Success Notes

On Friday, I attended a meeting of the Bay Area Consultants Network, (http://www.bacnetwork.com). Our featured presenter, Katie Gutierrez, owner of Assistant Match, (http://www.assistantmatch.com/), explained how consultants use virtual assistants to increase profits and productivity. The audience was highly engaged as evidenced by the lively exchange of questions and answers. Katie was able to dispel many common misconceptions about working with a virtual assistant. She inspired many of the sixty plus attendees to evaluate how we might be losing money by not hiring a virtual assistant. Working with a VA (Virtual Assistant), we could also get more time and balance in our lives as well.

Delegating aspects of our business that can be handled more effectively, more quickly and with less angst is quite an appealing possibility. Katie gave specific examples of how her clients have double and sometimes tripled their income by strategically handing off administrative responsibilities so they could focus on what only they can do. She likened using a VA to getting back a full two hours per day. If you multiply your billable rate (i.e. $100 per hour) by those two hours per day ($200), it is easy to see the cost benefit of using a trained expert who is billing you about $35 per hour. $200 per day times 5 workdays per week = $1000 per week less $350 paid to a VA, and you have $650 in your pocket. In a year you could earn $32,500 more than you would without paying a VA to assist you just two hours a day! You get more done and still make a profit. Better yet, you get to focus on what you love.
Katie’s own VA lives in Michigan, while Katie is in California. She answers phones, checks and routes email and many other tasks that free Katie up to work on her business. Some clients’ work with a VA on a single project, some utilize their services on a regular basis. Working with a VA you have the flexibility to adjust the number of hours as your needs change.

Using an employment service like Assistant Match reduces the risk involved in finding the right match for your needs. A quality employment service screens their employees, doing background checks and thoroughly interviewing candidates, categorizes their talents and abilities so you can find the right person for the right job.

I have a background in human resources, (a Masters of Organization and Human Resource Development plus holding the position of Director of Human Resources for Watermark and later Sutter Home Winery). I know how critical it is to match people and jobs. Working with an agency makes sense since the agency has a far greater pool of talent than I could access on my own. I utilized the services of an employment agency to help me fill the on-call and seasonal warehouse jobs while at Sutter Home. This saved the company time, money and aggravation and I ensured the jobs were filled with qualified people. Sometimes, the person we think is a good fit isn’t. The job still needs to be done. When you work with an agency, they can find a replacement for you from their other qualified candidates and minimize your down time.

What could you do with two more hours every day? Better yet, what could you do with the added income you can generate when you have two more billable hours every day?

Visit the BACN website for a summary of this meeting and for additional resources for independent professionals.

Set your intentions before each networking event

➢    Make a plan
➢    Put it on paper
➢    How will you know you have succeeded in meeting your goals?
➢    Schedule time for follow up within 48 hours of the event

Susan RoAne, best selling author of How to Work a Room and What Do I Say Next? offers advice on How to be a ConverSation:

➢    Plan
➢    Prepare
➢    Practice
➢    Don’t try to sell yourself
➢    Listen well
➢    Ask good open-ended questions
➢    Smile and be friendly
➢    Focus on your conversation partners
➢    Keep current
➢    Articulate educated opinions

Andrea Nierenberg, author of Savvy Networking suggests you get prepared by making a list of opening lines to use when meeting someone new. Focus on the other person. It will help you relax. Asking open ended questions will help you discover more about them too.

How to Get Moving

Set a kitchen timer for 10 minutes
➢    Spend 10 minutes entering the contact information from a stack of business cards into your preferred contact system (Outlook, Act, an Excel Spreadsheet, aweber). Repeat as needed.
➢    Make phone calls
➢    Write a handwritten note and pop it into the mail
➢    Send an email with a link to your web site

Try out these ideas and you will be on your way to becoming a better networker.

What keeps us from making our dreams come true?

• Lack of a dream
• Lack of a concrete, step-by-step action plan to make it real
• Fuzzy thinking
• Poor organization

There are tools, techniques and coaches to help with each of these areas.

I’d like to share a free resource with you that can help you get and stay organized.

Avery Dennison, makers of all manner of labels and binders, has an extensive web site. It is full of tools, tips, articles, templates and software that can help you bring order to your life and business

http://www.avery.com/avery/en_us/

Avery templates work with a variety of software programs – the most popular being Microsoft Word. I use them with Adobe InDesign too.

Take a look.  You might be inspired to work on a project you have been avoiding with renewed energy and commitment.

Maybe you will start a new project that will move you closer to where you want to be.

During tough economic times, fear can stimulate behavior, Some business owners react by cutting their marketing budgets and efforts, succumbing to negative events and thoughts. The ones who intend to be here next year are looking for ways to stretch their resources.

An article in the October 20, 2008  business section of the Press Democrat focused on ways to use the internet for marketing. The information is timely. It offers innovative and effective ways to position your business with time as the biggest investment of your resources and a minimal amount of dollars.

The best of the ideas from this article are:

• Create an online community. Check out how to do this at Meetup.com – you can become the guru of your audience and invite others who share your interests to join you in discussions online or in person. I have used meetups to attract new clients.
• Add a blog to your web site. Blogs improve your “findability” by search engines.
• Subscribe to local search sites. They are portals where local buyers can find business. Make sure your information is up-to-date and that links back to you are working properly. Some of these services are free, some a fee based.
• Add media, such as audio and video files. This is an opportunity for people to see and hear you and increases the interaction between you and visitors to your site.
• Collect contact information from visitors to your site. Be sure to follow up with visitors. You might offer them a free article, newsletter or ezine that has information they can use. Be respectful and offer value to your visitors. This will let them get to know you.

You don’t have to use all of these strategies to make a difference in your visibility. Pick one and get going.

It is hard to be in fear when you are in action.

I was just invited to join a social networking site by one of my associates. In the process of completing my profile, I came across something I had been curious about.

My web journey led to http://www.addthis.com

It is a free site where you create an account for yourself. Then the site will allow you to generate the code for buttons to place into your blog or web pages. Then your visitors can  click to add your url to their list of bookmarks or rss feeds.

I’ll be adding the rss button to this site.

What stops you from making a phone call or sending off a note? It is likely to be a fear of rejection. What we imagine is usually far worse than reality. The fear is just a thought.

What are some fear busters you can use to change your thoughts and get into action?

• Write about what you fear. My friend, Polly Lemire, author of The Cold Call Cure, recommends keeping a journal of these ideas and thoughts. She calls it a “garbage dump”. Once your thought is out of your head and on paper (a much safer place for it), you can move forward and make follow up calls.
• Call someone who likes you to get warmed up. Talking with a friend first can make it easier to follow up with someone you just met.
• Write up a script for your call. Plan and outline what you want to say. You might even rehearse.
• Have a purpose for your call or letter. Both are a step towards a deeper relationship.
• Schedule time for making calls and writing notes.
• Offer something to share that can help the person you are contacting. It could be a great article, a web site or an upcoming event you thought would be of interest to them.
• Keep a log of your progress.

I’d love to hear your fear busting strategies. Write and tell me what works for you.

I just got back from four days in Dallas at the ewomennetwork annual conference. The experience is still vibrating in my heart and head. The stories told continue to inspired me. I am full of hope. I am full of friendship. I am full of  knowledge.

Our speakers were amazing. Each had faced and overcome personal challenges to become stronger, more determined and connected with their communities. I appreciate the exquisite insights they shared.

I met ewomen from across the United States and Canada. Some came to learn. Some came to teach. All came to share themselves – our tears, our real selves and so many brilliant ideas as we joined together in “Wisdom Circles”. Each beautiful, talented woman had a story to share. The benefits of many minds united to solve a challenge was evident through out the conference in large and small ways. There was a genuine outpouring of love and wisdom.

My favorite memory of the past week is laughing with four new friends as we indulged in an evening of Chocolate Decadence (a fund raiser for the ewomennetwork foundation). I laughed until the tears came, and then laughed some more. We shared the stories of our lives, complete with triumphs and challenges without being worried that we would be rejected or made to feel foolish by one another. Inside, a bond was forged and it will grow as we stay in touch over the next year.

Monica Wofford gave a presentation on “Contagious Confidence”. It was so refreshing to hear her say not to “fake it till you make it”. She made it so clear that when what you feel inside is a mismatch with what you show on your face or in your body, it is no secret what you are out of sync. Being authentic is far more attractive than a “game face” that is brittle and stiff.

• Show your vulnerabilities.
• Be real.
• That is when your true confidence shines through.
• It is o.k. to be human.

Laughter we learned can make us wealthy. Laughter makes us healthy. Laugher can make us wise. Marci Shimoff, author of “Happy for No Reason” shared her recipe for happiness. She realized as a child she was not a naturally happy person. Her father was. So she pursued a quest to find out what she could do to boost her happiness by changing her habits. She too, made us laugh.

A few of my take aways from the conference:

• Be who you are
• Decide to be happy
• Find people who support you
• Open your heart and it will grow to let love in
• Don’t give up before the miracle happens
• join ewomennetwork if you want to find friends you can trust
• join ewomen if you want to be outrageously successful
• Stop faking it
• Being real is truly the key to being attractive in life and in business

Find out more about ewomen at http://www.ewomennetwork.com

Tags: ewomennetworkconference happy confidence

I’m reading Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.
They came up with the traits that make an idea stick.
Sticky ideas are:

S = simple
U = unexpected
C = concrete
C = credentialed
E = emotional
S = stories

Can you improve your marketing using this model?

Did you know that it usually takes 7-9 exposures to a product before a prospect becomes a client? Every year, over 30,000 new products are introduced. How can you stand out amid all this information?

A sticky message helps potential clients remember you. It gives them a clear understanding of what you do and who you do it for, as well as the outcomes they can expect when they work with you.

Real Life Test

I used the “SUCCESs“  framework as a starting point to teach a roomful of 60% consultants how to revise their audio logos.

I asked them to include:

• Who do you serve
• What challenge (or pain) do your clients/prospects face
• What solution/result do you provide

And do it all in 8 words or less

Once I laid the groundwork, they each had about a minute to come up with a new audio logo.

They got to test their message by sharing it with their table mates.

If they did it well, their audience would ask them for their business card and:

“How do you do that? “

The goal of your audio logo is to start a conversation, not to close a sale!

And when you get people to ask you questions, they are more likely to pay attention to what you say. They are invested in hearing how you can help them.

In summary:

Most people were able to pare down their essential message to 8 words or less.

Several participants thanked me for helping them see that less can be more!

What can you do?

• Focus on who you are speaking to (What’s in it for them)

• Choose your words for
  • clarity
  • simplicity
  • emotional impact

• Make it easy for your potential clients to identify themselves as someone you can help.

• • Get the attention of potential clients
  • Make them curious
  • Stimulate them to ask for more information

I reduced my audio logo to:

“I help overwhelmed entrepreneurs attract more clients.”

If you want to know how, come to my workshop on July 21st.
For details, just click this link.

Are you an entrepreneur who is has trouble:
__ making sense out of marketing and selling
__ identifying your ideal target market
__ creating powerful marketing materials
__ determining the best marketing strategies
__ effectively communicating your marketing message
__ marketing without feeling like a used-car salesman
__ getting beyond the fear of marketing and selling
__ creating an effective marketing plan
__ with the implementation of your plan
__ other
What you believe, you can achieve
Uncover the hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success
Learn a proven technique to quickly turn those negative thoughts around
Leave with tools you can use in your business and in your relationships
Save the Date:
Day: Saturday Dates: May 3, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Location: details upon registration

Sign up today and Save: $15.00 At the door: $20.00
sign up online at http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/1506/

Certified Action Plan Marketing Coach Judy Baker will guide you through the steps you can take to master your negative thoughts and create an empowering marketing mindset.

If your profits for 2007 were disappointing, would you like to learn to achieve or exceed your profitability goals in 2008?

Attend this workshop and gain clarity about your marketing goals, the obstacles that are getting in your way, and start planning the steps you need to take to reach your profitability goals.
This business building breakthrough workshop is valued at $250. It can put you on the path to sky rocket your profitability in 2008. What you will have by the end of this workshop that could change your life and your business:

• A crystal clear vision for where you want your business to go in 2008
• A crystal clear vision for where your clients will come from
• Uncover the hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success

You will leave the session with a new way to attract clients with the confidence you need to achieve your profitability goals. You will feel renewed, inspired and motivated to take action on your specific goals.

Save the Date:

day: Thursday Date: May 1, 2008
Time: 9:00 am – 1:00 pm PDT
Location: Sonoma, details will be sent upon registration
Sign up today and Save: $49.50 At the door: $79.50 workbook included

Download a registration form here.