Business Strategist for Solopreneurs
Updated: The call is over, but you can grab the replay at the link.
Just a quick announcement – I have a free call coming up this week and I’d love for you to join me. Being great at the providing your product or service for customers is only half of what you need for a successful solopreneur business. On this call, I’ll share the other half with you. Click here to reserve your spot.
Sign up for the call on “The 5 Essential Skills for Solopreneur Success” here.
What is next year about for your solopreneur business?
Like many successful solopreneurs I know, I choose a theme for each year. Some people pick an inspiring word like growth, action, or fearlessness. I’ve been choosing one big, overarching area that needs improvement for my big project of the year. In 2011, my theme was “expand my online business.” Before this effort, I had a website that functioned as more of an online brochure and newsletter sign up. I was getting one-on-one clients and group gigs mainly via personal connections. Beginning in 2010, I began to learn how to use the internet to promote my business. By the time 2011 rolled around, I was ready to get to work.
It’s been a great year and I’m really happy with the results. I’ve got a full website that functions well, my online presence is fleshed out and ready for more, and I’m finishing my first information product that will be sold from my website. Mission accomplished!
Even though I help others improve their business, I regularly get help too! Nobody can be as successful by themselves as they can with the guidance of a coach or mentor. Expanding my online presence was something I definitely wanted help with and I used two main sources for that help.
The first person I got help from was Kathleen Gage in the form of her 1-year Street Smarts Marketing VIP Club. You get one lesson a week covering just about everything you need to know about online marketing, and the lessons build on each other. At $27 per month, it’s very affordable and the value is great. If you’re interested, here is the link: Street Smarts VIP Club.
The other person I got help from is Alicia Forest. I first purchased her “21 Easy and Essential Steps to Online Success” in the spring. This is like a handbook for setting up the online part of your business. I had so much success with that program that I attended her live event the “Online Business Breakthrough Workshop.” This was an inspiring, motivating, action-oriented 3-day workshop where we learned in-depth strategies to building an online business. By the way, I’m an affiliate for both Kathleen and Alicia since I love their work so much.
2012 is the year of my signature system. I first sketched out my unique signature system at the Online Business Breakthrough Workshop in the fall. Since then, I’ve added lots of details as they come to me, but this year the goal will be to write all the text and have it for sale. Once that happens, I’ll probably add some more products and programs that use my signature system. If you’re curious, my signature system lays out the steps to set up a successful solopreneur business, i.e. to take what you know and make a profitable business with it.
If you’re not familiar with the idea of a signature system, it’s a way to package the knowledge you use with every client. Some of what you do is unique to each individual, but if you give it some thought, you’ll probably find that you say and do some of the same things with each person you work with. It was really enlightening to discover those steps in my work. Now when I’m working with someone, I can often see more clearly what they are missing in their business.
If you haven’t already done it, why not pick a them for 2012? I’d love to help you with this – click here to schedule a Quickcall with me. If you have a them for 2012, share it in the comments.
Now that December is officially here, a lot of us will see a slow down in business. Events aren’t happening as much, clients aren’t as available and it takes longer to get a response from someone. So what’s a solopreneur to do? Believe it or not, lots! There are some specific things you can tackle right now to set the stage for a great next year. Imagine waking up on that first day back to work after the new year begins and being ready to jump right in!
Last year, I wrote a series on just what to do at this time of year to prepare for next year. Click here to read part one of the series, and then follow the links to parts 2 and 3.
Click here for part 1 of the series “How to make the most of holiday slow time.”
In the comments, tell me some of the things you do at this time of year to prepare for a great next year. I just may try your ideas out!
Today’s blog post is inspired by a sad event that happened recently. My father-in-law Alvin H. Christensen passed away from pancreatic cancer on Tuesday October 25, 2011 at the age of 85. In his honor, I decided to write a post that incorporates some of his best traits with how to run a business.
Alvin or “Chris” as he liked to be called was in sales most of his life. He sold a variety of things, but he was always successful. I think his character is one of the reasons for his success. Usually we think of salespeople as slick and charming, and while Alvin was good man who was interesting and intelligent, I don’t think of him as either slick or super charming. What he had in his favor was other traits that made him trustworthy and easy to buy from.
For one, he was a man of integrity. He always said what he meant and meant what he said. If he said something, you could count on it. If you are making a purchase for your business, this is super important. Who wants to look bad in front of their boss for making a bad purchase?
He was tenacious. Alvin was able to stick with things over the long haul, after they got boring and lost their luster. Imagine the value of tenacity in building relationships with customers.
He was interested in the world and learning new things. This is valuable in relating to others, in being able to have conversations and in having a context for what you experience.
He was pragmatic. There was no drama with this man! Whatever happened was not something to be pined about and over-analyzed but just a new element to one’s circumstances. When things went bad there was no point in dwelling on it; instead incorporate the new experience, make adjustments and move on. Now that’s a trait I’d like to have!
He figured out a way to make things work. When something broke, he used what he had and got it working. There was no stalling in perfectionism he just got on with it.
Finally, he was somehow able to be both realistic and optimistic at the same time. He was fully aware of the dire straits of the American economy and national debt, but at the same time held a huge amount of optimism about the future. He loved technology and couldn’t wait to see the next wave of new developments. Again, this is a trait I wish I had.
I’ll miss him for sure, but his life was well-lived and he lives on in the hearts and in the memories of those who knew him.
One of my core success strategies is to experiment, measure and revise my business activities. I also like to share those results and the thought process I use with my community. In this post, I’m sharing what I learned from my Friday news series.
I regularly share news and links that I think are valuable for solopreneurs on my Facebook page. A few months back, I started using a Friday blog post to summarize the news for the week and do a quick reminder to carve out some time for fun over the weekend. My logic was that it’s important to give people what they want in the format they want. Some people don’t like getting news on Facebook, so doing the blog post gave those people another option to get the news. As with everything I do, it was an experiment. I think I’m ending that experiment now. The post took about 20 minutes to write, and it didn’t seem like I was providing enough benefit to my readers to justify 20 minutes of my time. I could use that time to write a whole new post which would be of much greater service to my community. I also felt a little hemmed in by the whole thing. I like to share news and links I think are exceptionally valuable and being obligated to post one every day made me sometimes spend a lot of time finding something that day. All told, I think it’s something that doesn’t pay off for my community or me.
I will take this time to remind you to create some time to recharge this weekend, with the emphasis on “create.” Don’t wait for “spare” time to drop into your lap to recharge. The world needs your work, so make sure you take care of yourself.
If you think I should keep the Friday Solopreneur News Roundup, leave me a comment to that effect. If enough people want this feature, maybe I’ll rethink it.
Have a great weekend!
Welcome to your holiday weekend if you’re in the US! If not, then have a great weekend whatever you do! As I wrote the date on this post, I couldn’t believe how much of the year has passed and there’s still so much I want to get to! How are you doing on your goals for the year?
Here’s the news I want to highlight for you this week . If you’d like to see these items right in your Facebook news feed, come on over to my page and click “like.” Remember, you can now like a page as yourself using your personal profile or as your business using your business page.
I’m a time management junkie, so when one of my favorite teachers writes about procrastination, I make sure to read it. Check out this article:
Here’s another article on the unicorn of time management: work-life balance. It’s a short read with some great tips.
6 Work-Life Balance Blunders to Avoid
So, I must have had time management on the brain this week, because this article is on the same topic. I LOVED this one because it has one simple, rock-solid strategy you can start using today to get more done. Really!
The Only Way to Get Important Things Done
This next one gets away from time management, but offers you 12 spots to meet clients other than over coffee. I really enjoyed reading this and was thinking it would really energize my client meetings to have some other spaces to use.
12 Unexpected Places To Host Great Client Meetings
Finally, today, a promotion opportunity you won’t want to miss! The highly-visible online visibility expert Denise Wakeman is giving you a chance to Flaunt Your Facebook Page over at The Blog Squad Facebook page:
That’s the news this week! Leave me a comment on something you’re doing this weekend for fun!
Hello fellow solopreneurs! Once again, Friday has rolled around very quickly. I hope you’ve had a fantastically productive week. What are you doing to recharge this weekend? I’m planning on going to Worldfest here in LA (a huge solar-powered, animal-friendly Earth Day type of festival). We’re kind of up in the air though, so we’ll see. As I often say on Fridays, one of my favorite ways to have a weekend is to have no schedule so I’m glad it’s open.
Here’s the news for the week:
Here’s an interesting article on the idea of shutting down your main business website in favor of social media sites. I’ve been watching this trend with great interest and have increasingly spotted big brands showing their social media URL’s with equal emphasis or in place of their main URL. There are some cons though, so read the article before even thinking of shutting down.
Is It Time to Shut Down Your Website?
One of my teachers Kathleen Gage is offering an excellent video series on how to make money with teleseminars and it’s FREE! I watched all three videos and got a lot of great ideas. I’m in her VIP club, so I know she delivers!
3 Free Videos on How to Make Money with Teleseminars
Blogging is really important for solopreneur businesses, but so is promoting that blog. Here’s 4 things not to do, although I disagree with #4 which is posting your blog to social media.
4 Ways NOT to Promote Your Blog
Finally, here’s a good rundown of 4 common mistakes you could be making on your website that can cost you busieness!
4 Website Design Mistakes and How to Fix Them
So that’s the news for this week! Leave me a comment with your weekend plans and I’ll see you Monday.
(If you’d like this news delivered right to your Facebook news feed, come on over and like my page – click HERE)
So it’s Friday the 13th – are you doing anything out of the ordinary to avoid bad luck?
Once again, Friday has rolled around quickly and it’s time to summarize the news for solopreneurs and remind us all to change up the pace and recharge this weekend. I don’t have anything specific planned, and while it may seem like I say that a lot I assure you I like it that way. My weeks are so heavily scheduled that I find it rejuvenating to not be adhering to a schedule on the weekend no matter what I end up doing. The main focus is a bunch of half finished project around the house. We’re transitioning from 5 years of heavy remodeling into a phase with lots of smaller projects. I always have a few going at a time because they tend to get stalled while waiting for something to be delivered.
Here’s the news:
I love this post on asking the right questions so your magnificent brain can give you great answers.
If your business needs local customers, don’t write off Twitter! This article shows you how to find local prospects using Twitter.
5 Ways to Use Twitter to Connect With Local Customers
Here’s a good article on one my favorite subjects, time management. There’s some good points, but I don’t like using the word “finish” for a to-do list. Most people I know never actually finish, they just try to stay reasonable current and have quality of life.
How to Find the Time to Finish Your To-Do List
I encourage solopreneurs to measure the results of their efforts, but this article points out that you have to look at other things too.
Statistics Not Always the Best Marketing Tool
Finally, some tough love for those of you still not blogging. If you hate the idea of blogging, I’m sorry to share this information with you but you do need to be blogging to build your business (please don’t shoot the messenger!).
Not Blogging? You’re in the Minority
That’s it for the week my solopreneur friends. Leave me a comment with one of the fun things you have planned this weekend.
Hello fellow solopreneurs! I hope you had a massively productive week and have plans to get some fun time in during the weekend. I’m planning on visiting the Alt Build Expo, a showcase for alternative/green/energy efficient/recycled building materials and methods. I always get great ideas there for our fixer upper house, although the downside is that I always get some “I wish I knew that a year ago” ideas.
Here’s the news I picked for the week. If you’d like to see these links in your Facebook feed throughout the week, head over to my page and click the like button.
I was amazed by this story that news of Osama bin Laden’s death was reported on Twitter first!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2011/may/02/twitter-osama-bin-laden-death-leaked
I find clever thinking to be fascinating and almost thrilling. I loved this article on the difference between smart and clever and how to be both:
http://www.bnet.com/blog/small-biz-advice/are-you-smart-or-clever-here-8217s-how-to-be-both/1490
One of the reasons I focus on solopreneur businesses is that they are everywhere and I see them being a powerful economic force in the post-recession economy. Micro-enterprises are also on the rise, and this article talks about what they are and why they matter. Did you know 87% of US businesses fall into the micro-enterprise category?
That’s all the news for this week. Have a great weekend, take some time to recharge and tell me about your plans for the weekend in the comments.
I followed one of my core productivity principles and took some time off to play this week. I got away for a few days and didn’t watch the news. I’ll be back next week to bring you more hand-picked news and links. I’m looking forward to catching up on my reading!
Have you had some time to recharge this week? If not, schedule at least a few hours as soon as you’re done reading this and tell me about your plans in the comments.