Spring Clean Your Business

Now that it’s not snowing or raining or blowing, it’s actually easier to see what you’re up against in the yard and you may even have more energy to tackle inside cleaning. Once you’ve started dusting and cleaning places you may not have even thought of over the window and giving away all sorts of stuff, why not dust off some ideas and plans you had in the past and start cleaning out what was not working.

Sit down and make two lists. “What did I hope would work but did not” and “What did I not even try yet”.  When listing, give yourself enough space under the titles to explain what happened and what you an do to get this idea/project started NOW. Once you’ve got it down on paper, transfer this list to a board that will be in your vision area often. Think: magnets on a fridge holding affirmations.

Take a large piece of cardstock or board and divide it up and use sticky tabs.  On the cardstock, make three columns: Backlog, Needs Input, and Doing/Done- You an use your own wording but you get the idea.

Backlog: Seems a little redundant but it should include all ideas, projects that you never even started. Just the names. No judgements.

Needs Input: You can put a little judgement into this one, just don’t get down on yourself.  Here you might put a sticky tab that says, Take a class on Powerpoint/Find a time Or Ebook/Need to contact so and so.

Doing:  Once you have found the perfect time for your class or contacted so and so, make stickies for these tasks and put them in this last Doing column.

 

Lists are great but can be avoided – and sometimes intentionally “accidentally” recycled – but if you put your to dos and action steps on the wall, you may find you’re getting things done every day.

Adwords Goes Local

Every time I get involved in Adwords, I loose interest pretty quick because it seems so convoluted.  Well now they’ve come out with a simplified, local version and I may give it a a try again.  Maybe it’s a great move for aPennies in a handll of us; I mean when you think of it how far do you need your ads to go? Easier local ads could be just the ticket.  Read this great article on this here:

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/03/19/new-app-google-adwords-express-enters-the-play-store-makes-quick-localized-ads-a-breeze/

Government finally notices …

Whenever I hear about the latest job numbers, I always ask wonder if those are a reflection of all the Treps out there that may not own or rent offices away from their home or if they are being avoided.

Lately though, and maybe it’s just because there are only so many ways and times you can explain away what has and is continuing to happen with the American economy, the government seems to be paying more attention to Treps and are pointing out that those that were unemployed are opening small businesses or are trepping..

Now by Treps I mean those entrepreneurs that, though they may not have even one employee, are participating in the economy.  Whether they are starting a new business due to being fired or laid off or are in a transition from a 9-5 job, they are out there and finally being counted.

Treps keep the economy going because beyond buying the daily or weekly essentials, by and large the successful ones own big ticket items like cars, houses, and sometimes additional land.

How to conduct a security audit of your Google account

A valuable little article from IT world discusses how to find out who on the Web has your information.

Read it at: http://www.itworld.com/security/405568/how-conduct-security-audit-your-google-account?source=ITWNLE_nlt_today_2014-02-19

Time for a Cool Change? Try Offering Your Services in Online Venues

At a business social function recently, when I connected with and introduced myself and my business to attendees whether I had just met them or had known them for a while and was asked by both, in an almost desperate tone of voice, how I was making money. I got the distinct feeling that no one was doing as well as they had been and certainly not as well as they wanted to.

They all were intrigued and a bit surprised when I said that when my business was not doing as well as I hoped, which has happened in the past year for sure, I took jobs – for which I am paid only a fraction of my going rate by and large – that I found online on places like Odesk.  When I said that, pens and pads came out of purses and pockets and I was asked where else, if anywhere, they might go online.

There are many online sites like Odesk to sell your talents – though they may  be the one that has it most together – and in my opinion they are great places to:

 

Find work and make money

Hone skills you already have

Find out what people are using in the way of technology.

Make money to allocate to getting your main business back on it’s feet.

 

Not only have I worked with some good people through platforms like Odesk, but I’ve learned technical things I did not know, learned specific CRM platforms from patient clients who were willing to help me learn. Knowing these platforms has helped me appeal to new clients but also make a few friends along the way – people that I trust and who trust me and that I can look to for references and they can call me if they need something done – and maybe a good deal.

And don’t think that if you go to a place like Odesk or Tjobs.com you need to stick to your business plan; it may be a great opportunity if you are say, a life coach, to try your hand at something with less customer interaction like transcription.  Maybe a change to something a little quieter is just what you need for now.  If you are a writer, maybe you’d like to try your hand at something a little more interactive and want to take a look at companies like Liveops that contract with people to do customer service from home.

So if your main business, your baby, your passion project is experiencing a lull, use the time to find something that will not only bring in some money but in which you may learn a new and valuable skill and something about yourself.

 

 

News You Can Use

mantras

 

 

 

 

 

Looking around the Internet today I found this article I really enjoyed and thought you might too. It is called 10 Success Mantras All Aspiring Entrepreneurs Should Know and can be found at: http://mdsonline.co.in/blogs/10-success-mantras-all-aspiring-entrepreneurs-should-know/

Share Your Words

If you are in any kind of business these days, you probably have discovered the usefulness and freedom of online podcasts and trainings; you might even have your own weekly radio show.

This is a great way to let your primary audience and fan base hear your thoughts, ideas, and wisdom but what about those who don’t listen to you – or don’t know that you have an online show?  What about those that just happen oton your site or Facebook page and want more information without having to sit still and listen when you are broadcasting? How can you get your message across to them? By having your lectures or classes transcribed.

Have your words transcribes allows you to deceminate them to visitors to your site, give a special gift to your subscribers, even share your talents with the hearing impaired.

When you hire a transcriptionist you have the control. You can specify such things as, “I want every word – every ‘um’, ‘ah’, and ‘okay’ transcribed.”  You can even specify what template you would like so as to make your words visually appealing. Typically the most work you have to put into it is making sure you are recording yourself to be heard as an mp3 or mp4 file.

So the next time you are giving a talk or lecture or looking for a way to gain new customers, consider having your words of wisdom transcribed for easy distribution.

 

Keep the Momentum Up: Developing New Reasons to Have Sales and Specials

If you are to the point in the year where your New Year’s special has stopped or will be stopping soon, it may be time to sit down and sketch out specials and sales for the rest of the year.

Whether you have a business that deals with physical items or services, there is always a reason to have some sort of sale, don’t think you have to do it the way everyone else does. I have even heard of a store having a, “Grandpa’s 100th Birthday Sale” – and Grandpa had nothing to do with the business!  Remember not everyone is going to  be aware of every sale even with the almost nauseating variety of ways to advertise these days – especially friends of Grandpa.  You can also use a sale event to focus on a group of potential customers you don’t have – like young, new parents.

So the next time you feel like you would love some more customers, think about having a sale and how to package that so that you have a chance to add a new  customer segment to your business.

Zappos CEO Invests in Zirtual

Zappos, one of the most successful web based businesses has acquired Zirtual an online service that connects virtual assistants_DSC0430with those thast need them. Hopefully some of Zappos’ incredible success will rub off on Zirtual. Read the article here.

What’s Hamburger Got to Do With It-Using Visuals in Marketing

Those people and businesses who run ads on Facebook using images  seemingly unrelated to their business and sometimes downright weird may be on to something.

Traditionally marketers have marketed with words pertaining to their product or services and, well, pictures of them. Don’t get me wrong, some products are visually intriguing and bear looking at, even if it is over and over again. Let’s face it, there are only so many ways to position a hamburger. And in today’s advertising, whether online or in magazines or newspapers, the art or graphic may be the only thing that attracts and holds the reader and if reader is attracted and held because they are thinking, “Well what does that picture have to do with anything?”, maybe that’s a good thing.

That’s where creative – you might say – misdirection comes in handy. Instead of running yet another ad for your annual back sale with yet another picture of baked goods, why not run it with only one photo – the photo that’s a great shot of the mural by the park your bake sale will be at.  Or the people who we’ll be donating their time to sale the baked goods.

For a real life example, I was able to enjoy yet another great event – two actually – at a local bookstore. I have shots of the bookstore exterior. Lots of people do. So I used these shots  instead on Facebook to express my gratitude for the events and have used this technique for my clients.

So the next time a client ask you once again to run an add for an instore special, promotion, event, or giveaway, look for a new visual subject to attract the readers attention and possibly more and new customers.

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