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At the end of 2013, I published my first Kindle book.  It was a 99-cent book, and this price point fit nicely with my strategy.  My goal was to simply get a book published and go through the entire process end to end.  I wanted to start with something that would be an entry point for people thinking of starting a business.

I studied some on Kindle before writing and publishing my book, so I knew some of the ways you could make an inexpensive book work for you.  I included offers for free gifts to build my email list, affiliate links and links to my own products.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know about Kristen Eckstein’s book “Author’s Quick Guide to Making Money with Your 99-Cent Kindle Book.”  I could have done a lot better job with my book if I had read this first.

A lot of people have asked me about selling a book for just 99 Cents.  It seems like such a low price, how can it possibly be worth doing?

That’s a question Kristen answers with gusto in this book.  The answer is that there are other ways to make money with a Kindle book other than the commission on the sales price.  She goes into a lot of depth and tells you exactly how to implement each strategy including her ninja tricks.  From the beginning, she spells out that making money on a 99-Cent book is not about the Amazon commission on the sales price but all about the back end, i.e. what you do after the sale.

As a Kindle author and a Kindle consumer, I recommend this book.  The book will pay for itself pretty easily if you implement just one strategy.  To make it an even sweeter deal, there’s a Countdown deal going on for this book right now.  It’s just 99 cents as of this writing, and it gradually goes back to the original price over the next few days.  If you are thinking of getting this book, now is the time!  Grab your copy and let me know what you think in the comments.

One of the greatest things about being a solopreneur is that you have a huge amount of freedom in choosing who you work with and how you work.  You have choice in all the areas of your business including customers, vendors, and any help you might hire.  If you discover someone isn’t a good fit for your business, it’s much easier to part ways and move on when you are a solopreneur.  Working a solo business means you don’t have to fill things out in triplicate, wait for approval, play politics or put up with being treated poorly.  A solo business isn’t for everyone, but if it is a good fit for you it’s a great way to live!

Are you thinking of a solopreneur business?  Are you wondering if it’s really possible to have a one-person business over the long haul?  My book “Is a Solopreneur Business Right for You?” will help you figure that out.  Grab your copy today!  

Ever since reading The Secret Collaborative Economy, I’ve been so much more aware of the role of collaboration in the success of small and solopreneur businesses.  One of the great things I learned both from the book and from the author is that always approach other people by asking what you can do for them first.  Establish your desire and ability to help them before you think about asking for a favor.

I’ve been keenly aware of this in my own collaborative efforts and have changed my tactics a bit in the process.  I’m working much more on keeping relationships alive so that the channel is open when I or the other person need a favor.  When I ask for something, I try to make it valuable to the other person as well.  I try to make it easy on them, and make sure they know how to get the most out of what they are doing for me.

I’ve also become much more aware of bad examples of collaboration requests, particularly when they come from people who I’ve never heard of and they are asking me to do something with little or no discernible benefit to me or the people I serve.  Like most people, I’m busy and a self-serving request from someone I’ve never heard of has a slim-to-zero chance of being acted on by me.

Here’s an example of a poorly framed request: I received a request to blog about an article on someone else’s blog.  I had not interacted with the blog or the company that published it, and they aren’t a well-known company in my niche.  The request came from a PR firm and not the author or company representative.  It didn’t address me by name but instead said “Hi there,” as the greeting.  The request didn’t specify any benefit to me or why visitors to my site would benefit from this post.

Pretty bad form huh?

How could they have done better?  Here’s my list:

• Use my name in your request so I know I’m not just part of a mass-market email blast.
• Explain how my blogging about this would benefit me.  Are you providing a solution to something I’ve identified as a challenge?  Is it brilliant information on a topic I’ve said I’m interested in?  It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but give me some idea of why I would consider your request.
• Specifically explain how this subject helps my niche and their unique needs.  Include something such as “I see that you serve solopreneurs, and the xyz version of our product is specially designed for very small companies.”
• Have the author, or at least a company representative, do the outreach.  Having the request come from a PR firm looks not like collaboration but like you paid someone to blanket as many people as possible with the request.
• Make sure the article subject is relevant to my niche.  In this case, the company serves much bigger entities than I do so it is unlikely that anyone I attract will be interested in their product.

How can you be a better collaborator?  Share your ideas in the comments, and check out The Secret Collaborative Economy for ideas.

Modern life is complicated.  Errands, cleaning, mail, banking, child care, retirement planning, paying bills, fixing administrative mixups, home repair, scheduling, even planning fun time is all very complex.  It takes a lot of time and can be much more difficult when your schedule is not flexible.  A solopreneur business can help you keep your life on track and help you manage all these complexities.  You have much more freedom to work when you want and you have the luxury of taking care of personal business while most people are working.  My own solopreneur business got started when my husband was working long hours and we purchased a fixer-upper house.  I needed to be around to supervise the work and make sure everything was done right.

How might your life be easier if you had more flexibility?  Being self-employed may make your life easier to manage.

This is one of the topics I explore in my book “Is a Solopreneur Business Right for You?”  Flexibility is a great thing about having your own solo business, and I tell you other great things as well as some of the not so great things.  Grab your copy here! 

If you want to be a solopreneur, you have to be prepared to dig into all the areas of your business.  Even if you hire some outsourced help, you still need to know enough to communicate what you need, make sure you get what you asked for and can manage the people you hire.  Some of the business skills you need may be new or uncomfortable for some people but it’s important to have at least some level of mastery.

The first skill you have to acquire is comfort with technology.  A lot of people make the mistake of blindly outsourcing their tech needs without learning some basic skills first.  It’s fine to outsource your tech needs, but if you don’t at least have some knowledge it can be hard for you to get what you want and need from your tech person.  I’ve seen a lot of people have their outsourced tech project go awry even though their hired contractor tried their best.  Even if you have no interest in actually learning any tech processes, it will make you a better client to your hired contractor if you learn some of the vocabulary, concepts, limitations and best practices of the area you are working on.  Of course, if you want to go the full solo route for some of the more accessible tech projects that’s an option too.

The second skill you need some basic financial analysis.  This probably sounds horrible to you if you are a right-brain, creative type but you can get away with very little in this area.  Some basic numbers to look at: sales, number of customers, where sales are coming from, expenses and reach (total number of people you can reach on email and social media for starters).  In general, you want sales and reach to go up over time.  Expenses should go down, stay flat or increase by less than sales increase by.  There are many more financial and numerical measures you can look at, but this is a place to start and it’s a minimum for any solopreneur business owner.

The third area is writing.  This may be hard for some people because they simply don’t like it, aren’t good at it or are slow writers.  It’s possible to build a successful business without any writing, but as a solopreneur your life will be a lot easier if you can do some of  your own writing.  Even if you decide to outsource this to a large degree, you’ll get better results if you can provide a good description of what you want.

Being a solopreneur isn’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean the only option is a job at a big company.  If you have areas of your business you just can’t bring yourself to master, try taking a middle ground instead of running the other way.  Gain enough familiarity to make yourself a good client and see if you can find some help.  Your business will be better served by you gaining the knowledge you need than trying to duck it.

Curious if you have what it takes to be a one-person business?  This is one of the topics I cover in my book “Is a Solopreneur Business Right for You?”  Grab you copy and find out if you are solopreneur material!

 

One of the things I love about the solopreneur business model is that there are so many different businesses you can have.  You can literally create a business that has never existed before.  Assuming people want and can pay for what want to sell, there is an almost limitless array of products and services you can offer as a solopreneur.  Do you have that “one thing” you are known for, that people ask you about all the time, that people want your help with and that you are known as the go-to guy or gal for?  If so, maybe that’s your solopreneur business!

This is one of the ideas I explore in my book “Is a Solopreneur Business Right for You?”  I talk about the various types of solopreneur businesses and what personality traits will help you be successful as a solopreneur.  Head over to the Kindle store and check it out!

 

 

Today, I’m guest posting over at The Busy Fool.  Head on over and check it out – there are some great tips for picking which activities to focus on and what to do first.  This might be perfect timing for you if you are planning your 2014!  There’s lots of great information for entrepreneurs over at The Busy Fool so be sure to take a look around while you are there!

Michele’s guest post on The Busy Fool blog

 

As a solopreneur, much of your success comes from yourself.  You may be thinking I’ve just stated the obvious – who else could it come from in a one-person business?  It is true that there’s nobody else in a one-person business, but there are some specific business features that must come from yourself when you are solopreneur that typically come from someone or something external to you when you work in a larger organization.

For starters, your motivation has to come solely from yourself.  There’s no boss to report to, no external deadlines to meet and nobody knows if you meet your goals or not unless you deliberately place some accountability partners in your life.  If you aren’t motivated to just get to work and do what needs to be done by yourself, you may not enjoy being a solopreneur.  If you need some external force to help you get things done, having a coach or mastermind group can help but you have to take action and make that happen for yourself.

Second, your schedule is entirely dictated by yourself.  There are no office policies or employee manuals to tell you how to schedule your day or week.  The “office” is always open, so nights and weekends are tempting targets for your work if you aren’t careful.  Over the longer haul, it’s up to you to take a big-picture view of what needs to happen over the week, month and year to keep your business growing and keep you happy.  As a solopreneur, your schedule is complicated.  You’ve got to do the money-making work, but you also have to do all the other jobs such as marketing, administration and paperwork.  If you can’t manage to make and stick to a schedule (and be willing to chuck it out the window when things change!), you may not be able to have a solopreneur business.

Third, it’s up to you to build some structure in your business.  There are no departments, policy manuals, or reports like there would be in a bigger company so it’s easy to end up with absolutely no structure to your business whatsoever.  It’s important to not go overboard and create a rigid, bulky business that loses all the advantages of being a solopreneur but you do need to create some structure in your business.  There are certain maintenance chores that should be done on a regular basis such as looking at some numbers, banking, filing, taxes and license renewals.  You need some structure to make sure these things can and do get done on time.

It takes a distinct type of person to be a solopreneur, and one of the biggest traits is that you are internally motivated.  You can hold yourself accountable and get things done even when nobody is looking.  How does your personality fit with being a solopreneur?  Tell me about it in the comments.

Being a solopreneur is really rewarding and fun if it’s a good fit for your personality.  That’s one of thing I help you explore in my book “Is a Solopreneur Business Right for You?”  If you are thinking of starting a small business and wonder if you could make it as a one-person shop, grab the book here and see if you’d be happy and successful as a solopreneur.

 

 

 

Even though there are millions of solopreneurs in the US and worldwide, some people don’t know that a one-person business is a viable and legitimate way to do business.  Some solo business owners don’t even realize they have a real business!  Because of this, some solopreneurs feel like they have to give the appearance of being bigger than they are.  What are some ways to look big when you aren’t?  Here’s a few:

• Write copy in the third person rather than the first person.  “Michele works with……” sounds like there is at least one other person in the organization because someone has to be writing about Michele.  “I work with…..” makes no bones about the fact that I both do the work and write the copy.
• Use voicemail greetings that convey a substantial physical set up.  For example: “You have reached the offices of Michele Christensen.  For customer service, press 1, members of the media press 2…, etc”  This makes it seem like there are “offices” rather than a laptop on you coffee table, and it make it look like separate departments handle these requests.
• Refer to your team whether you have one or not.

To be clear, these are not necessarily deceitful practices.  A person may like a formal website written in the third person.  They may find it helps their efficiency to have voicemail messages sorted by need.  They may use a team regularly but not have one now.  A business owner may think that it is the best way to communicate with customers.

What I’m saying no to is practices that business owner engage in to deliberately give the impression of being bigger than a one-person operation.  If you are a solopreneur, be clear about it and be proud of it!  If someone wants to do business with a bigger company they may not hire you, but you’ll attract people who do want to do business with you.  If a customer wants a big company and hires you thinking you are bigger than you are, they may be disappointed and feel deceived.  That’s not a way to build a business or a reputation.

There are plenty of people who want to do business with solopreneurs.  There are people who value the attention and accountability they get from solopreneurs.  Some people like not having to deal with a big company or like supporting small business.   Don’t underestimate the value of doing business with YOU!

Have you ever felt pressured to look bigger than you are?  What did you do about it?  Share it in the comments.

Not having to pretend you are something you are not is a big advantage of a solopreneur business.  In my book “Is a Solopreneur Business Right for You?” I cover some of the other advantages and the disadvantages of this model as well.  Check it out here.

 

 

 

 

One of the great things about being a solopreneur is that you can set up your work schedule in a way that supports you doing your best work.  Not only is this a luxury and a nice benefit, but it’s also an important ingredient to your success.  Working how and when you are at your best will help you deliver great results to your customers and clients with less struggle on your part.

One of the factors to think about is the times of the day during which you work.  When people first transition from a job to a solopreneur business, it’s a big adjustment to learn to schedule your time.  When you work for someone else, you are usually on a schedule set by someone else.  When you have a solopreneur business, you are free to set your own schedule.  It’s a huge benefit, but not as easy at it seems like it should be.  Take a look at how you naturally function during a day: Are you a morning person or a night owl?  When are you sharpest and when can you only complete the easiest of tasks?  Do you get a 3:00 lull like a lot of people?  Start to observe your daily cycles of productivity and see if you can shift your work schedule to take advantage of them.

On a larger scale, you have freedom to work more or less during certain seasons of the year.  You may be able to bundle projects and orders together, work hard for a few months then take it easy for a few.  You might like more free time during the summer, or over the winter holidays.  The variations are endless, but it is nice to know you can create some extra time by planning ahead.

There’s another important element to doing your best work – how do you work best?  Do you need bright light and music?  Does a small office with a closed door keep you focused?  Can you find a creative jolt in the bustle of a coffee shop?  Do you crave company and opt to work somewhere other than home sometimes?  What kind of equipment do you need to do your best?  How do you like your space arranged?  Do you like to be adaptable and work from a variety of places?  Maybe you need to regularly change your environment just to keep from being bored.  Whatever those things are for you, make sure you figure them out and give yourself the gift of as many as possible.

Making sure you do your best work is a responsibility of solopreneur business owners.  Find out more about being a solopreneur, including what you need to know before you decide to take the plunge in my new book “Is a Solopreneur Business Right for You?”  It’s available on Kindle now!