Beware of the “Trojan Horse” Sales pitch

As I’ve increased the reach of my business, I’ve had an increasing number of people attempt to pitch me something in the guise of a Trojan Horse. It’s usually something like “Can I share your {whatever} with my audience?” or one particularly blatant one “I have a speaking gig for you, let’s talk (turned out to be a long sales pitch for something that was completely inappropriate for me.)

Just to be clear, it’s totally appropriate to pitch and sell when you are in business. Without selling, there would be no business. My objection to the Trojan Horse approach is that it is sneaky and often untargeted. In each case, I didn’t know I was going to be pitched to and the product or service being offered was not something I needed or wanted. The person pitching me occupied my time under false pretenses and I felt burned at the end.

What I want to share with you is to be on the lookout for these sales pitches. They will waste your time and if your experience is like mine, the people that do this don’t even try to target the right potential customers. Here are a few warning signs to look out for:

Somebody comes to you with an offer that is too good to be true
The person is overly flattering when it’s clear they haven’t gotten to know you or your work
They request a phone, in-person or Skype meeting without explaining what the value to you will be or why it can’t be handled in a more efficient manner
Vague references to “working together” without even one example of what that might look like
You have a feeling of “What is this person talking about?” or “What the heck?” that isn’t shared by the other person
They express urgency at needing to meet with you right away

One of the really vexing parts of the Trojan Horse sales pitch is that it is usually flattering! I admit, the first few times it happened I was thrilled that a stranger recognized my genius. I’ve now gotten pretty good at sniffing out legitimate admiration vs. insincere and generic compliments designed to woo me into a meeting. I’ve also come to recognize just how valuable my time is, so I place a higher bar on any meeting and very low value on ego-boosting.

Another problem with ducking these sales pitches is that if you get too broad with your criteria for declining, you may miss legitimate and valuable opportunities to collaborate and have a sales conversation about something that may actually be useful to you.

It goes without saying that you should not be using this to sell your own products or services. It makes a very bad impression and wastes both your time and your unqualified prospect’s time. The big question is how do you avoid the time-wasting Trojan Horses and accept the right appointments?

Here are a few ideas:

First, don’t jump to schedule an appointment just because someone asks. Check them out by visiting their website, social media sites and doing a Google search.

Second, make sure you understand why you are having a meeting rather than some other form of communication such as exchanging emails. Ask them some questions about why a meeting makes sense. Often, this drives away people who you probably don’t want to meet with and people who are a good fit appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Third, don’t schedule right away. I generally schedule everything a week ahead of time anyway, but a side benefit of this is that it wards off people who don’t have a legitimate purpose for talking to you. They don’t want to work that hard or plan ahead!

Fourth, pay attention to your feelings. If you feel pressured, unsure, weird, etc. it may be because the meeting isn’t right for you.

As a solopreneur, you have to guard your time or you won’t be able to do everything you need to do. Don’t plan a meeting simply because someone asks. Make sure you know the value of the meeting for both you and the person who wants to meet with you.

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Planning and working ahead

One of the big shifts I’ve made in my business this year has to do with planning and working ahead. In December, I met with my mastermind and we each planned our year out in a big picture way using big desk-sized calendars. At this planning meeting, we also each honed our focus to just a few areas where we are really getting results. My 2014 has been so much smoother because of it! I usually have at least the next few days if not weeks of promotions, blog posts and emails planned and I try to always keep a little ahead.

For me, there’s nothing that kills the joy of my business more than working under pressure. The same blog post, web page, or social media post which is a fun and creative activity when done without time pressure becomes a dreaded chore when I’m trying to beat the clock. It’s a great feeling to know I’m days or weeks ahead of schedule and if something should pop up in my personal life I can take care of it without having my business sit or even look idle. Before you can start working ahead though, you have to start planning ahead. You have to have some idea of what’s coming up in your business and what you are promoting. If you can plan your year at a big picture level that’s a great place to start. If that feels like too much, try planning the next month. If that’s too much, you can start with just planning your next few blog posts and emails. Are you still flying by the seat of your pants in your business? Schedule a few coaching sessions with me to get some plans laid down. You’ll feel more sure of what you are working on and have a better sense of how the pieces fit together. Click here to schedule some time with me.

Does home clutter limit your business potential?

Since most solopreneurs I know work from home, it makes sense to talk about home care even though it’s not strictly business. Your environment plays a huge role in how you feel, how much you get done and the quality of that work. One of the most common plagues of modern living is clutter. Although there are many types of non-physical clutter, I’m specifically talking about physical clutter here.

“Stuff” is relatively cheap now in terms of time, effort and money to acquire it. Relatively cheap postal rates are a boon for junk mailers. Magazines and newspapers take it upon themselves to subscribe you in order to pump up their circulation numbers. Add to that the normal upgrade cycle of all the various electronics devices and it makes for a lot of potential clutter.

Note that I called it potential clutter. All of the stuff that comes into your house has the potential to become clutter if left unchecked. Since the inflow is more or less ongoing, the mitigation needs to be ongoing as well. For years, I’ve cultivated the habit of continually decluttering. It’s something that happens casually throughout the day. If I buy a new pair of pants, I scan my existing pants to see what can be donated. If I’m putting something away and the cabinet or shelf seems crowded, I do a quick sweep to see what can go. I do a big yearly kitchen/pantry decluttering every winter.

Recently, I’ve adopted a slightly more formal approach that has been working great and has helped my business as well. I now declutter 15 minutes a day (props to flylady.net for the idea). One of the helpful things in this approach for me has been to use a wide definition of decluttering. It’s not just the “clean out the closet” tasks, but also putting everything back where it belongs. What’s great about this is that there’s never too much accumulation and there’s a set time to take care of it every day. When you practice 15 minutes a day of decluttering, you’ll find that most of the time you can put away anything left out in the last day or so and still have time to do real decluttering such as cleaning out closets, shelves and storage areas.

So how might this help your business?

It helps by taking something distracting off your plate when you are trying to work. If you go to an office outside of the house, it’s easy to leave home chores undone for the day since they are not right in your face reminding you. When you work from home, those tasks nag at you and may pull you from your work. There’s a certain pressure to feel like your house should always look good because you work from home, and this helps keep things tidy. By doing a little every day, you don’t have to try to find a huge block of time to do it later. If your house is in reasonably good shape, you’ve can’t procrastinate working in order to clean it. Having a clear space may help you concentrate or feel more focused. Knowing there’s a set block of time every day to do this kind of thing takes the pressure off. If I see an area that needs to be addressed, I know I’ll get to it eventually and it doesn’t hang over my head while sitting on my to-do list.

In invite you to join me in this daily practice and see how it improves your business. Many people make a new year’s resolution to get organized, and instead of that I suggest trying 15 minutes a day of decluttering. Tell me how it works for you in the comments.

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Solopreneurs, what’s your theme for 2013?

This is the third year for which I’ve picked a theme. It’s been a great way to push ahead on one big, bold area of my business that I want to work on. My theme for 2012 was my signature system, which is written in being finalized as we speak. I seem to get my theme project done every year but it usually takes all year. I recall finishing something relating to my 2011 theme last year on the day of New Year’s Eve!

My signature system is a comprehensive guide to setting up a home based, solopreneur business based on packaging and selling your knowledge. I’ve finished the first draft and need to polish the writing and get some feedback from my inner circle before launching a beta version sometime early next year. (If you are interested in being the first to know when it’s ready, be sure to sign up for my newsletter in the red box in the sidebar. I’ll be offering it there first.)

My theme for 2013 is speaking. I enjoy public speaking and seem to have been spared the fear of speaking that so many people suffer from, so I’ve decided that this will be the next big push in my business. This is an example of one of the most important principles I live by – use your gifts to serve others and improve the world. By luck of the draw, I have a gift of being able to speak publicly without big fears, and so my belief is that I should use this to help other people. Speaking is a great way to reach a lot of people in a short amount of time, so even small speaking gigs are really effective.

I’ll be crafting my signature talk after I finalize my signature system so I don’t have the specifics yet, but my talk will cover some of the same things in my signature system. I’m committed to the idea that people will benefit from the talk whether they go further with me or not, so you can be sure there will be loads of great information you can take action on right away.

So, I’ve shared my theme for 2013, and now I have a big, burning question for you.

What’s your theme for 2013?

What’s the single most important thing you could focus on in 2013 so you end the year with a grander business that moves your mission in the world further along? Share it in the comments.

If you’re not sure, let’s schedule a time to talk and figure it out together. Click here.

If you’d like to read last year’s post where I share my theme for 2012, click here.

How to build structure when you don’t like structure

Your business needs some structure even if you don’t like structure. I’ve never seen someone have a successful business without at least some structure. If you have no structure at all, you run the risk of constantly firestomping whatever the latest crisis is.

What structure does is give you a way to prioritize and plan what you want to get done, and it helps allocate your time in a way that is consistent with your goals. Structure means that you don’t reinvent the wheel every time you do the same task over and over. It means you think about and plan your projects before tearing into them.

The problem many solopreneurs face is that they don’t like structure! Some, like me, may have had bad experiences in overly-rigid corporate organizations. Some may be more artistic or creative and structure feels too constricting. Still others may resent the idea of having any structure in a solopreneur business – after all, why go solo if you have to have rules and constraints?

The answer is to make structures you can live with. Make them fluid, flexible and adaptable. In a solopreneur business, you make the rules and you can break them. There’s nothing to say you have to follow them to the letter every time. Leave some space in both your structures and your mind to do things a little differently or not as rigorously.

Here’s an example from my own business:

I have a daily list I do most days just to clear the air and keep things tidy. It’s kind of like the business equivalent of cleaning up after a meal – do the dishes, put the food away, wipe up and give the floor a quick sweep. My daily list has things like clearing my email in box, posting on social media, blogging and whittling away at all the “to be read” emails. Here’s where the flexibility comes in – I don’t do all of those things every day. I do most of them on most days, and all of them on other days but it’s just a general guideline for me to follow. Nobody cares if they all get done or not (including me). If I’m particularly pressed for time I have the “must do” items highlighted. If I’m on the road, I use the guide to pre-schedule some social media updates and blog entries and then just focus on keeping urgent items caught up. I know I’ll get to the rest when I get back and start using my process again.

What ideas do you have about structure that keeps you from implementing it in your business? Does it feel too stuffy and creativity-killing? How could you create structures that leave room for flexibility? Tell me about it in the comments.

Focus your effort to get more results

One of my clients said the most brilliant thing to me, and I just had to take some time to write about it.

The statement was:

“I want to do less but do it better.”

Wow. Can you fit any more wisdom into one sentence?

There are so many things we “have” to be doing to grow a business. Just in marketing alone there’s Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, video, speaking, email, SEO, etc. The list goes on and on. It can feel like a treadmill just to get to what you already know about, and then another marketing “must do” pops up.

The thing is, for all of these areas there’s a minimum level of effort you need to expend to make it worth it. If you’re on some forum just flailing around, randomly posting and hoping business magically comes your way you’re in for a disappointment. You need a plan going in, but you also have to make sure you put in at least the minimum amount of work needed per week to make your effort work.

In other words, if you spend 10 hours per week marketing but split that 10 hours between 20 activities each activity is only getting 30 minutes per week. That might not be enough to make that activity pay off, so you’ve got 10 wasted hours and 20 activities that don’t pay off. You’ve also got a lot of frantic activity and management of those activities.

What if you changed your plan to only focus on the best 5 marketing activities for your business and instead you spent 2 hours each on them? Now you’ve cherry-picked the best activities to be doing and you’re spending more time on them. This makes it more likely that you’ll succeed in any given activity. Many marketing activities are simply not worth doing unless you can put in enough time.

Why do we solopreneurs do this to ourselves? Some of it may boil down to “bright, shiny object syndrome.” We hear something new and it seems like this is IT, the one thing that will propel our business to new heights. As entrepreneurs, we’re drawn to new things so of course we want to take them on. It may be a little bit of intimidation – it’s hard to go against what an expert with much more success than you says. It could be that you love the presence someone else has and are seeking to emulate their success. It might be that a certain tactic has been successful for your competitors. There’s other reasons I’m sure.

Whatever the reason, consider getting off the treadmill of doing lots of things poorly. Think about doing fewer things and doing them better. Maybe there is a new balance that will get you both better results and less stress.

What activities could you do less of but do a better job at? Tell me about it in the comments.

Strategy and growing your business

I talk a lot about strategy, and that’s because it’s truly one of the most important foundations to your success. What is strategy and why is it so important? How can it help you?

Strategy is having an idea of how something will help your business before you start doing it. This applies both to big, sweeping changes like adding a new marketing technique and it also applies to one-time things like attending an expo. Having a strategy makes it so much more likely you will succeed, and even if you don’t you’ll know it sooner and not get sidetracked for as long as you would without strategy.

New business owners often have a fire to get started, and as a result they start off running hard and just doing as many things as they can to build their business. The idea of actually asking if something is a good idea to be doing in the first place seems pointless. It’s easy to get into such a frenzy of doing that it’s hard to even find a few minutes to ask if you should be doing something.

Strategy helps you decide what to do and set some goals around what you expect to accomplish. Most business activities have increasing sales as their ultimate goal but there are many intermediate steps. One strategy might be to increase traffic to your website using social media. This would ultimately increase sales (all other things being equal), but it’s an intermediate step. If your strategy is to increase sales by increasing traffic using social media then you know what your social media activity is supposed to accomplish before you even start doing it. Using some traffic measurements, you can tell how well it is working by measuring how much traffic you sent to your site before and after you started using social media.

One of the best things strategy can do is to steer you when you are off course. What if you social media strategy, as you’ve defined it, isn’t paying off? That’s not as good as it working great, but it’s much better that you know and can change course. If your efforts aren’t working, you need to change what you are doing or find something new to do.

Strategy doesn’t have to be a big deal. It doesn’t have to be formal or complex. Just make sure you know why you are doing any business activity and what you hope to get from it. Have a way to measure if your efforts are working, and know when to change course or pull the plug.

How do you use simple strategy in your business? Tell me about it in the comments.

Solopreneurs and burnout

Burnout is a very real risk for solopreneurs. We wear all the hats in the business, and it’s so easy to just get caught up in the treadmill of never ending work. It’s easy to buy into the myth that if you just work harder somehow it will all get done. However, it’s simply not possible to ever get everything done. No matter how much you do, there’s always more you could be doing so the work is never actually done.

What you can do is set limits on how much you work and make good choices about what to leave undone. Otherwise, burnout is a very real possibility. Over the long haul, burnout can sap your enthusiasm for your work and leave you tired, worn down and unable to focus.

The long term effects are tragic, but what about the short term effects? Sure it’s fine to push yourself for a short while but working long hours and not taking time off has a very real risk in the short run. In the short run, not taking time off can cause you to temporarily lose focus. You might find yourself forgetting why you walked into a room, going to the store for 3 things and not being able to remember them, sleeping poorly or feeling lethargic. These minor effects might not seem too serious, but expanded into other areas of your life the lack of focus might mean you don’t pay attention while driving, miss appointments, or skip medications. These effects can be serious or even deadly.

One of the recurring themes I come across in my work is that business owners work too hard for it to be sustainable. As I’ve mentioned, a short push is okay but when you get into months of long weeks there are very real risks. Sometimes when I point this out, I get the impression that the other person thinks I’m patronizing them or trying to butter them up about being such a hard worker. The truth is when I see someone working too hard for their own health and safety I feel like it’s important to point it out. I feel like sometimes I spot it because I’ve done it to myself as well. I’ve never had a serious incident, but have had more than my share of absentmindedness due to burnout. Two people close to me have had car accidents because of burnout.

I talk about burnout and working too hard a lot. Please don’t think I’m patronizing. It’s a very real risk in the long run. If you burn out and leave your business, the world won’t get what you have to offer. You also put yourself and others at risk when you can’t focus. Take regular breaks, take days off and take vacations. Always remember that the work will never be all done.

Have you had burnout? How did it impair you? Share it in the comments, and tell me how you’ll prevent burnout in the future.

Step 1, Set a Deadline

I’ve recently made a significant change in the way I manage projects and it has helped my productivity greatly! In this article, I’ll share the change with you and how it’s helping me.

First, some background…

I used to decide on a project to complete for my business, figure out the scope of it, outline the steps to complete it and then set a target completion date. I based the estimated completion date on how long I thought the project would take and how much time I could put in daily or weekly. This worked pretty well, but I found that it didn’t always lead to spending the right amount of time on a project. How much time you spend on something should be proportional to the importance of it, and not necessarily proportional to how long it could take if done perfectly. Deciding what to do and how to do and THEN setting a time target meant that I could easily decide to spend weeks making a small website tweak that didn’t increase sales, profit or customer satisfaction. I didn’t really put this together at the time I was doing it. In the years I was a corporate project manager, this is more or less how we did it and it worked great.

The impetus for change…

I’ve had a big project I’ve wanted to complete since last fall. When I say big, I mean big both in terms of scope and in terms of how it will change my business. (Stay tuned, details coming soon!) It just dragged on and on, and in the meantime it isn’t available for people to buy so nobody is benefiting from it. It kept growing in scope as I worked on it (sound familiar? : ) ). I kept finding more and more to include in it. Finally, the exasperation got too great and I took a hard look at the project and decided to make some changes and get it done.

What I changed…

I picked a day on which to complete it and then downsized the scope so that I could meet that deadline. I realized that this project was something that could grow without any natural limit, so I had to place a limit on it myself. Once I picked the day it would be done, I worked backward to put some milestones in place. I’m just a few days away from that first milestone, and it looks like I’ll make it but only barely.

The Result…

The results of this one very small change (picking a deadline and adjusting the project to meet it) have been amazing. I feel so much more energized on this project because I know it will be out in the world soon rather than at some distant date in the future. It’s easier to get to work on it knowing my time on it is finite. Somehow, just knowing I’ll get the satisfaction of having it done in a short time makes it so much more enjoyable to work on.

Conclusion…

Even though I had years of experience as a project manager, this was a big shift for me. If you aren’t managing your projects at all, I invite you to try setting deadlines and milestones to help you get some big things done.

What do you have lagging that you need a boost to complete? Share it in the comments and tell me if setting a deadline helped you get it done.

Deciding what to work on and how much time to spend on it is one of my favorite things to coach on! Click here to set up some time for us to sort through everything that’s on your plate.