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Contemplation, Rumination, and Communication
Sometimes it is difficult to know just how much to say publicly. If you tell a story about a client, that client may read that story, and even if you omit names, they may put two and two together. So when you have examples of negative things, you have to be careful what you say, and how, and to whom. Even if you don’t hurt their business, you may offend.
It is even more sensitive with family. How much do you say, when they may be the next visitor to drop in on your blog, just because. How many of these blogging mommies out there will one day be hated by their children for the things they said of them in public?
That said, sometimes it is very hard being a mother with grown children, with both of you trying to carve out an identity and a career. Kids, like clients, can often be difficult to communicate with. In the age of communication ease, the task of actually HEARING hasn’t really become any easier.
One thing is certain – we must make sure that what we say online does not become a substitute for what we say each day to our loved ones. They aren’t going to read our blogs to find out that we were pleased with something that we felt was brag-worthy. And they could care less that someone on such and such a forum knows that they did something great, if we have failed to say it to their faces.
The internet has truly added more tools for talking. But I think it has also added layers of complexity to the simple tasks of relating to those whom we most need to talk to.
A Great Idea, and a Great Product = Half the Job
Our clients are often surprised at the amount of work that goes into marketing and selling a product or service. They are also caught off guard by other aspects of business preparation.
To sell a product that you manufacture, you must not only manufacture a great product, you must package it, prepare marketing materials, document your business policies and procedures, and make sure that your purchase process workflow (offline or on) works smoothly.
With a service, sometimes the documentation process is even more involved, because there are generally more variables.
If you self-publish a book, you may feel that when you have the book written, that you are close to finished. But that was also only half the work. You still need to format it, create a cover, put it into a standard book format, have it edited and reviewed for errors, and put it into the published format. Following that, you still have to set up a sales venue, and promote the book in an effective way, which also involves prepping good marketing materials.
Some clients come to us wanting an affiliate program, feeling that they just need to obtain the appropriate tracking software and it is done. If that were true, everybody would have an affiliate program. To have an effective one, you have to think about how your program will operate, document your policies and procedures, configure the affiliate software to work the way you need it to (this is a fairly big job in itself and involves some forethought), and then create your affiliate support pages – program overview, program details, and affiliate resource page.
Anything worth doing, that is going to get you something worthwhile in return, takes work. If it is going to get you something big, then it takes a lot of work. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either misinformed, ignorant, or dishonest.
People who do not realize the amount of work going into a project usually do not have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish. It stands to reason that if you are aware of what you want to accomplish in selling something, that you will consider HOW you want to sell it. And if you want other people to sell it for you, that you will be willing to give them good information about selling it, create good policies to make paying them sustainable, and that you will be willing to set up a good framework to support those sales.
Those who are not willing to INVEST the necessary work, are not really serious about operating a business. This may sound harsh, but it gets even harsher. They do not want a business, they want to gamble. Because only gambling even pretends to offer something for nothing, and only gamblers get taken in by it. Because we know that with gambling, everybody loses except the “house”, and the occasional RARE winner. With a business gamble, you aren’t going to win.
Most of our clients, when presented with a large amount of work to achieve a goal, do one of two things:
- They revise their goals to something more attainable in the short term.
- They look at the work, figure out how to prioritize it to make it achievable, and they tackle it one step at a time.
Most of our clients do NOT totally bail, because when they get to the point of working with us, they’ve already committed to owning a business. They’ve already faced similar circumstances where a project seemed overwhelming and so much bigger than they’d thought, and they’ve worked their way through that. So they have a history of hard work and some success under their belt, even if the success is merely overcoming the initial discouragement.
To succeed, we have to think ahead, and be willing to lay the proper groundwork, and then to tackle additional hurdles as they come. Giving up at the outset guarantees failure. Determination, planning, documentation, and hard work, on the other hand, can come together into something purely amazing.
How Many Plates Can You Drop at One Time?
The students had all informed the class of their plans. All but one, that is. He said he was not ready to say anything about it. The next time we met though, when his turn came, he leaned forward slightly, and said, “I can assume that client confidentiality would apply here, and that you’d not try to use my idea?” I assured him that I would not. Inwardly, I felt like bursting out laughing.
It had nothing to do with his idea. It was a good idea. But it wasn’t MY dream! It was his. Where the heck would I fit in the time to steal someone else’s dream? I’m having enough trouble carving my own down to size!
I’ve consolidated and eliminated and compacted and given sites away wholesale. I’ve put sites up for sale that I never thought I’d sell, and felt relieved to see them go. I’ve never looked back – I’ve never even looked to see what the new owners did with them. Instead I looked for the next thing to trim down.
We now have three business lines, all of which are interrelated. It works out very nicely. But I do have to juggle my time. There just isn’t enough to go around otherwise.
I meet people now who are just like I was when I started up – dabbling with this, tinkering with that, spreading myself out to see what all I could do. And I did a lot! I learned a lot! A good deal of it now stands me in good stead to enhance the services we offer. But I can recognize someone in that same stage. It usually means they have not settled on something definitive, that they aren’t quite certain what their business identity is, and that they are not quite ready to be totally serious about something that could succeed in a big way. They are still trying things on for size, unwilling to commit to just one concept. Uninspired as yet with the grand plan, not yet believing quite that they can achieve the huge and astounding.
You can spin a lot of plates as long as each one is not too demanding. Once you grasp on to a few big ones though, you have to let some of the little ones go. The big ones take more attention, and more muscle, and more experience to keep going. They also demand absolute dedication.
I’ve got three big ones going. I’m letting the rest go, because if I try to keep some of those little ones going, I’ll drop a big one. I don’t have time to pick up someone else’s plate and try to keep it going too… There isn’t any time for that!
So don’t worry about talking to me about your dream. I’m happy to brainstorm with you to help you succeed, but I don’t want your dream. And don’t invite me to join your MLM team. I don’t have time for that either, and if you think that I do, then you have not yet grabbed hold of something absorbing and fulfilling. I’m not about to go chasing the illusion of easy wealth, and risk dropping the real thing.
If you feel like you are about to drop something, then I suggest you make SURE something drops. Because if you CHOOSE what drops, you’ll keep the important stuff going. The stuff that can take you somewhere amazing.
Can Your Business Survive a Snowstorm?
I had to teach the class. There really wasn’t any alternative, and when we left the ‘Bow, the sun was shining, and the roads were bare and dry, all the way to Laramie (about 60 miles of open road).
Alex had a doctor’s appointment, so we took care of that, did some shopping, through more fine weather. Just as we parked outside the campus to unload our equipment, the snow started to fly. It came down hard and heavy until it was time for the class to start, after which it stopped.
When it was time to go home, the roads were still bare and dry on the Laramie end, but they were closed. No traffic allowed through. I-80 was also closed. Highway 487 was closed as well. All roads into Medicine Bow were locked down.
We hoped they would open. They did not. It got late, and I got hungry again, so we had a late dinner, then went to find a hotel. Rates in the Laramie area have recently almost doubled. So an $80 room was pretty awful. I didn’t mind the walls that were patched and repainted. I didn’t mind the obviously worn bedframes. I did mind the mattress that had seen better years, and I minded the partially functional heater that kept us in a state of not-quite-sleep through a very long night. I woke at about 6:00 in the morning, unable to bear the discomfort in my legs anymore, and with a nasty headache creeping in around my eyes – doubtless from sleeping without my CPAP mask. I got online, and checked the roads, just before my laptop gave me a low battery warning. I had not thought to pack the adapter, we had only intended to use it a little.
Kevin awoke about 2 hours later. He figured we’d get on the road early. I had to inform him that the roads were still closed. We called the kids, called a friend to check on them – she said that the ‘Bow was a white-out. It was still sunny and fine in Laramie, though bitter cold. We now faced not only the cost of the night out, but more meals, and the prospect of a day of lost work. With several contracts with urgent work to do, losing a day of work was NOT a good option.
We wandered to Staples to see if they had a power adapter that would work with my laptop. We struck out, but came up with Plan 2 – if absolutely necessary, we’d buy another cheap laptop to get by with until we could get back home. Not our favorite plan. We went up to Wal-Mart to see what they had. Nothing, and the laptop options were more expensive than Staples, so we headed back there. Staples advised us to try Radio Shack. We did.
Two helpful guys at the Laramie Radio Shack went to work on trying to find adapters that worked with our laptops. They opened three different ones to find an adapter that worked with my laptop, and searched to get the correct polarity setting. Then they did the same for Kevin’s. It took them about half an hour to come up wtih a solution for both of us. They also checked the roads for us again – still closed.
We headed up to the college, where I have internet access (as an adjunct instructor). We’ll have to camp out in the lobby there, until the roads open, or we are forced to go get another hotel room – hopefully one more comfortable than the last one. We are checking the roads every half hour or so.
Here is the point… I did not think when we left that we’d end up trapped here for so long. We’ve felt that our business was mobile, but I’ve realized that unless I have a spare power adapter that I can keep in my laptop case, I always run the risk of being caught without if I forget it. A laptop is only as good as the power source.
I’ll be tucking a brush and toothbrush into my case also. This is a situation I do not want to find myself in again, totally unprepared.
It does beg the question, how much is prepared enough? I don’t have the answer to that, but I’m realizing that as our business grows, and more people depend on us, that we have to be able to work from wherever we are, under virtually any circumstances. Less than that puts us in a bind if an emergency happens.
A snowstorm is really only one hazard.
Learning to Delegate
I’m good at giving orders. I can organize, order, and instruct quite well. As long as the person I’m giving orders to once had their diaper changed by me…
It has been interesting learning to do that with business (give the orders, not change the diapers). Because it isn’t just the ability to give orders, I also have to correct people when they get it wrong, and instruct them in how to get it right. I also have to “compartmentalize” the work that needs to be done – that is, break off logical sections to delegate.
I actually think that it is the last part that has been the hardest. Partly because of my perceptions of other people, and partly because you really have to think about which tasks can be handed off to someone else without creating more work in the process. And because with Kevin, at least, he has been learning. So I have to keep readjusting the categorizations of tasks that I can hand him. Business is not the same two days in a row!
Lately, we have taken on some subcontractors – an SEO assistant, a design assistant, a template coder, and most recently a writing assistant. It was difficult to even determine at first which specialties I needed, and which ones COULD be outsourced in an efficient manner. It almost happens in “oh duh” moments. In the middle of wondering how I’ll fit something in, or how I’ll approach it, I suddenly realize that someone else could do it. Or I realize that a set of tasks that I previously did not have much of, I now have enough of to outsource. Last week I realized that someone whom I had hired for one purpose could actually do another job as well – what a great thing it was to hand that off and have it come back done exactly to my expectations.
I have to keep reassessing my own position. I’ve moved from being responsible for doing everything, to just being responsible for everything. There is a difference. I sort of like a lot of it – I mean, I can send specs to someone, and have the results appear 24 hours or so later, and I can just take that and use it. The invoice gets sent to Kevin (in his role as office manager), and everything is done without the least fuss from me. I don’t have to figure out the books anymore, I don’t have to sit there with a brain freeze when I hit a mind block in the design process, and I don’t have to sort through CSS trying to find the one contrary bit that is making the whole thing go wacky. But I can do some of the really fun stuff that I’m not ready to let go yet, like the header that I got to hand paint using the Wacom. Gotta love that!
Our business is evolving. Thankfully, so am I. I just hope that my rate of learning keeps up with the growth rate of the business!
Seeking Refuge in Company Policy
We used to be pretty flexible about how we did business. Then somebody messed with us. We instituted a retainer. Our clients pretty much understand that they are a person who can run away, but we are a company with a reputation on the line. Traditionally, the benefit of the doubt has always been with the company, so this policy was a good one, and normal for our industry.
We began using a contract fairly early. We refined the contract bit by bit into something that was fairly simplified, but still contained enough legal language to be enforceable. It covers copyrights, delivery of the service, and intellectual property rights. Essential stuff. The language about what we deliver is simplified so that it is as untechnical as possible. But it still has to include technical terms, or it isn’t enforceable.
Many of our clients are confused by it – they call me and say, “What does this mean?” I explain, and I tell them why it is there, and how it protects them, and if there are any risks in it for them. Those who can afford to have their legal counsel take a look. We’ve used it with government entities, non-profits, and small corporations, and a host of tiny companies. No one has complained about the actual terms. They feel they are fair.
Our policies and standards have developed over time, through experience and need. We’ve been careful to make sure that they protect our customers as much as they protect us, often more.
I had a complaint about our contract, and our retainer policy recently. The business owner complained about the contract having legal language! Then they complained about the retainer – even though this same business owner charges a retainer for their own services, of three times as much as we were asking.
Now sometimes, I’ll make an exception. Once in a while, when I know someone, I’ll do work that they pay me for later. On occasion I’ll work without a contract for small bits of work, but never for a website (ok, once, on a bartered one!). And these people do not EXPECT me to make exceptions. They appreciate the contract, and they expect to have to abide by industry norms. Retainers are the norm.
I’ve learned that those who DO expect me to make exceptions, or who try to batter me down, are assuming I am deciding these things on a whim. They do not understand that companies operate by rules because those rules facilitate smooth business. When you move from sole proprietor to corporation, you have to start formulating sustainable policy. And then you, yourself, have to stick to it. To treat someone like they should set aside their policy is to belittle them and their professionalism.
Our company policy is what it is for good reason. I cannot make an exception without good reason. I am rather thankful that I have intelligent policy to fall back on. It helps me not have to wonder so much whether I SHOULD make an exception. When I don’t feel comfortable extending that, I have it to fall back on. “I’m sorry. This is our company policy, and I am not able to make an exception.”
I think there are some people whom I should choose not to do business with. And at times, company policy has helped determine who that is. I think it is a good thing.
Web Differences We Don’t Notice
There is a difference between doing business offline, and doing business online. And it takes some time to learn what some of the subtle differences are. One of the biggest is, that you are presenting blindfolded, to a mute audience.
Good tracking, and good analysis can only partially make up for the fact that you cannot see how your customer reacts, nor can you hear what they are thinking. You can only measure that they stayed, bought, or left.
When you meet a potential client, and tell them what you do, they give you feedback – their expression, their questions, or their disinterest. You can adjust, and make up for a bad first impression, and they may change their mind and listen. You can clarify a confusing point, and move on to build a relationship with them.
In a store situation, if a customer has questions, you can answer them. They can pick up an item, handle it, and see the size for themselves. If they want something that you HAVE, but which is still boxed up in the back room, you can run get it and present it then and there.
With used items, they can examine it for themselves, judge the degree of wear, look for identifying marks that would tell them whether it is of extraordinary value or not.
Online, all of those things change.
- If your explanations are confusing, most people WON’T ask. They leave. You don’t know why.
- If your descriptions are ambiguous, people usually won’t ask for more detail – they’ll go to a store that has it already.
- If your photos are unclear, they won’t be able to see for themselves.
- Since they cannot handle something to examine it up close, they’ll rely on good descriptions and photos of used items. Otherwise, they’ll be afraid to buy.
- Even if you post a message that you may have other items, most people won’t inquire. If you do not post a notice, they won’t ask at all.
Most of the time, there is no second chance. You don’t get the same cues and ability to adjust that you get in real life. You get one chance, the first time, and if you muff it, they leave. Some of the rules to compensate are:
- Get to the point. Make your meaning clear using common keywords, but also using keywords that someone might use who is not familiar with your industry terms.
- Organize things logically, so they can find it easily. Use web standards for locations, page names, and site structures.
- Put contact info right out front. Make it easy for them to ask questions or contact you. This is even more important for service businesses that do not use a shopping cart.
- Make descriptions clear, complete, and detailed. More information is better in this instance. Of course, since some people will be put off by huge descriptions, it is wise to have a short description which is linked to a more detailed description.
- Provide clear photos. If an item is used and has damage, photograph the damage. They are relying on you to be their eyes and hands – so be meticulous.
- Never exaggerate the value of something. Be 100% accurate in how you describe things. Otherwise you’ll appear dishonest. Offline, it is common to exaggerate, because the customer can feel it and judge for themselves. Online, the marketplace rules change, and they have to trust you to do that for them, so accuracy is very important.
- Anticipate common questions, fears, or concerns, and address them up front. Provide an FAQ, an informational area, or details to answer those questions ahead of time.
- If you have additional stock, either get it up fast, or post a notice on every page that additional items may be available.
- Think about it from the customer’s standpoint. What do they want? Is it easy for them to find it? Can they know for certain that you have it?
- Present for the lowest common denominator. Your information needs to be for the least familiar of customers. If you provide information for more informed customers, then it needs to be in a “more details” type presentation – simplified here, more details here, in a way that is easy for the more informed customers to find.
While new and more interactive options are available all the time, for the most part, web marketing is still passive marketing. You present, they do with it what they choose. Your success depends entirely upon what you present, and how.
Make it easy for them to buy from you. That doesn’t mean manipulation, it means anticipating their needs, and meeting them in an efficient way. And THAT is the mark of good customer service, and consideration.
Employee, or Entrepreneur?
It is becoming increasingly clear to me that the qualities of an employee, and the qualities of an entrepreneur, are radically different. Being the boss, the developer, the navigator, the leader and the executor of a business plan is a set of jobs that the average employee has difficulty grasping.
I’ve watched my husband make the transition from “company man” to a business owner. It has been very difficult for him. It is only as I watched him that I began to understand why I’ve watched so many friends and family members fail at business ownership.
As a mom of many children, I had to lead. I had to determine what was best, then see to it that it got done in an efficient manner. I had to teach my children how to do the things that I needed them to do. This was excellent preparation for business ownership. Even so, I struggle with many growth and delegation issues.
We were called by a prospect recently, who had big plans. He called regularly for many days, discussing the plans. After talking to him just once, I felt he would not carry out the plans. He had many ideas, but no real direction, and no ability to commit to a course of action, and carry it out. When it came time to “cross the Rubicon”, he could not pick a ford – he kept looking for a shallower spot, so he never crossed.
I mentioned it to my son – and said that the man was ex-military, so he did not know how to be the real leader. My son protested that if the man were in the military, he would learn to lead. I agreed that he would learn to follow orders, and ensure that the personnel under him followed orders, but reasserted that it does not teach someone how to be THE leader. All decisions at the top are made by committee, and no one has full authority to develop a plan independently and carry it out themselves. It is quite unlike the leadership required to run one’s own business.
The same is true of major corporations. The cogs in the wheel are unprepared to BECOME the wheel. Again, no single person is responsible for the direction, execution, and performance of the entire plan. It is all done by groups.
When you begin a business as a sole proprietor, it is all you. You must learn to juggle, prioritize, and act with dispatch. To plan well, and then to commit to a course, and go boldly forward. If assessment is needed, you must do it. You must learn to examine yourself for shortcomings, then devise solutions to compensate. Failure to do all that results in failure of the business.
Not everyone has the ability to be a successful business owner. But then, not every one NEEDS to. If you do need to though, it is wise to realize that new skills are needed, and that you cannot be an employee in your own business. If you are waiting for someone else to tell you what to do, your business will never get off the ground.
When do you Listen to the Experts?
I’ve consulted a number of business “experts” about issues in my business. Some of them have been very helpful about general things. The rare one has been helpful about specific things. An alarming number were no help at all, for one primary reason:
- They did not understand what my business is, and they did not “hear” when I tried to explain. They wanted to make my business conform to their idea of what it should be, rather than seeing what I wanted it to become and then stepping outside their box to help me make it into that vision.
One expert told me, “Your business is just like every other small business website design company. How are you going to differentiate yourself?” This, after I had just explained how we were different, and what made our business so revolutionary. They didn’t have enough of an understanding of the web development world to even have a clue what we were saying.
Another told me to choose the line that was the most profitable and forget the other two. I tried to explain that was precisely what made our business revolutionary and gave it the potential to be something more than just “another web firm”. If I focus on web development without the rest, we are just another company. If I focus on teaching, I lose the ability to teach anything new because I have no experience in which to develop the strategies that make my teaching effective (a primary problem with most web development training is that it is taught by teachers who have little real-life experience, and NO microbusiness experience). If I focus solely on the trade association, I lose the ability to benefit the members with training, and I lose the edge of day to day experience with clients – the very thing that makes the trade association work. All three, together, can reshape an industry and have HUGE potential. One, by itself, is just another in a long line of ineffective attempts to make something great. The expert didn’t get it, because he didn’t want to listen.
- Any time an expert hands out canned information that is not applicable to your situation, you need to have the confidence to disregard it.
- If an expert hands out information that could be adapted to apply, you need to have the confidence to adapt it – and keep asking until you learn how.
- If you explain something to an expert, and they still hand you the same thing they handed you before you explained, then find another expert because this one isn’t listening.
Business counsel is not a “one size fits all” solution to every business problem. This is especially true if you are developing a revolutionary concept. You need to work with people who are willing to see the “ah-ha” moment in your concept, who are willing to catch the potential, who can get excited about it and then use their skills to help you develop the potential that is there.
Training, consultation, and coaching can be a huge help in getting over a hurdle in your business. But only if the expert is willing to listen long enough to understand just what it is you are trying to achieve. Otherwise, their guidance is going to be useless, and potentially harmful to your ability to achieve.
The Delicate Art of Article Writing
I notice that I learn things, and never really realize that I’ve learned them until I see someone else who hasn’t.
After a disappointing meeting with a prospect yesterday, I did some research on their behalf. The meeting was disappointing not because I did not make a sale – hey, that happens, and I can live with that. It was disappointing because they did not understand what I was trying to tell them. This became painfully clear when I began researching the marketing that had been done for them in the last year.
They told me that article marketing had been done for them. I went digging. I was able to turn up only three mentions on Google of articles with their URL in them. I found a gaggle of them on Yahoo though. And I wish I hadn’t.
The articles were full of gramatical errors, childish statements, wandering sentences, awkward phrases, and worse. They gave no new information, had no appeal. Reading them was painful – I had to force myself to read more than a paragraph because it was hard to follow the convoluted sentences. It had all the feel of someone writing in a second language – one they were almost, but not quite, fluent in. These articles will never be picked up by anyone else and reprinted – no one cares for such poor stuff. Google didn’t bother with them, and no one else will either.
I wish those were the only problems though. It was just the beginning.
First, was the glaring one. The potential legal issues. One article made MORE than suggestive claims of a guarantee on a service that could not possibly be guaranteed. I know for a fact that the owners of the site would never wish such information to be published in their name. Yet they are the ones legally liable for the information in the article, and that article is grounds for a lawsuit by someone who has a bad outcome. Another article made a statement that screening eliminated risks – again, in a profession where risks can never be eliminated entirely. This writer not only stuck their foot in it and dragged the client with them, they set up a legal time bomb. One which may come back to harm the site owner years later.
Second, the articles were not written as article marketing. They were merely thrown together using keywords as a guide for what to write about. There was no effort to target the messages as marketing messages – in fact, some of them were repelling rather than encouraging. They had hyped titles, failed to make any kind of useful conclusion, and often talked more about the negatives than the positives. Not one single article addressed the one compelling reason why someone might choose the site owner’s service over the competition. Not one addressed the one major reason why someone might NOT choose the site owner’s service over the competition. Good marketing messages are a subtle, and often delicate thing to pin down. But they are absolutely ESSENTIAL to successful article marketing.
If you write about a topic for marketing purposes, you must do two things:
1. Provide value to the potential customer. This doesn’t mean writing what you want to write, or just researching a topic and writing about it. It means you have to think about what motivates the customer. What do they want, what are their fears, desires, and hopes? What questions do they have that you can provide an answer for? Provide THEIR value, and article marketing works. But to do that, it is essential that you understand the mind of the customer, and how to address their needs a little, before the sale.
2. Provide information that leads them to you. I’m not talking about the signature line. I’m talking about not giving away your business in your articles, while still providing value. Write about topics that they need to know about as a CUSTOMER, not as a Do-It-Yourselfer (unless your customers are do-it-yourselfers). Consider topics about how to choose service (and give it some teeth, not the usual drivel), how to check up on a hired professional, how to care for their purchases, how to evaluate the value of a product or service, changes in your industry, applied technologies in regard to your product or service (things that predict industry trends, or that enhance value). There are all kinds of topics you can write about which help the customer, but which don’t try to make the customer into the expert.
It is a delicate art. And it is something which requires experience and practice to get right. If you are in a business involving legal, medical, business, financial, or other professional information, then you also need to make sure that certain safeguards are observed to keep you from being held liable for careless statements.
So if you are hiring article marketing services, how do you know if you are getting full value?
1. Ask to review all articles before they are published. You will be legally responsible for every word printed at your request. Make certain that what goes out is worthy of having your name on it! Check to see if it is original, fun to read, informative. Think like your customers – will they appreciate this?
2. Ask for a listing of every place the article was published. This is valuable for two reasons – you can make sure the article was actually posted, and if you learn later that something in an article is inaccurate or that it has a serious problem, you know where to go to start the recall process.
3. Make sure you check out examples of writing before you hire. Sadly, the company that published the articles I was so distressed over had similar writing on their home page. Had the people who hired them read that page, and really thought about it, they’d have hired someone else.
4. Expect to be involved. Any professional who claims to write for your business CANNOT do a good job without involving you. They need to know what makes your business unique. They need you to check to ensure that articles are accurate according to YOUR position on the topic (they can research all they want, but they won’t write what you want if you don’t get involved). Expect to have to brainstorm with a writer for new topics every once in a while – expect to talk things over with them, suggest new directions to go, and work with them. A motivated writer will be giving as many ideas as they get from you, but together you’ll do much more. And a good writer will consider you to be their best resource, and will want to work with you to produce the best possible marketing for your business.
Quality costs more. But what is the use of paying for bad writing that harms your company? Like feathers on the wind, an article carelessly loosed on the web can never be fully taken back. Making sure it is good before it goes is your only means of ensuring that it will go on promoting you well for years to come, instead of giving you a black eye every time you turn around.
The delicate art is worth learning. Because the power of good writing truly is phenomenal.
10 Things for MicroBusiness Owners to Do Over the Holidays
An adaptation of an idea from Tech Republic.
Their article lists things that are appropriate for corporations. But most microbusiness owners would look at that list and say, “What documentation?”, or “What network?”. But the idea of using any holiday downtime for catching up on things you might not think of doing when you are busier is a good one, and easily adaptable for a smaller work environment.
1. Evaluate your business for implementing new efficiency strategies. Look at the repetitive things you do, and think about how you can speed them up by preparing templates, reorganizing workspace, or other simple methods to speed up your work.
2. Backup your website and hard drive files. Something that is often overlooked. While you are at it, create a plan for regular backups, and figure out how to stick to it!
3. Look for equipment that is wasting your time. Consider the cost of replacement, and devise a plan to afford upgrading. Prioritize to figure out what will be most cost effective to upgrade.
4. If you plan on growth, begin to document policy, procedure, and training materials. If someone came into your company tomorrow as an associate or employee, what would you need them to know, and to be able to refer back to? What would you want them to agree to if they worked with you? Write these things down. They will not be consistently delivered unless you write them down. Laying groundwork for growth can help make it go more smoothly when it comes.
5. Organize your information – Improve your paper filing system, or download a free copy of Notesbrowser (http://www.notesbrowser.com) to keep those bits of information organized that you keep losing. I use Notesbrowser for task lists, instructions that I find online that I don’t want to have to keep looking up, to organize URLs when my Bookmarks list gets too cluttered, to keep notes about clients, and much more.
6. Make sure your firewall is on, your AV software is up-to-date, and that your Anti-Spyware software is working. Just check to make sure that the basic security measures are in place for your desktop computer. If you use a dynamic website (a shopping cart or a complex website with a login), make sure the software that runs it is up-to-date as well.
7. If you are feeling like you are fragmented, this is a good time to analyze your business and see what is profitable and what is not. Prune out the things that waste your time but don’t bring a return, and then focus your efforts on the things that do work, and the things that you most want to be doing.
8. If you are in that awkward stage of not having enough money to hire, but not having enough YOU to keep up, you can benefit from some analysis and planning here also. Consider the tasks that you might be able to save money on if you hired a sub-contractor to do them – less complicated than hiring an employee, and a sub-contractor can do bits of work here and there. Think about how you intend to grow, and begin laying the groundwork in how you handle higher workloads. Look for opportunities rather than limitations, and see if you can come up with some workable solutions to bridge the gap from overworked, to sustainable growth.
9. Get some training. Take the time to pick up a manual, practice using a new piece of software, testing out some new skills or technologies, or catching up on the latest industry news. Choose something enjoyable that still gives you something valuable, and you’ll emerge refreshed and enlightened.
10. If you know that you are in for a longer lull after the first of the year (many businesses slump during that time), then create a plan for how you will cope with the extended down-time. Determine which activities will enhance your business in the best way, and consider ways to implement alternative revenue generation that either remains stable, or which increases during the time in which your current business lines dip.
Of course, you may not have Holiday Downtime. Your slack may come at another time of year. If you are just hanging on till you can catch your breath, then it is a good time to make a list of the things that are the most annoying when you are rushed, so you can create a plan to work on a solution to those annoyances the next time you do have downtime.
Either way, don’t forget why you are in business, and find the time to enjoy your business, and your family.
Christmas Survival Strategy
I have an infallible strategy for surviving Christmas. Since I have lots of kids, and lots of extended family, and a business, Christmas survival is very important. If I tried to do it all, I’d crumple into the corner in a sobbing heap and not get back up! So here is my three part strategy:
1. Procrastinate as long as possible on gift buying. This frees me from worry until at least a week before Christmas!
2. I don’t. I don’t decorate, I don’t bake, I don’t dress in cute Christmassy Clothes, I don’t worry about being festive. I just try to be kind, try to get through what is most important each day, and don’t worry about what anyone else might think. My kids decorate the tree and cut out paper snowflakes, and do other festive stuff. I let them and feel grateful that I don’t have to fuss with it. I do sing carols, we sing in a production of the Messiah, and we have Christmas traditions. I just don’t overload myself with it.
3. I’m cheap. I don’t overload the credit cards or spend excessive amounts. $20 is the limit that we spend on ANYBODY at Christmas, unless we do something special for the family. Usually my limits are even lower than that. If I tried to do something extravagant for everyone on our list, I’d spend more than we earn in a month. So frugal is the order of the day. We do try to select things that are useful, appropriate, and that are selected for the individual in question.
Yes, I suppose I am sort of extreme about some of these things, but the alternative is getting out of my depth, getting warped every Christmas, and feeling overwhelmed. I refuse to do that, because frankly, all those things just AREN’T really important! Caring for my family, meeting the needs of our clients so our family can eat, and making sure that my marriage is strong are the priorities. When anything else cuts into those, out it goes! There just isn’t room in my life for all the trivialities.
Who is it that decides that you have to have your house decked out to the point of frenzy, the freezer full of hand-baked goods, and the tree loaded with thousands of dollars of gifts anyway? I’ll tell you who:
Sellers
They don’t want you to do this to make you happy. They want you to do this to BUY THINGS. Decorations, gifts, ingredients. They don’t care if you are benefited by it or not.
You can have a perfectly happy Christmas with a few strands of decorations that your kids made, some gifts that you purchased from love instead of a desire to impress, and with a few carefully chosen items that you made just because they were the ones you thought were most important.
The key to it is to determine not which things are VISIBLE, but which things have the most MEANING. Keep them. Let the rest go.
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