Your solopreneur business: one big experiment

When you are trying something new in your business, it’s almost impossible to get it perfect on the first try. That’s why I suggest that you always be experimenting with your business. Even if a new idea that you try works out great, it’s valuable to learn why it worked and how to repeat it.

There is no limit to the number of things you could be doing in your business. If you are randomly doing new tactics and not stopping to measure your results, you are probably wasting time on things that aren’t working.

Before you start anything new in your business, know what you want from that effort. If it’s a new product, you probably want sales. If it’s a listbuilding event, you want people to sign up for your email list. If it’s a social media campaign, you may be trying to make new connections or grow your influence. The point is, always have a goal in mind and a way to measure if your efforts are working.

In the book “The Solopreneur’s Success Strategy: Use Metrics to Know What Works,” I teach you how to get started with metrics, or measuring results in your business. Metrics is the only sure way to know what works for your specific business, and you’ll have everything you need to get started in this book. Grab your copy in the Kindle store! (Note you do not need a Kindle device to read Kindle books. You can get a free Kindle app for your device or desktop.)

Introducing the Solopreneur Reading List!

I’m pleased to announce the official launch of The Solopreneur Reading List, my curated list of books to help you thrive in your solopreneur business!

The most successful solopreneurs are committed to continuous learning, and reading is a great way to learn. Books can be inexpensive, are easy to carry, and are able to be read in small blocks of time that may otherwise be wasted. You can also refer back to any book that you own as many times as you need to.

I read every book before I even consider adding it to the list, and every one of the books is something I think is highly relevant for solopreneurs. You’ll never be able to read everything that is available and relevant to your business, so use this list as a starting point to find great books with information you need. My books written for solopreneurs are included as well.

You can find my reviews for these books by clicking on “book reviews” in the tag cloud in the sidebar.

Check out The Solopreneur Reading List and find your next read!

Book Review – Launch by Jeff Walker

This post is a review of the book “Launch: An Internet Millionaire’s Secret Formula to Sell Almost Anything Online, Build a Business You Love, and Live the Life of Your Dreams” by Jeff Walker. In short, this book is great and has everything you need to follow his launch plan. You’ve probably seen product launches using his formula and just didn’t know it. That’s the beauty of “PLF” or “Product Launch Formula” style launches – they deliver great value whether the potential customer buys or not, and can be done without hype or aggressive selling tactics.

For an investment of less than $10, you really have everything you need to launch PLF style. There are a variety of case studies in very different niches, and these case studies had me continually saying “I can totally do this!” The case studies are a great way to show you the information in the book in action, but also a way to show you how different people use the PLF for their launches.

There are several types of launches presented in the book, but one of the most useful is the Seed Launch. This is, in my opinion, the most useful because it assumes you are truly starting from scratch. You don’t need a finished product, a list or even a website. Of course if you have any or all of those things, your launch will be much easier but the Seed Launch chapter demonstrates that you don’t need any of them to launch your first product. In fact, a seed launch can help you create your first product, start your list and make some money if you need it to get your website built.

One of the errors I see business owners making in launching is thinking that if they put something for sale that somehow people will find it and want to buy it. Once you realize this isn’t true, you are left with a problem of how to let potential buyers know you have something for sale and why they might want it. If you are like most people, you don’t want to sound like too pushy or sales-y. The Product Launch Formula gives you a step by step method that overcomes all of these problems. You’ll also have plenty of time and space to say what you need to in order for people to understand your product or service.

In short, this book delivers huge value for the money and has earned a spot on my Solopreneur Reading List. Grab a copy on Amazon here.

Image of Launch Book cover from Amazon.com

Discover the hidden gold in your email list!

Today I’m sharing some wisdom on email marketing from one of my personal mentors, PJ Van Hulle! Enjoy, and be sure to check out List-a-Palooza which starts today!

You’ve probably heard that, “the fortune is in the follow up,” but if you’re like most of the 1,000’s of entrepreneurs I’ve worked with over the last 14 years, your follow up systems leave something to be desired.

Here’s why “the fortune is in the follow up,” and what that looks like…

According to my friend and online marketing expert, Vrinda Normand, in most niche markets, or the specific group of people you serve:

3% are actively shopping for what you offer

7% are aware and open to your services, but not looking

30% are not aware of their problem or your solution

30% may know you exist, but it’s not the right time

30% are simply not a fit

This means that if you’re not following up, you’re leaving behind the 67% of people that might be ready to sign up for your products or services down the road!

When you follow up consistently, you will stay in front of these people. Maybe they’re not ready now, but when they are ready, you’ll be at the top of their mind and therefore you’ll be the one they hire over someone that didn’t follow up.

Imagine how much more money you could put in your pocket just by staying in touch with those 67% of people who may need you in the future.

The easiest and most effective way to follow up and nurture those relationships is to build an e-mail list of clients and potential clients who have “opted in” and given you permission to send them e-mails.

A good rule of thumb for monetizing your list is to shoot for $1 per subscriber, per month. So if your goal is to generate $10,000 per month in income, focus on growing your e-mail list to 10,000 subscribers.

With a profitable e-mail list you can:

● Attract more clients and sales

● Turn current clients into repeat clients

● Fill your seminars and programs

● Promote other peoples’ programs that you believe in and earn $1,000′s in affiliate commissions

Building your list is like taking advantage of compound interest. The sooner you start, the better. And the longer you nurture your list, the more profitable it will be.

To quantum leap your e-mail list to the next level, I recommend participating for FREE in the List-a-Palooza 90 Day List-Building Challenge.

Register Now for FREE

PJ Van Hulle works with speakers, authors and coaches to grow their e-mail lists so that they can attract more clients and sales with less time, effort, and stress. She’s the creator of the List-a-Palooza 90 Day List-Building Challenge.

Bright, Shiny Object Syndrome

Ask Me Anything, Segment 10

(Prefer to read instead of watch? Scroll down below the video player for a summary.)

It’s really easy to get sidetracked by the next big thing or the next bright, shiny object. It’s critical to stay focused and finish projects before moving on to the next one. You can find the entire Ask Me Anything series on my blog or YouTube channel under Ask Me Anything.

If you prefer to read instead of watch, here are the notes for this video:

Bright, shiny object syndrome is a funny name for a very real problem faced by entrepreneurs. We can get distracted by the next new idea before we take time to finish what we are working on.
New ideas are especially tempting to entrepreneurs because we love new ideas and like to take action and try new things.
One of the things that separates the superstars from the middle of the pack is the ability to persevere and finish projects even when they get boring.
Learning can be a huge bright, shiny object. Make sure to take the time to implement what you learn before moving on to learning something else.
One of the things I can help you with is finishing what you start. I can help you to know exactly what to be working on. I would love to be one of the people you learn from. Click on the green “Send Me More” button below the video, enter your name and email address, and I’ll send you tips and strategies just for solopreneurs.

Learning new stuff is way more fun than working!

Ask Me Anything, Segment 9

(Prefer to read instead of watch? Scroll down below the video player for a summary.)

In this video, I talk about the trap of avoiding work you find unpleasant by spending too much time learning. This is Segment 9 in the Ask Me Anything series. You can find the entire series on my blog or YouTube Channel under Ask Me Anything. www.michelechristensen.com

If you prefer to read instead of watch, here are the notes for this video:

It’s easy to get sidetracked when you are learning too many different things from too many different people.
Learning can be used to procrastinate the work you really need to be doing to create income.
It’s important to always be investing in yourself by learning new things about your business, but balance this with the need to implement what you learn.
I help people to have a streamlined, efficient business and to know exactly what to be working on and what not to be working on. Click on the “Send Me More” button below the video player so I can send you more great tips and strategies for running your solopreneur business.

Measure your results to improve them

From my book “Use Metrics to Know What Works“…

One of the hallmarks of successful entrepreneurs is that they take action. They don’t wait for the time to be perfect or for some mythical moment when everything lines up, they get busy and get going. This is a hugely important trait for success, but it can also be a curse. The problem is that many entrepreneurs are so action oriented that they go off in random directions with no plan. It’s not enough just to take action – you have to be taking action on the right things.

This is where a lot of entrepreneurs get into trouble. Yes, you do need to be taking consistent action, but if you don’t take some time first to determine what you should be doing there’s a good chance of not getting the results you want. The problem is that it is really hard for an action-oriented entrepreneur whose idea keeps him up at night to take a step back and do some research and planning. Later, the problem becomes taking the time to measure and analyze results when you would rather be doing more.

So many business operate like this:

Start doing something in hopes of growing your business
Sales don’t come as desired
Add another activity
Repeat

Can you see the problems with this approach? First, you can only repeat this cycle for so long. There is an absolute upper limit to the amount of activity that you can add to your business. At some point, you will run out of hours in the week. Second, if you keep adding new things without taking away anything you’ll end up with a bigger and bigger list of activities to keep up with. Your attention becomes split and you end up expending a lot of energy switching between and managing all your projects. Third and most serious is that you have absolutely no way to improve. There’s no feedback or indication of what’s working or not and how to improve. This is the biggest problem of all because testing, measuring and adapting is the only sure way you have of making sure you are on a path of continual improvement. Continuing to blindly add activities with no clear plan is like trying to get across town on your bicycle by pedaling faster and making random turns. If you don’t stop and consult a map before and during your trip, you won’t know if you are even heading in the right direction. All of that activity may actually be taking you further from your destination.

It’s almost impossible to get things just right on the first try. That’s where being action-oriented is an asset – as an action taker you just get out there and do something. However, the shortest path to success after you take action is to learn from that experience and adapt your next attempt.

When you take action with no planning, there is no way to measure and no way to close the loop. Everything you do will be just random shooting in the dark with no way to adapt and learn. Often the only feedback you get is “that didn’t work.”

For all of these reasons, metrics (i.e. measuring your results) is often one of the first areas I work on with my clients because we really can’t begin coaching and moving forward effectively until they have a feedback loop in place. As much as I wish I could, I simply can’t pull the right answers out of nothing. I need data to work with in the first place and a way to measure results once our ideas are implemented.

If you aren’t doing any metrics, or you want to see how metrics can help you, head over to the Kindle store and grab my book “Use Metrics to Know What Works.” This article is taken from Chapter 1, and the rest of the book teaches you not only the principles of metrics but how to do metrics for specific purposed in your business. Grab your copy here:

Use Metrics to Know What Works

(No Kindle device? No problem! You can download a free Kindle app for your phone or tablet, or install the free Kindle reader for your desktop.)

Learning without implementation accomplishes nothing

Ask Me Anything, Segment 8

(Prefer to read in stead of watch? Scroll down below the video player for the notes.)

Earlier this year, I gave my email subscribers the chance to ask me anything they wanted to about their business. In this video, I talk about the trap of learning too much and not implementing enough. Learning new skills to build your business is a great thing to do, but you have to implement what you learn for it to help your business grow. Learning without implementation does not help your business. This is Segment #8 in the Ask Me Anything series. You can find the entire series on my blog or YouTube Channel under Ask Me Anything. www.michelechristensen.com

(Note the event link I mentioned around the [2:00] minute mark does not show up on some views of this blog post. Here is the link: www.michelechristensen.com/blbp)

If you prefer to read instead of watch, here are the notes for this video:

Learning is fun, and implementing can be long, hard work so there is a big temptation to just keep learning and not take the time to implement.
The fun of doing new things begins when you finish them and they begin to work. If you want to be successful, you have to buckle down and implement what you are learning and not just jump to the next thing.
I attended a live weekend event last year and it took me 5 months to get everything from that event implemented. Make sure your time and money investment pays off when you attend a live event by implementing what you learn. For more information on the Big List, Big Profits event, click here.
The one thing to take from this video: implement what you learn or you are just wasting time.
If you like this tip, please go to www.michelechristensen.com and enter your name and email address so you can receive ongoing tips and strategies just for solopreneurs!