Archive for August, 2010
When starting your own business it’s often easy to get yourself started, but a lot harder to keep yourself going when things get a bit more tough. Here are ten tips to help you stay committed.
1. Set goals
Without goals, there’s really not much reason for you to be in business. If you want to stay connected to your business, it helps to make yourself realize why you’re in business to begin with.
2. Keep goals in mind
You started your business for a reason. You need to keep that in mind so you don’t get weighed down by the day-to-day of your work. Keep little pictures or other memorabilia around that remind you of why you’re doing this is the first place.
3. Be flexible
There’s not a one-size-fits-all method to success; you might have to try a lot of things before you find what’s right for you. The key is to be flexible and willing to try new things when things aren’t working for you.
4. Be persistent
While you may want to change when things aren’t working, you can’t give up on everything so quickly. You have to be willing to keep trying and keep going even if things don’t go well.
5. Make it fun
We all want to do things that are fun, and shy away from things that aren’t. Make sure the avenues you pursue are not only profitable, but enjoyable to you. If you have stuff you need to do that isn’t as fun, try turning it into a game, just like you probably do with your kids to get their chores done.
6. Find supportive people
It’s a lot easier to stay committed to something if there are people on the sidelines cheering you on. Take time to talk to people who are supportive of your business. If you don’t have many, try finding people like you online and at local classes so you can encourage each other.
7. Get help
If you’re like most people, you probably think you can get your business going on your own. And if you’re like most people, you probably can’t. Starting your own business is a big job, and it’s perfectly normal to need a little help or guidance. Try to find a mentor who has already been successful in your area to guide you and give suggestions. They will also be a constant reminder that what you’re trying to do is achievable.
8. Review what you’ve done
If you’re feeling like you want to give up or just feel beaten down, take out a pen and paper and write down what you’ve accomplished since you started your business. Even if it’s just little stuff, write it down. By the time you’re finished you’ll probably feel better realizing how much you’ve accomplished. Then keep the list and review it and update it every so often to keep yourself going.
9. Expand yourself
You’ve probably found that when you have a new idea or project, you get very excited about it. Try to constantly expand yourself by going to seminars, reading ebooks, getting newsletters, and doing other things to keep yourself coming up with new ideas and getting new projects. The more new things you do, the more excited you’ll be about just doing your work.
10. Stay positive
A positive attitude goes a long way in keeping you motivated.
Take steps to keep yourself looking on the bright side of life and work and it will be easier to keep yourself going.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Working on your own is a great way to gain freedom and flexibility, but finding self-motivation can be one of the biggest road blocks. The key to succeeding as your own boss is that you have to act like a boss. You boss is someone who gets you on the right track and keeps you going. Here are a few tips on how to be your own motivator.
Make goals
It’s pretty hard to stay focused on work if all it is to you is work. To keep yourself motivated you have to have something to work towards. If you’re starting to get yourself motivated, the first thing you need to do is set goals. It might be a business goal, a financial goal, or something you’ll be able to do once you get your business going (like sending your kids to college). If you’ve been going for a while, remind yourself of what you started working for. And don’t forget to write down your goals so you have them right there with you.
Don’t forget
Once you set your goals, be sure to find a way to keep them in your mind. Keep a written statement of your goals somewhere you can see them often, or post pictures on the walls of your office of your family or things you want to do when you make the money. Anything that will remind you of what you’re working for will help.
Get help
If just having goals isn’t enough to keep you on track, why not try going to a professional. You don’t have to spend all the money to hire a life coach. There are plenty of courses and systems available with methods to help keep you on track. The key is finding the right one. Why not find successful people you know and ask them to point you in the right direction.
Think positive
While positive thinking is a hard skill to master, it’s one of the most beneficial things you’ll ever learn. It can not only help you achieve your goals, you’ll probably find yourself happier and more satisfied in your personal life as well. You can try things like positive affirmations or even meditation.
Stay healthy
A healthy mind is fueled by a healthy body. You don’t have to be a pro athlete, but if you eat a sensible diet and get regular exercise, you’ll probably find yourself feeling better and working better too.
Take breaks
If you feel like you can’t concentrate, take a break and get yourself back in focus. The same thing applies long term. If you’re feeling burnt out and just can’t get yourself going, why not take a few days off. You can go on a vacation, or just take a stay-cation and rediscover what’s in your own back yard. Once you go back, you’ll feel re-energized and ready to take on any challenge.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Mobile offices offer a host of advantages to both employees and businesses. Employees can set their own schedule and pace, work when they are most productive, and enjoy independence and autonomy. For businesses, mobile offices cut costs and broaden the potential labor pool exponentially. But mobile office employees can encounter a number of pitfalls as well. Some common mistakes include:
1) Infrequent communication and socializing
The mobile office employee misses out on the camaraderie fostered by daily interactions with colleagues. The resulting isolation can impede motivation and team commitment.
2) Finding a place for physical meetings
Some situations require a physical meeting, and it isn't easy to find occasional meeting space on short notice or for short periods. Mobile employees seldom have adequate or appropriate meeting space in their home or mobile office.
3) Letting home and office overlap
Mobile offices are often in the home, and separating those two spaces can be difficult. Spouses, children, and household chores are just some of the many distractions that can interrupt the employee's concentration and pull him/her away from work.
4) Working too much
Mobile employees who work from home are "always at work," because they never truly leave the office. When they fail to set firm boundaries, mobile office workers can spend all of their evening hours, weekends, and/or vacation time at their desk or on the phone.
5) Failing to keep a schedule
When working remotely, it's easy to start work late, run errands, or find other distractions from work. These distractions can be especially alluring when they offer a chance to interact with the outside world.
6) Failing to get help or direction
When help is needed, a mobile office employee cannot simply walk down the hall to consult a colleague or superior. It takes precious time to get information, especially when the source is not immediately available, and so mobile employees may too often try to go it alone.
7) Inadequate technology
Mobile employees need to have up-to-date and even state-of-the-art technology available to work and communicate effectively from afar. Investing in, installing and supporting these tools can be daunting for both employee and employer.
To avoid falling victim to these pitfalls, the mobile employee needs to be sure to stay connected with outside communities and to schedule regular, virtual or physical meetings with colleagues and superiors. Give regular status updates to fellow employees and supervisors, and check in with their progress as well. Don’t be afraid to ask for help; doing so not only fosters success but also builds camaraderie and teamwork. Set firm boundaries between home and office, work and life by establishing a work schedule and sticking to it. "Just say no" to distractions, even when they come in the form of spouse or children. And finally, invest in a good Internet connection, a webcam, a robust handheld device, and other relatively cheap web-enabled tools (like gotomypc.com) to keep your mobile technology effective and up to date.
A mobile office can be just as productive - and even more so - as a traditional office if you treat it like the latter. Maintain boundaries, balance life and work, and make an effort to keep in contact with the "real world," and you'll enjoy the best that mobile employment has to offer.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
In life, there is one constant: change. Around us the world is constantly changing. Everything is in a constant state of flux: fashion, architecture, technology, and most of all - business. While some people have been successful by sticking with the same old thing, it’s a pretty short list.
If you look at yourself and what you know and do, and compare it to all the knowledge and opportunity available in the world, it’s probably a pretty small chunk. There are so many new avenues in business that are open to you; you just have to be open to them as well. While most people resist change, you may find that a lot of these avenues will not only make you more successful, you may just like them more than what you do now. Willingness to change makes you a better investment to customers and clients. If they only see you as a one-trick pony, they may come to you for that one thing, but that’s about it. But if people see you as adaptable, they’ll have more faith in your ability to keep up with the changing world and be more likely to take a chance on you, or come to you with new business opportunities that might be something you haven't tried before.
In today’s business market, technology is one of the best resources you can have. And the technology available is changing at a remarkable rate. It used to be that if you were out your business for ten or twenty years, you’d get behind and probably couldn’t go back without learning a lot of new stuff. Now, if you’re gone for just six months, you could be totally out of date. While you don’t need to get the latest or most expensive gadget, you do need to make regular changes and upgrades to the equipment you’re using.
Some of us are just more resistant to change than others; it’s just engrained in our DNA. But just because you don’t like change doesn’t mean you need to be left behind. Small changes can make big differences too. Instead of turning your life upside down, just start by looking in different directions. Attend a seminar about new ideas or technologies, subscribe to a new newsletter that you didn’t before. By themselves, these are pretty small changes, but when you do them, you might find options of bigger changes that won’t be too hard either.
Don’t change too much. Warren Buffet is one of the world’s richest men. He got there by being fairly resistant to technological change. He invests mostly in stable businesses like insurance and food, rather than more unstable things like dot-coms. The reason? Just because something is new, doesn’t mean it’s good. It’s always a good idea to research anything before getting involved with it, and to never put all your eggs in one basket - no matter how big an opportunity it is. If you change smart, then you’ll likely find yourself in a better situation.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Affiliate marketing is a great way for small business owners to make money - whether they’re selling products, services, or adspace. It’s also an easy way for website managers to make money from their sites.
The concept of affiliate marketing is basically like making your webpage a billboard for online marketers. But instead of paying a flat fee, vendors pay by how much business they receive from you. This makes it great for vendors, because they don’t pay if there are no sales, but it’s also great for affiliates, because they can make tons of money with very little effort if they have a popular website. This not only helps you keep overhead costs down, but can also help you make quick money to get your business going without having to make a large investment.
In affiliate marketing, payment generally depends on what’s being sold. Often, vendors pay a price per click, price per sale, a percentage of the sale, or a price per business contact made. It all depends on what they vendor is selling and how they want to do business.
When it comes to affiliate programs, the most important factor is your affiliates. Sure, it’s great to keep the customers happy, but if you don’t keep your affiliates happy, then you probably won’t have any customers. This means not only paying well and giving other incentives, but also establishing and maintaining a good working relationship with your affiliates.
How to find affiliates and marketers
There are all kinds of affiliates willing to promote products out there, and there are all kinds of people looking to have their products promoted. The hard part is sifting through all these people to find the quality sites and vendors you’re looking for. You can always find websites on your own and approach them about an affiliate program, but it’s usually faster and more effective to use services specifically designed for setting up web page managers and marketers. There are a variety of types of links affiliates use to promote products:
Text Links
These are embedded in the text of content. They look natural and don’t disrupt the flow of the site.
Banners
These are ad that are not part of the site content, they can be put anywhere on the page. They stand out and can creatively promote a product.
Search Boxes
These allow the user to search the vendor’s site from the page they are already viewing. This makes it easy for them to find what they’re looking for from a variety of products offered.
Once someone clicks on these links, they can be taken to a variety of places. If you’re promoting a website, you can link them to the main page. If it’s a specific product, you can link them to the product page so they get exactly what they want, or you can connect them to the storefront so they have a variety of products to choose from. Where it goes depends on exactly what’s being marketed.
It may take a bit of effort to get started, but once you do, it can be very profitable and fairly simple to maintain.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
An ill-conceived domain name
Your domain name is important. Many business owners make the mistake of neglecting keywords or failing to consider how easy their domain name will be to remember, spell and type into their browser. Make sure to spend time researching and even testing your chosen domain name.
Slow upload times
Flash, dynamic web pages and images that take up too much memory are the major causes of slow download times. The general rule of thumb is to make sure your images are no larger than 10KB. Why is this so important? Your web visitors are impatient people. We’re accustomed to getting instant gratification online, and if a web page takes too long to load, you’ll lose people as they click away.
Neglecting traffic generation strategies
In this day and age it’s silly to expect that just because you have a website means people will automatically visit it. It’s the old “if you build it, they will come” mistake. To have a successful ebusiness, traffic generation tactics are essential. Some strategies to generate traffic include:
- Social networking
- Content marketing
- PPC advertising
- Keyword research and SEO tactics
Messy, difficult to read websites
Website design is crucial. A website that is jam packed with banner ads, unusual and difficult to read fonts, too many colors and distractions will cause your website visitors to leave quickly. Your prospects and customers want an easy to navigate website where everything they want is easy to find. Your website takes their needs into consideration by not barraging them with graphics, advertisements and difficult to read content.
Unclear products and/or services
Have you ever been to a website where you have no idea what they do or provide? Many small business owners make this mistake; they neglect to inform their audience right away, on their landing page, about what they have to offer. Make sure your USP, unique selling proposition, is clear, easy to understand, and available right on your landing page.
Shopping Cart Issues
Abandoned shopping carts are problematic for any business owner. The reason this happens is usually quite apparent. Not enough information about the shopping cart process, requiring too much information (like forcing shoppers to register) and a difficult to understand shopping cart system can all cause people to change their minds and click away – lost sales! Make your purchasing process easy to understand and follow through. Make sure you have a FAQ page to answer commonly asked questions.
Out of date content
Content is an essential aspect of any ebusiness. It helps drive traffic, it provides value and it helps establish you as a credible authority in your industry. If you neglect to provide a constant source of up to date information, all of your business will suffer. You’ll lose traffic and search engine page ranking, your customers and prospects will stop seeking information on your website and you’ll lose credibility. Create a solid content strategy that will ensure you provide regular, valuable content all year long.
Poor customer service
You’ve likely heard the phrase that it’s cheaper to keep a customer than to get a new one. Good customer service, which includes easy to find contact information, a prompt response time and a FAQ page to address common questions and issues, will go a long way toward keeping your customers. Ticket systems, online chat, and autoresponders are all options to improve your customer service.
Owning and growing an ebusiness is work, but it can be rewarding and profitable if you make sure to steer clear of these common mistakes. To your success!
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Affiliate programs are a great way for small businesses to get started selling their products without a lot of capital. The problem is that a lot of people already know this. That means if you’re going to have an affiliate marketing program, you’ve got to do it right. Here are some tips to get you started on your way to a successful program.
Find your niche
Running an affiliate program doesn’t require much capital to start, but it can take up a lot of time finding and maintaining relationships with affiliates. That’s why it’s very useful to have a specific niche for your programs. That way you only have so many affiliates and can often resell to affiliates and customers. You can make a profit without spreading yourself too thin.
Find the right affiliates
Sure, a popular website is a great way to get started when looking for someone to advertise your products and services, but it also has to have the same target demographic as what you’re selling. If you’re marketing help with your home business, a website for stay-at-home moms is probably better than one targeted towards children. The more specific to your niche, the better. But try not to be too specific, or the audience of the websites will be too small.
Treat your affiliates well
After you’re done doing that, treat them better. There are thousands of affiliate programs out there for your partners to choose from. If they don’t work with you, they’re very likely to find someone else to work with. That means you not only need to pay your affiliates well, you also need to treat them well, be prompt, and keep up a great professional relationship.
Find the right incentive
Among the other decisions you need to make, you’ll want to find the right incentive program for your affiliates. While pay per click is going to make the job easy for your affiliates, pay per sale or client is going to inspire them to do a bit more on their page than just click. If you provide a large percentage per sale, affiliates will often write entire sales letters for your product or promote it in other ways. You may also consider special benefits for affiliates like free or reduced price products.
Find the right kind of link
There are all kinds of links you can use to get someone sent to your website: embedded text, banners, search boxes, and other less common methods. You can also have them link to specific products, your main webpage, or a store front. If you want to actually sell products or find clients, you need to research all the choices and make the right decision for what you’re trying to do.
Be creative
Affiliate marketing is about getting people’s attention, just like commercials on TV. Whatever method you choose, you have to be creative, whether it’s through your banners, your website, or your affiliate incentive program. You have to get people’s attention and give them a reason to use you over the other guys.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
In today's economy, a lot of us are looking for work. One of the best way to find new employment is by networking with friends and colleagues. For shy or inexperienced folks, this exercise can be daunting. Here are some helpful tips for developing your networking skills.
1) Create a target list of people to contact and set contact goals
The list can include family, friends, and neighbors; colleagues; professors and alumni from schools you've attended; vendors and salespeople; members of organizations you belong to or volunteer with; other professionals (e.g., accountants, doctors, real estate agents, hair stylists); and bloggers and members of online groups and communities. Once you have your list, set goals for making contacts. Plan to email three people a week and to meet one person a week, for example.
2) Develop a 30-second "elevator speech"
- a concise statement about who you are, what you are looking for, and what makes you unique. Have it ready and use it at every opportunity.
3) Create a business card and carry it with you at all times
Companies like Vista Print (www.vistaprint.com) provide business cards for discounted prices or even for free. The card should include all of your contact information, job title or objective, and even some highlights from your "elevator speech."
4) Attend networking events, and come prepared
Networking events may include any meeting or forum held by professional associations, alumni groups, user groups, civic organizations, or social groups. When attending an event, try to obtain a list of attendees in advance or just before you walk in the door. Decide before you enter whom you want to meet; a reasonable goal might be five people. Dress appropriately (usually business casual) and arrive early. Have pens and business cards ready. Ask others for their cards and follow up with a handwritten note. To overcome shyness, prepare a list of questions in advance.
5) Practice good manners
When meeting a contact at an event or elsewhere, always say please and thank you, use the person's name, make eye contact, and when talking to the person again, mention something they said in the first encounter.
6) Remember that networking is a two-way street
Maintain a mindset of being a resource to others, and help fellow job-seekers whenever you can. This will not only build your network but also boost your confidence; everybody feels good and useful when they can help someone else.
7) Always maintain a networking frame of mind
Everywhere you go, everyone you meet could present a networking opportunity. Always have your card and your 30-second elevator speech ready, and take every chance you get to let people know who you are and why you're special. A long job search can get discouraging, but meeting new people and continuously expanding your contact base can help you stay optimistic. At any moment, you may meet the right person to change the course of your career.
Deanna Maio , The Savvy Strategies Coach, teaches small business owners how to significantly grow their business while still having time to live a great life. Want to build your business through relationships, stop wasting time, and create a business that acts as a vehicle for living the life you desire and deserve? For FREE business building tips and articles with practical strategies you can implement right away, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
You hear this often in advertising, especially for exercise equipment. There is something to this principle at least as far as working is concerned.
Beginning your workday with a plan could mean you finish early and with less effort. Use that noggin to make your work more structured. Perhaps you’ve been in the situation before where you have several deadlines looming and a desk full of work that still needs to be done. You want to pull your hair out but don’t relish being bald. What you want more is a system to keep this from happening every month. One solution is to work smarter. One tool you have is a calendar. It can be a desk calendar, virtual calendar or a day planner. Log all of your due dates for work in the calendar. Virtual calendars give the added benefit of alarms and pop-up reminders to keep you on track. For those who travel, PDAs and planners keep you aware of looming deadlines, meetings and paydays. Examine your week at a glance. With one or two deadlines, plan the projects you will work on each day accordingly.
To avoid boredom, divide your time into blocks. Timeboxing is a technique that works this way. During each block of time, work on a different task. Keep adding blocks throughout your week until that task is finished. At the end of the day, you’ll find that you completed work on several projects and spent less time evaluating what to do.
Limit the amount of work you take on at any one time. It’s nice to be able to accommodate your clients but let’s be realistic. There are only so many hours in the day and all of them can’t be spent working. You are allowed to have a life. To that end, don’t stack the deck against you. Give yourself the time you need to finish a project. Some will be short and require less time than others. Don’t work yourself into a corner but handle only what you can successfully cope with. As your skills and speed improve, you can add a few more projects.
Take a break to refresh. All work and no play as they say... Schedule in time for socialization. A person who is well-rounded enjoys their work. Work is not their entire life but a small part. Even if you own your own business, taking a breather lets you unwind from the pressure and jump back in with fresh ideas and more energy.
End each day with a tentative plan for tomorrow. We all know that life happens, but without a plan, work doesn’t happen. Give yourself and your clients your best by planning ahead and making the best use of your time each day to work, laugh and live.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
It is easy for time to get away from us. We get bogged down in the details and that is that. When it comes to your home business, losing track of time is crucial. Find out where your time is going and how to rectify the situation.
One way to see where you are losing time is with a time log. We stress “where” instead of “if” because everyone loses track of time. It becomes a problem when that loss of time leads to burning the midnight oil to meet client deadlines, or stress because one or more activities coincide with each other. Stress is the likely result of lost time. Consistently finding yourself in stressful situations can affect your entire life and your health.
Avoid all of that with a few simple experiments. One is using a time log which was mentioned earlier. A time log can be as simple as a spreadsheet document that you can fill out with the names of activities you did during each day of the week. A time log is like a food diary. It tracks your current time management habits for later evaluation. Where does most of the time get lost? It could be at the beginning of the day. When there is not a plan in place to govern your tasks for the day, the day can get off to a sluggish start. You spend time deciding what to accomplish or you begin with one area and see what falls out.
Because you have missed deadlines or forgotten about projects, your day is spent playing catch-up and apologizing to clients. The same goes for the family side of your time. It is hard to find the balance between family life and business. Without a schedule it is next to impossible. A forgotten deadline could mean you are working well into the weekend when you were supposed to take a family outing. Do you skip the outing or delay the project work longer? It is a tough decision that will leave you stressed either way.
Consider charting your time as a way of keeping it from escaping you. You can keep a big chart in your office. A large chart can be purchased if it meets your specifications. The days of the week run along the top with the times running along the side. Color-code the chart for easier reading. Choose two or three colors for business activities and do the same for family activities. Whenever you get a deadline, record it on the chart. Scheduled family activities are also recorded. Each day, block out time for work, personal time and family. In a smaller planner or a digital calendar, record the details of the plan for the work and personal blocks for each day. A chart can help organize your time better than keeping everything in your head. At a glance you can see what your schedule will be like each day.
Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
