or anyone for that matter. As a solopreneur, you have to be super efficient in how you use your time because you are juggling so many things. Appointment scheduling is one of the first areas I automated.

Now, I use an automated scheduler called Timetrade (timetrade.com) that links directly to my Google calendar and shows my guests available appointments in their time zone. They can book on the spot with no back and forth. We each receive a confirmation email and the appointment is put right on my Google calendar.

Using a scheduler like Timetrade is great, but it takes some getting used to. Here are a few tips to help you get going quickly with automating your appointment scheduling:

Give clear instructions for how you will meet. For example, specify who will initiate a phone call and what number you will call from or receive the call on.
Handle time zone issues. Timetrade displays meeting times based on the time zone settings on your and your guest’s computers. If the service you choose does not handle different time zones, make the time zone you are displaying clear to your guest.
Provide your guests with an alternative in case they can’t use your scheduler or can’t find a time that works. You can say something like “If you can’t find a time that works, email me some alternatives and I’ll do my best to be available.”
Make sure to stay on top of your schedule. Remember, things can be put on your calendar at any point. Make sure to block out any days you want off or days you won’t be available for other reasons.

If you aren’t using an automated appointment scheduler, I suggest looking into getting one. This can free up time that you can use for better (and more profitable) things. I explore the use of an automated appointment scheduler in more detail in my #1 bestselling book The Solopreneur’s Success Strategy: Automate Your Grunt Work. The book has 9 other automation strategies plus 3 bonus automation-related strategies. Check the book out in the Kindle store here.

Don’t have a Kindle? You can still enjoy Kindle books by using a free tablet or phone app or free desktop reader.

Free book download today!

In honor of Small Business Saturday, I’ve polished up and revised my first Kindle book “Is a Solopreneur Business Right for You?” and made it available free today through Monday (aka Cyber Monday!)

Grab your copy here:

Is a Solopreneur Business Right for You?

Today is all about supporting small businesses, and if you are thinking of starting your own small business I want you to have this book. In the book, I share what you need to know to figure out if the model of a solopreneur business is a good fit for you. Enjoy, and please use the social sharing buttons below to spread the word to your community and to any aspiring entrepreneurs you know. Thanks!

Book Review: Be More Popular, Culture-Building for Startups

Be More Popular is about creating and utilizing culture to make your startup a success. I’ve written and spoken a lot about how I think that startups are not the same as solopreneurs, but there is a lot of value for solopreneurs in this book. I decided to read this book because I have tremendous respect for the the author, Lee Schneider, and have collaborated with him on several occasions. I’m also a subscriber to his newsletter and fan of his Twitter feed!

One of the key themes of this book is on gaining users for your product, but there is a big focus on building community. There are some valuable lessons in the community-building part of the book, and most of what is written about gaining users can be applied to other kinds of businesses as well.

Can a one-person business have culture?

At first I questioned this idea because culture, almost by definition, is shared by more than one person. However, the theme of culture is expanded upon greatly and culture isn’t only about shared rituals or traditions by employees. Culture permeates everything about your business and is a backdrop to every decision you make. Culture impacts what kind of people want to do business with you. The biggest takeaway I got in this area is that your business has a culture whether you are aware of it or not. Rather than let your culture just be some scattered list of ideas that you don’t even know about, it’s better to be intentional in creating your culture and communicating it.

Much of the book is dedicated to building community, and this is valuable for a solopreneur as well. Even though you may be mostly a one-person operation, the people who are interested in what you have to say are your community. They are your future customers, your advisory board and the home of your business. The book features case studies, and covers both fast and slow ways to build your community.

Most of what I’ve mentioned so far has been more about how this book teaches you new concepts and new ways to think about your business. However, there are some really practical “how to” sections as well.

One of the noteworthy sections of the book covers how much you can or should spend to acquire a user/community member/potential customer. Spending money is a perfectly valid way to let people know about you, but it can be a challenge to balance how much you spend vs. the potential revenue per client. Lee walks you through the calculation in enough detail that you could do this for your own business. It’s a really valuable concept and one that all business owners should be aware of.

A second section with valuable “how to” information is on using email marketing. It’s refreshing to hear someone in the startup community talk about the value of email marketing even though there are much more exciting and newer ways to reach people. The fact is that email marketing is still one of the most, if not the most, valuable activity a business can engage in even if it’s not particularly sparkly or new.

An unexpected surprise was a chapter on hacking your nervous system. This was toward the end of the book, and it was almost like getting a present! The book would have been complete without this chapter, but it was useful information on how you can make small changes to help yourself perform better.

I recommend you read this book for your business! Click here to see this book on Amazon.

Image from Amazon.com

Registration open for the Get Your List Growing Bootcamp!

I’m excited to share with you that registration for the Get Your List Growing Bootcamp is now open! In this bootcamp, my co-instructor Becky Sangha and I teach how to create a profitable email list of people who want to hear from you and who want to buy from you! Even if you are completely new to email marketing or if you are tech-shy, we can get you started. We give you step-by-step instructions for signing up with an email service, creating a free gift to entice new subscribers, and getting a sign-up form on your website. Once you’ve had a chance to get used to having and emailing your list, we get into strategy and measurement.

Click this link to get started now:

Get Your List Growing

All new email marketing training, parts 1 & 2 now available!

This week Becky Sangha and I are releasing a free 3-part video training on listbuilding and email marketing. As of today, parts 1 and 2 are available, and you can get access at the link below:

Get Your List Growing

Be sure to add your “like” to the over 900 already there, and tell me what you think or ask a question in the comments. Becky and I read every comment, and we really look forward to hearing from you.