solopreneur – Page 13 – Michele Christensen

Lessons on life and business

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.

Michele and FIL Alvin walking dogs on beach — Michele and Alvin walking the dogs on the beach

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.

Using an automated scheduling tool

One of the biggest time wasters in business is going back and forth to try to set a meeting time. It’s bad enough with just two people, but add a third person or

Easy meeting scheduling for solopreneurs

even more and it can take hours of time spread over days just to schedule a simple meeting.

What I found is that someone would want to schedule with me “in the middle of next week.” I would email my availability on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and wait to hear back. In the meantime, since I offered those times to someone already I was unable to offer them to anyone else in the meantime. I might even have to put the next person wanting to meet with me on hold. You can see how this one thing could bog down several people for days.

What I switched to was an automated, online scheduler where people who want to meet with me get a link to a page where they can see my availability and book an appointment on the spot. I cannot tell you the hours this has saved me over the last year and a half and I get lots of positive feedback on how easy it is to use.

I researched several tools for automated scheduling, and tried one other before settling on Timetrade. Here are a few things I like about Timetrade:

You can set up multiple types of “activities” that people can schedule and when you send them to the page for that activity they can only schedule that activity. In other words, if you are working with someone in half-hour phone sessions they can only schedule a half-hour session not more or less time and not an in-person meeting.
Your guest does not need to create an account to use your scheduler. He or she will be asked for an email address for the purpose of an email confirmation.
Your guest sees your availability in real time but does not see any details of your other appointments. Timetrade syncs to Outlook and Google calendar (my choice in calendars) so once you schedule an appointment on your own calendar your availability is automatically updated in Timetrade.
Once your guest books his or her appointment, it is confirmed for both of you so that there is no need for back-and-forth communication.
Time zone differences are handled automatically based on the settings on the computer used by each person. Each person gets the time in their own time zone.

Getting used to an online scheduler took some time and effort. People can book appointments with me any time, so I always have to be on top of that. If I want to go to the gym on Monday afternoon, I have to put that in my calendar so nobody can book an appointment in that time. If I’m done an appointment at 3:00, the scheduler sees that I’m free at 3:00 and may offer that time to someone. I have to remember to put in some extra time so that I don’t have another appointment until 3:30 or so. I don’t always like last-minute appointments or jam-packed days, so I have to remember to close my day if I don’t want any more appointments. Overall, the adjustment was not that hard and the payoff has been huge.

Timetrade is just one of several dozen resources I share in my Solopreneur Success Rolodex. You can get a copy of my rolodex as a bonus with my system “The ABC’s of a Successful Solopreneur Business.” Grab your copy here.

How do you handle your scheduling? Do you use an automated scheduler?

What would it take to…….

Get your project done? Get you unstuck? Get you to what’s next?

Working alone means you get stuck sometimes, here's how to get moving — One way to nudge you forward when you need it

Last week, I shared some ideas on the value of getting things done vs. getting them perfect. Of course, we always want to do our best, but sometimes done really is better than perfect.

Today I want to share one of my favorite tools for getting unstuck and getting a project done. Here’s the question I use:

What would be good enough to move forward?

Note that the question is not “how great can I make this” or “what else can I add.” Both of these are great questions to use in some settings. They may help you to really increase the value of a project or product, but they are not the right questions to ask when you are stuck. When you’re stuck and overwhelmed, the last thing you need is to be thinking on adding even more to the project. What may help is a narrowed focus with a realistic idea of what you need. This question will help you get that. You can use this question to just get you moving forward – you can always change your mind at a later point in the project but this will let you get to that later point.

I first heard this question from one of my teachers Lisa Sasevich. I was at a 3-day event where we were composing a talk to use in business promotion. The event was a working bootcamp, and by the end she promised we’d be ready to speak the next day. At one point, we were doing some heads down work, and she asked who was stuck. About a third of the hands went up, and she said those people were not focusing on “good enough to move ahead.”

The people who need your work aren’t looking for perfection and you can’t provide it anyway. What they want is your help, so offer it sooner rather than later and focus on getting it done. When we get stuck in the midst of something, we can get caught up in a trap of not knowing how much to do or what to do first. It all seems important to get exactly right. But by focusing on this one question: What would be good enough to move ahead? you just might pare down that huge list of things you still need to complete your project into a neat, do-able task list.

What techniques do you use to get unstuck?

Done vs. the elusive perfectly done

Solopreneurs love to do quality work, but perfection is not possible — Done vs. perfectly done

A few weeks ago I attended a workshop with Alicia Forest, one of my business teachers. I’ve been sharing some of what I learned in the workshop and here’s another bit for you to enjoy.

During one of the sessions, we talked about the idea that “Done is better than perfect.” I’ve also heard a variation on this which is “Perfect is the enemy of done.” Both are great sentiments that can help us move ahead in business. There’s something about using the internet for you business that just makes us want to add one more thing, to rewrite it again, to add more to the scope, etc. It makes it really easy to get stuck on a hamster wheel of work where you are going, going, going but not getting anywhere.

The key thing to remember is that your goal is to serve your clients and customers, not to show the world how flawless your work is. Every project you haven’t released into the world is help that people who need you are not getting. It may also be money those people would happily pay you that you are not getting.

I’ve heard all this before and I’m sure you have too, but don’t take it for granted. Take a few minutes to remind yourself of this important principle. Yes, it’s important to do your best and give people what they pay for, but balance this against an endless loop of feedback and improvement that keeps the project from ever being done. It’s a drain on your mental bandwidth and not a service to anyone.

One tip to avoid this is to clearly define the scope of the project before you start. You might not have the exact parameters, but if you are trying to write a $7 ebook, it shouldn’t be 500 pages. You can also change midstream if you find the original scope was too small or too big. You can use time limits that are proportional to the price and expected use of the project – for example, you may decide that $7 ebook has to be written in 5 hours.

Take a look at your unfinished projects and see if any could be moved closer to completion by changing you standards to “What would serve my clients” from “Do this as best as I possibly can.” You customers, clients and readers needs should be one of the biggest factors in defining any project.

Could you serve your clients better?

Solopreneurs can sometimes give too much information for it to be useful — Solopreneurs can serve best by editing what they know

I just got back a few days ago from a live workshop given by one of my favorite teachers Alicia Forest. As promised, I’ll be sharing some insights I gained there over the next few weeks.

One of the outstanding things about this event was the perfect pace. There were ample breaks and the days were not excessively long, and this made for great learning. Contrary to what it may seem, I’m sure I learned more because of the “white space” the schedule provided. I don’t think I would have been able to learn as much if we had long days, night sessions and short breaks. Even though more information could theoretically be conveyed with a more intense schedule, the retention and the big shifts I got would not have happened.

Aside from being beneficial to me in this setting, it made me think about how often we as solopreneurs tend to “firehose” our clients in our fervor to serve. We have so much to give and so much passion for helping that we tend to give too much information. This might seem like you are being generous and selfless with your knowledge, and perhaps you are, but maybe you could serve your clients better by pulling back and filtering what you deliver to better suit their needs. No client needs to know everything you know about a subject the first time they ask about it.

Why do we do this? I think it’s a mix of a few things. We are so on fire with what we want to share with clients and customers that we want to give it all. Maybe they don’t have another session booked and we want to make sure we give so much that they can’t help but see the value. Maybe it’s a desire to be recognized for how much we know. Maybe we don’t remember that we gained our knowledge over a period of time and it’s best for our clients to gain it the same way. Maybe we use our knowledge so much that we forget what it’s like to be a beginner. Maybe it feels like cheating to hold back.

For whatever reason you might be overdoing it on the information delivery, try to recognize it and stop. Take a few seconds and listen to what is being asked and then consider the range of answers you can give. Instead of trying to give all you can every time, make your highest goal that which would best serve your client. Even if you know much more than you say right now, that which serves your client best is the best answer to give. You may know 10 ways to do something, but don’t give all 10 if they only need one. They could Google and get the 10 ways to do the task, but only you could help them pick the one that is best based on your experience. That’s what makes you valuable to your customers.

Have you ever stopped to ask for directions and the kind person helping you gives you 3 different ways to go, leaving you confused and in search of someone else to ask? The best, most helpful answer is to give just one choice. As a stranger in town, you have no way of evaluating the 3 choices, so that wanna-be-helpful person could be much more helpful using his knowledge to winnow your choices.

You might even want to frame an answer by saying that there is tons of information on this topic but what you need to know right now is the first few pieces. Once they have the first few pieces down, you can give them the next few pieces in the right order for them. That’s where you can add value.

Giving more information than requested or than a client can use is not being of service. The best answer is just the right amount of information tailored to exactly where the client is right now. Oh yeah, and for the record, I’ve been guilty of this but now that I’ve been taught both ways I’m resolved to do better.

What is your experience of getting too much information? Is it a service or something you wish people wouldn’t do? Have you been guilty of underserving by giving too much?

Get the help you need to be a great solopreneur business owner

Solopreneurs should get the help they need

When I first started my business, I didn’t work exactly in my current specialty. I started as a professional organizer who specialized in productivity, systems and time management for entrepreneurs. Like most solopreneurs, my focus has changed and will probably continue to evolve over time.

Like many solopreneurs, I assumed all I had to do was set up an online brochure (aka a website), print some cards and get to it. I knew my stuff and got great results so how could word not spread like wildfire right? Ha, ha. Wrong.

I thought I’d be spending a little time every week on “business,” things like paperwork and an occassional lunch or coffee meeting. Even with my extensive business background I was unprepared for just how important it is to be an excellent business owner and not just an excellent provider of whatever you offer.

Fast forward a few years, and investments of time, money and energy into my own learning and I’m so much wiser. What I finally get now is that as much as we spend time getting the skills we sell up to par, we have to invest in getting business skills up to par as well. You can be the best at what you do, but if you don’t run a solid business you won’t be successful. Like it or not, the day you opened shop you became a business owner.

That brings me to the point of this article – get help with the business part of your business. No matter how great you are at what you do, you still need to run a business that works great for you and there are people and products that can help you with this. Of couse, this is what I do so it would be dishonest to say I wouldn’t be thrilled if you choose me for help. However, I’m hugely committed to the success of solopreneurs everywhere, so if I’m not your pick that’s fine but please pick someone or something.

Getting help with your business should not only be a non-negotiable in your set-up, but it should also be an ongoing activity you are always doing. Now that I see how much this kind of help can shortcut my success, I’m always on the lookout for the next thing to boost me. Start paying attention to what your are having difficulty with so you can be on the lookout for your next solution. Whatever problem you are having, it’s likely someone else has faced it, solved it and now sells the solution to.

One final point – beware of any purchasing more help than you’ve implemented. Try to only buy as much as you can put into practice soon, otherwise you’ll end up with a backlog of “shelf help,” i.e. things you’ve paid for but haven’t implemented and are sitting on the shelf and not helping you. The only time I make an exception to this is when I see something at a really great price that I know I will need soon.

What kind of help do you use in your business? What has it helped you achieve? What do you wish you had gotten help on sooner?

New free resource for you!

I’m really excited to share a brand new tool I’ve created to help you build your solopreneur business faster and with more ease!
I often get into conversations where people ask me what tools I use in my business. It’s one of my favorite things to talk about, and often people are surprised that there are free or paid tools to do the very thing they need to do.

I’ve compiled a list of the tools I use to run my business into a handy document called the Soloprneur Success Rolodex. It has 32 of my tops picks for services and products that are integral to my success.

Grab you copy on this page:

Solopreneur Success Rolodex

To your success!

Solopreneurs need persistence

Solopreneur success isn’t determined solely by having a great product or service or even knowing the most about what you do. Those things are of course critical

to success but they aren’t the only things. One of the biggest traps we can fall into is to have too many ideas which are either not implemented or half done. Most of the time ideas don’t produce revenue until they are fully implemented, so even one small idea completely implemented will usually bring in more sales than several that are half done.

This is a huge challenge for many solopreneurs and in fact for most people with the entrepreneurial spirit. We thrive on ideas and our heads buzz constantly with them. We have more ideas than we know what to do with! A shortage of ideas is usually not the problem when I work with a client who wants to add to his or her business – usually the problem is picking which one to implement first. It’s easy to think this is just the normal state of affairs for everyone, but it’s not. This is one trait I find in almost all the solopreneurs I talk to. Ideas come to us constantly – there’s a reason there are products made for taking notes in the shower! Too many ideas is a great problem to have because it can be solved with some focus.

People who are drawn to being a solopreneur business owner love challenges and new ideas. Jumping from project to project without finishing any of them is what is called “bright, shiny object syndrome.” We are in the middle of something which has become more boring as we churn through the details and BAM a new idea pops into our heads and we’re all over the thrill of something new.

One of the key factors in solopreneur success is to be able to resist bright, shiny object syndrome and finish projects. If you decide to abandon something, do it conscientiously and not because you dropped the ball when something better came along. You won’t have more products and services to offer if you don’t see your ideas through to completion. An obvious result is suffering revenues, but an even bigger impact is that your great ideas are not helping anyone. If you need motivation to get you through the boring patches of completing a project, think of all the people who need what you are offering and aren’t getting it because you haven’t gotten it done.

A simple but effective tool for solopreneur time management

During one part of my career before I was a solopreneur, I worked for a holding company that was a parent company for engineering and architecture firms. My job was to help standardize systems across all the companies. Because of the job-by-job nature of the work, everyone filled out a timesheet – even the administrative staff. I found that knowing I was going to have to slot my time into categories when I did my timesheet helped me to think more proactively about my time and use it more wisely.

For most of us, more freedom is one of the main reasons for being self-employed. We love that we can work whenever it suits us and spend time however we want. If you’re like me, you’ll be thinking “Ugh, I could never go back to something like a timesheet now.” I thought this too, until I saw how it changed my business and my life.

I started using a timesheet 6 months ago when I felt like I wasn’t getting enough done in all the major areas of my life – personal, our fixer upper house and professional. My husband went to school for engineering and now works as a computer programmer and it was his idea to start tracking my time. In the engineering mindset, you can’t optimize a resource until you know how it’s being used now. So, in an effort to diagnose the problem I reluctantly began keeping a timesheet. Boy did I become a convert quickly!

So many great things came out of my using a timesheet it would be hard to list them all here. I became more aware of how long things really take which makes me better able to plan. I could preset how much time to spend on each area so that I invested my time according to my values. Strangely enough, I felt a sense of freedom from being on top of my time. I imagine it’s similar to when someone finally gets on top of their budget and spending. You can’t have unrealistic ideas about your time if how you spent it is right in front of you. My timesheet helped me remove unhelpful blurring of work and personal time, which is a big trap for work-at-home solopreneurs.

If you don’t keep track of how you spend your time, I invite you to do this even for a week or so. It’s a great practice to do every few months or so to make sure you’re spending your time how you think you are.

For my timesheet I used a spreadsheet where each line is a time window, and then I spread out how I spend the time into columns representing the areas I wanted to focus on. You could just write things down on a notepad or use a calendar if that works better for you. Don’t get caught up in finding the perfect tool – just do whatever works and will get you the information you need to make the best decisions about your time.

How solopreneurs can set income goals

A while back, I had a conversation with a coach I was thinking of hiring to help me with my business. Yes, even a business coach needs a coach! No matter how good we are at what we do, I believe everyone needs an outside person to help them.

This coach began our get acquainted session with “How much money do you want to make?” At first I was stymied because I didn’t have an exact figure but had a range instead, and she required one single number for us to even talk. Her plan was to get a number and then work backward to figure out how to make it happen, thus she needed a specific figure from me to even talk about it. Whether or not my figure was realistic given where I was at the time was not a factor for her.

Overall, it’s not a bad idea to start here but there were two big problems with using this approach so rigidly. First, it’s simplistic to just think you can name a figure off the top of your head and make it so. There’s lots of factors that go into building a business at any level and there are no guarantees that you can get to a revenue figure just because you named it. It seems to encourage an almost absurd level of speculation. I would say it’s more realistic to look at how much business you are doing now, how much you can expect to increase based on specific changes you’ve made and then add on some additional due to working smarter.

The second and bigger problem is that it ignores lifestyle choices. There’s loads of ways to make big money, but I’m not willing to do them all. I’m also not willing to work 7 days a week, spend hours a day in LA traffic or neglect my family. How much money you can make is impacted by what you are willing to do to make it. Since some lifestyle choices are not reversable in the short term, I would even say that this is where any income goal has to start. It’s much more realistic to say “I want to make as much money as I can given the following lifestyle conditions……” If you hate your lifestyle lots of money won’t make you satisfied.

Although I caution against using a specific income goal so rigidly, that doesn’t mean it’s always a bad idea. It’s important to know how much you need every month to keep your business open, to cover your own obligations and on top of those two things to have some fun. If you have no idea what those figures are then you’ve got no way to measure if your activities are working and that’s a recipe for business failure.