Can You Have Too Many Goals?

Do you ever feel like you’re spinning in circles with too many goals? Are most of them conflicting? Most likely you have too many goals - too many things you are trying to accomplish at the same time. I htink this is very common among small business owners - we all want to do everything and do it now! The good news is, you’re not the only one who feels that way. It's very common, and you can solve the problem.

Here are some things you can do if you’re overwhelmed with goals.

Look for overlaps.

Sometimes there is a natural and logical relationship between goals. Suppose you want to get healthier and to have more leisure time. Making time out for active leisure like tennis or running will accomplish both goals at once.

Sometimes two goals seem to be in direct opposition to each other, like wanting to grow your business and having more time at home. In this case, write out both goals and next to each of them write out why you want to do each of them. You might find that what you really want (need) is to work less hours. In this case, your real goal might be to hire an additional team member. Or, you might discover that you can satisfy your desire for more time at home with some long weekends. Get to the root of the goal, and the rest will work itself out.

Make the time.

We tell ourselves there are "only so many hours in a day," and that we're "too busy" to take on anything else right now. Your time is precisely that – yours.  When you're running a small business, it often feels like the business is running you - I get that. Start small by blocking out an hour or two each week to work exclusively on the tasks needed to achieve your goals. It's amazing what progress you can make when you set aside small amounts of time to check things off your list!

Bottom line: We find the time for the things that matter.

If you feel overwhelmed, you may be trying to achieve too much at once. Step back and look at your goals. If you're doing too much, it's time to reprioritize.

Lauren Mackler

Be flexible.

It’s a good thing to put a timeline together and have definite dates and time-sensitive goals. But remember that life happens, and often it even gets in the way. There is an ancient Greek saying that goes: “If you want to make the gods laugh, tell them your plans.” Having milestones and plotting points along the timeline is good, but don’t hold yourself to it so rigidly that you cannot adapt to the occasional curveball. Don't abandon the whole plan when you hit a snag - regroup and pick up where you left off.

Find What Matters Most.

If it feels to you like you have too many goals or if the ones you do have are fighting each other, then find the true importance of each one. That will help you determine what’s most important to you right now. From there, narrow down your list to no more than five goals to work on. The rest can wait. Then work on one goal at a time. By concentrating on the ones that mean the most to you right now, you’ll put those goals into perspective, until they don’t seem like so much anymore.

To your success!

Laura

A Small Business Owners Guide to Setting Meaningful Goals  

You’ve spent time and energy growing your business. When it comes to work, you cross one finish line after another. Sure, you get a daily sense of accomplishment, but you can also hit “the arrival fallacy” - where you enter into a state of sadness after reaching a goal. This state can bring you to a halt.   So, what’s the solution?   Luckily, you can avoid this state and feel the motivation to keep going! The secret is in continuous goals that get you excited about your business and bring meaning to your life.    

Effective goals help you focus on what’s important - your desired result/achievement.   Consider this: When you have goals you are achieving. When you have no goals you are merely operating.

What do you want to achieve in the future?

Most small business owners think about goals only in terms of the numbers: more sales, more customers, more money. That's okay if numbers are what motivate you. But what if you want a more fulfilling and rewarding business life? How do you set meaningful goals - the kind that makes you want to jump out of bed each morning?   Try these strategies:  

  1. Think about what’s important to you. Go beyond business: what work/life balance do you want to have?
  2. Consider: family, community life, service, spirituality, fitness
  3. How can you shape your business so that it supports your work/life balance desires? What’s your objective? For your best results, the objective should be inspirational, ambitious, and qualitative. It should describe an outcome that you look forward to with excitement.
  4. Think about your business plan. How can your business best support the lifestyle you want?  
  5. Consider both your immediate and long-term goals.
  6. Use measurable benchmarks (“key results”) to track progress towards each goal. Key results are measurable and quantitative. The key results are the specific, measurable part of the goal-setting - the steps that make things achievable. What key results will you need to hit in order to achieve your inspirational objectives?
  7. Set 3-4 measurable results based on growth, performance, revenue, or engagement. How can you bring that into your daily, weekly and monthly routine/activities? What tasks need to be done on the micro scale?
  8. Make quarterly and annual time deadlines for your key results.  

Ask yourself: what is the one thing you can focus on that will have the biggest impact on your business and on your life? Make a plan to maintain this focus in all aspects of your planning.

Check in with your goals in a timely manner  

Embrace the Process

Setting goals doesn’t have to feel like a chore! Let yourself dream. Imagine your best, most satisfying life. What do you do each day? What would your perfect day be like? What are you feeling? Who are you with? These are your inspirational goals.   Then, determine specific actions you can take that will lead you to these goals.   Lastly, follow your plan and enjoy the results!

Do You Have A Growth Mindset?

Do you have dreams and goals that you haven’t achieved? Are you frustrated and overwhelmed? If so, you’re not alone. Sometimes, it feels like there are a select few people who reach great heights – and then there’s the rest of us.

What separates the people who realize their aspirations from those who always seem to struggle? The difference is that successful people are in control of their thoughts, beliefs, and the way they view the world.

They have mastered the key mindsets essential to success. No one is born with this success-oriented attitude. You can achieve it by uncovering the way you think, mastering new skills and techniques, and taking control of your outlook.

Before you start setting goals for your business, it's important to make sure that you have the right mindset to successfully achieve those goals!

What Is a “Mindset” and How Can It Help?

A mindset is a set of related beliefs that shape how you see the world and function in it. For example, if you have a positive mindset, you focus on the good things and stay optimistic, rather than dwelling on the negative.

Mindset is important because it influences how you act. Your behaviors are based on what you think and believe. We all operate from a certain mindset, even if we’re not aware of it. Mastering these patterns of thought is a matter of choice.

An important thing to remember about mindsets is that they’re learned. You’re not born thinking a certain way, you pick it up from others and from your experiences in the world. This is great news. It means that anyone can purposely transform their mindset.

The Benefits of Having the Right Mindset

Making a mindset shift can have a huge impact on your personal and professional life. Benefits include:

What is a Growth Mindset?

A Growth Mindset is the foundation for all change. Without it, you’ll have difficulty adopting other positive mindsets. If you have a growth mindset, you tend to believe that your talents, intelligence, and skills can be developed through a combination of hard work, effective practice, and guidance from others.

How to Develop a Growth Mindset

Here are 5 ways to build your own growth mindset:

  1. Determine where you are now and where you want to be. Be honest with yourself about your current state of business. Write it down - let your imagination and desires take flight to visualize where you want your business to be.
  2. Be a daily learner. Find people you want to emulate and follow them on social media, subscribe to newsletters and blog posts from people you want to be like. Identify the skills you need to develop in order to achieve your goals and make a commitment to learn that skill.
  3. Step out of your comfort zone. This is hard - very hard - especially when you're already busy doing what you do every day. However, real growth only comes when you find the courage to step out of that comfort zone and do things differently.
  4. Start using time blocks. Growth is an ongoing process and requires regular planning, review, and adaptation. Find an hour or two a week in your schedule where you can be alone and quiet to work on the tasks that will lead to growth for your business.
  5. Persevere. Growth doesn't happen overnight; it takes patience and continued diligence to stay on track. You will probably have bad days or even bad weeks - we all do. Don't spend too much time beating yourself up if you get off track - go back to where you left off and start again!

Mindset = Success

Do you set goals and then wonder why you didn't achieve them? Maybe you have the wrong mindset. Having the right mindset is the first step to finding the success you desire!

Use Word-of-Mouth Marketing to Become the Go-To Expert in Your Market 

Do you want to become the go-to source of expertise for your audience in your niche? There are many marketing strategies you can employ to do this, but the most effective and efficient is word-of-mouth marketing.

Word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) is, at its most basic definition, free advertising that happens when a customer having a great experience with your company. The happy customer is so delighted, they can’t help singing your praises to anyone who will listen.

The result is that new people hear about how amazing you or your company are from a trusted friend, not an advertisement. This subset of social proof is a highly powerful way to make sales. You can use word-of-mouth marketing to grow your customer base, make sales, and boost your business’s brand.

If you can harness the power of WOMM, you can get more out of your marketing efforts and grow your reputation using the oldest method of advertising known to mankind.

How Word-of-Mouth Marketing Works

The reason WOMM is so powerful is that people have gotten used to advertising hype. They’re savvier than ever before and they know online marketing when they see it. As a result, they’re less likely to listen when they see your promotional content online.

But with word of mouth, the message comes from friends who are giving an honest recommendation. According to marketing research, people are much more likely to make purchase decisions based on what their friends say, rather than advertisements.

When was the last time you tried something because of a friend told you about it? If you think back on your own experiences, it’s easy to see how word-of-mouth marketing works.

Organic vs. Accelerated Word of Mouth

Word-of-mouth marketing is nothing new at all. People have been spreading information about products and services for as long as language has existed. One person tells two friends, they each in turn tell two more, and so on. It’s the pre-internet version of viral marketing. If you're old enough to remember, think about the old Herbal Essence shampoo commercial... she will tell 2 friends, then they will tell 2 friends... as the tv screen expands to show how many people now love Herbal Essence shampoo!

This is also called “organic” WOMM. It’s organic because it happens naturally, with no action taken on your part. But you don’t have to rely on the hope that people will talk about you. Instead, you can make it happen by using “accelerated” word-of-mouth marketing. This is when you launch a campaign and employ tactics specifically designed to encourage word of mouth.

The idea behind accelerated WOMM is to create a buzz that gets people talking. Businesses create products and content with shareability in mind. They leverage influencers and brand advocates to help spread the word and may even offer incentives to their audience members for telling others.

There are strategies you can use that are guaranteed to get people talking and give them the nudge necessary to spread the word. All it takes is a little planning and effort.

Word-of-Mouth Marketing Examples

There are many ways businesses are using WOMM to spread awareness. One example would be to run a contest or challenge where customers make videos highlighting original, unusual, or funny uses of your products. You choose the best ones and give them awards, sharing all the submissions with your audience.

Another example would be a coffee company that creates content teaching its audience about its ethically sourced beans and how it supports local communities and causes. The company’s customers support the business not only for the coffee, but also for the core values they share. This gets people talking and telling others about the coffee that everyone should be drinking.

Another simple WOMM idea is to gather reviews and comments from your customers and post them on your website. Testimonials from happy customers are the most valuable tool in your marketing arsenal!

Best Practices for Harnessing the Power of Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Offer Expert Advice and Information. Create and share content that helps your audience solve problems they’re facing. Offer this help free with no strings attached. If your content is unique and offers value, people will be much more likely to tell their friends about it.

Excellent Products and Services. Offer excellent products and services with stellar customer service. If you offer the highest quality possible, people will tell others, especially if they get results from using them.

Learn How to Build Buzz. Since WOMM works best when people are talking, take the proactive steps to get them talking. Make everything shareable. Create events that will get talked about. Take advantage of current and upcoming trends.

Do One Thing Really Well. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Focus on one thing and do it really well. If you can do one thing better than anyone else, you’ll get to be known for that specialty. You’ll gain an edge over the competition and word will spread.

Exceed Expectations and Wow People. Go above and beyond what people expect of you. Give them unexpected surprises that will create a wow moment. These experiences are memorable and build buzz. The easiest way to wow people is to make promises and overdeliver on them.

Tell a Good Story. Learn to tell stories well. If you share stories that connect with your audience through the core values you share, this will build a great relationship. People will buy from you because of your story, and then they’ll spread the word.

Create an Experience. Don’t just create a product or service. Create an experience. Think about the journey your customer takes from initial contact to becoming a repeat purchaser and brand advocate. Make each step as engaging, helpful, personal, and enjoyable for your customer as possible. Seek ways to add value at every step along the way.

Stay in Touch with Your Audience. Good communication with your customers is the key to making WOMM work. You need to know what problems they face and why they buy from you. You should have a plan for consistently gathering both positive and negative feedback that you can take action on, continually creating an even better experience.

Ready to Make Word-of-Mouth Marketing Work for You?

Ready to get started? The first step is to identify some strategies you can use to get people talking about you. If you know your audience well, you can easily find some ways to build buzz over your products and services. Go ahead and pick from some of the ideas and examples in this article to start with. Then let your own creativity kick in.

Implement and refine, and soon you’ll know exactly what you need to do to get your customers talking about you and telling others.

Collaborate for New Customers

Here’s an easy way to double your income: Put yourself in front of twice as many people who are interested in what you have to offer. Of course that is easier said than done. Getting traffic and exposure is one of the hardest things to accomplish as the internet grows and expands. Sure, you could throw a lot of money at the problem and accomplish it with well placed ads, but that’s not a viable option for most of small business owners.

One of my favorite low-cost marketing strategies is to find other small businesses who work in the same niche as I do and form collaborative partnerships.

A great way to get in front of a new audience interested in what you have to say is to find someone else who’s doing something similar to what you’re doing. In other words, find other small businesses in your niche, or closely related niches and start to collaborate. For example, let's say that you are a massage therapist and have your own spa. You may want to partner up with someone who does health coaching. Your customers are interested in their health and take advantage of the healing benefits of massage. Her clients are also interested in improving their health and are interested in new or different strategies for achieving wellness. Cross-promote each others events and offers, tap into each others mailing list. Co-host an event. Do you see how this could work?

Start small.

Start by opening conversations with the other small businesses who work with the same target audience that you do to brainstorm ideas about how you can work together. A great place to start is to offer to share something of theirs with your readers first. If the business sells a product, ask if you can interview them, or see if they have a special coupon you can share with your readers. By making the first offer of collaboration, you are putting yourself out as someone who wants to collaborate and is willing to give of your time and resources.

Make sure they will reciprocate.

Next, ask if they would be interested in sharing you with their own audience. This is always your end goal! While it is nice to promote other businesses and shows that you are a good community partner, you are also trying to grow your own business and should receive as much as you get. Depending on your business model, there are several different ways to accomplish this. If you have a paid product, or offer an introductory service of some kind, sharing your information with their audience should be a no-brainer. You can also offer to create unique content for the other person’s audience. If they aren't willing to reciprocate by sharing your business with their audience, don't be afraid to move on and research other possible strategic partners.

Keep it simple.

No matter what you decide to do, make it as easy as possible and do whatever you have to do to get your fellow small business owner to email his or her list for you. Using our example from earlier... a health coach could provide a downloadable article or ebook with simple tips for improving your health; the massage therapist could offer a coupon or special service upgrade for the health coach audience. Mentions on social media and blog posts are great, but your ultimate goal should always be to get them to email for you. When they do, your next goal is to get these people on your own list and to turn them into paying customers.

Use Word-of-Mouth Marketing to Grow Your Business

Businesses commonly rely on advertising to sell their products or services. But did you know that there's a more powerful, cost-effective way to generate leads and make sales? Businesses of any size that can get customers talking about their brand and sharing with others achieve more while spending less. Word-of-Mouth Marketing is a powerful - and low cost - marketing strategy, especially for small businesses.

Why is WOMM such an effective strategy? People are skeptical about advertising hype and have learned to disregard claims that companies make. They're much more likely to listen to friends, because they know they’ll give honest recommendations. No business will tell you their product is terrible, but your friends will. This is the power of word-of-mouth marketing.

You have probably experienced this in your own business. Your product or service solves a specific problem for your target audience and attracts positive feedback and comments. But this only scratches the surface of what word-of-mouth marketing can do for your business.

When you improve your word-of-mouth marketing, you’ll be able to trigger positive conversations about your brand, expand your potential customer base, generate sales, and increase your revenue. 

What is Word of Mouth Marketing?

Word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) is what happens when customers or clients do your marketing for you by telling people how fabulous you are. There’s nothing better than satisfied customers praising your products and services and recommending them to others. It’s what all businesses hope for.

But you can do much more than just hope.

WOMM happens in two ways:

The two methods overlap. If you already have a decent amount of organic WOMM, your targeted campaigns will be much more successful.

And a good, targeted word-of-mouth marketing strategy will cause increased organic WOMM.

WOMM can help you:

There are 3 Key areas where you can use WOMM to grow you business:

Social Media Marketing

The powerful reach of social media makes it the obvious place to get in front of people who will make word-of-mouth recommendations. If you can harness others to recommend your business to their friends, family members, co-workers, and followers, you can achieve better brand recognition and ultimately make more sales – without breaking the bank.  Social media is where you can share the buzz and encourage others to do the same.  If you’ve been building your brand on social media, then you’ll be well placed to opt for a targeted WOMM strategy using the platforms you’re already on. Try to get across all platforms so you can meet your customers where they are.

User Generated Content

When you want to improve your content and increase its circulation so more people hear about you, aim to attract user-generated content (UGC). This is content people create and share about your product or service. It includes any image, video, or text posted online by your customers. UGC can be serious, informative, entertaining, or whatever angle your customer wishes to take.  What’s important is that it’s engaging.  It works because it’s what others are saying about your brand. It’s seen as more authentic and trustworthy than traditional advertising, so it can be an excellent avenue for improving your WOMM

Viral Content

A word-of-mouth marketing strategy is viral by its nature. But if you create enough hype around your brand or create something memorable, then your brand may “go viral” and be seen all over the world.  This can happen with user-generated content if it captures the imagination of your audience. However, orchestrating a viral campaign won’t work if you don’t have a hook that inspires, intrigues, or wows.  It’s not always possible to predict what this will be, but if you can develop unique content to attract attention and get maximum coverage, then it can happen.

An example of a campaign that went viral from recent years was the Ice Bucket Challenge where nominated participants were filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads and then challenged others to do the same. It caught the attention of followers and celebrities all over the world and raised over $200,000 for research into motor neuron disease.

While you may not be able to raise $200K with your campaign, you CAN be more strategic in generating new business using Word-of-Mouth. Here's how:

Ask for testimonials.

Happy customers are usually very willing to share their experience with you. Use these testimonials in your social media and other marketing.

Create a Buzz.

To give people a reason to talk about you, create something “buzzworthy”. Identify a "hook" that will get people talking, such as a free upgrade of some kind, a free trial of your product or service, special financing, or giving a percentage of your sales to a local charity.

Share a video.

People love to watch - and share - videos. Consider product demonstrations, "unboxing", or a Facebook live with a big announcement.

Run a contest or giveaway.

There's nothing like a chance at something free to get people talking and sharing.

Find what works for your business.

There are lots of different ways to incorporate strategic word-of-mouth into your small business marketing strategy. Choose a few tactics, try them out - watch your business go to the next level!

To your success ~

Laura

5 Places Your Brand Identity Should be Consistent

Your brand identity is the image your company portrays to the world at large, to your customers and prospects. When people look at your online presence, they should know what you do and that you bring value to the market. When you meet someone at a networking event, your business card should have the same colors and font as the brochure you hand them with the card. When someone walks in your front door, they should know instantly that they are in the right place.

A strong brand identity isn't just for big companies. Small businesses need it as well if they plan to grow and compete in an ever changing business environment. Your brand identity should be appealing to your target market and should be consistent in every printed piece you produce, across every online platform, and in every other way that you interact with the world.

Creating a Brand Standard for your business is easy and inexpensive. If you don't already have one, get one. Then share it with anyone and everyone who works on your company marketing to make sure that they are consistently working within the standards that you have set for your company.

Consistency is important because it brings name recognition. If people see your logo and/or your brand colors online, they will recognize your snail mail brochure when it arrives, and vice versa. When people recognize your identity, your name is always brought to mind, which is helpful when they receive your email or see your social media posts.

Let’s take a look at the five most important places to create consistency in your brand identity:

Your Website

Very often your company website is the first interaction a potential client will have with your business. Make it a good one because people will likely make a 10-second decision whether or not to explore further than your home page. Needless to say, your identity should be strongly represented on that home page so your potential clients will explore further or contact you.

On your website, your brand colors, fonts, logo, and images are vitally important and should reflect your brand identity. If your message is serious and you handle tough problems, using whimsical fonts and cutesy graphics doesn’t meld with the serious issues your company handles. The opposite is also true; if your identity and mission are more light-hearted, using deep, dark colors and traditional fonts might turn people away after they make a quick judgment call.

Your Social Media Platforms

Not everyone in your target audience will use the same social media platform and those reasons vary widely, so it is important for you to post across multiple platforms to reach more of your audience. However, if your name, colors, and logo are different on all these platforms, when someone jumps from Facebook to Twitter, they may not think yours is the same company because the profiles look different. Or if they receive a piece of mail that looks different than the social media profile, they may also be suspicious. Consistency brings recognition and also helps to build trust between you and your clients.

All Company Communications

Letterhead, envelopes, invoices, business cards, and other printed marketing pieces should all have the same colors, fonts, and logo as your website and your social media platforms. Just one more way to show your professionalism and attention to detail - your clients will certainly notice.

Your Email Marketing Campaigns

Contrary to popular belief, email marketing is still one of the best ways to keep in touch with clients and to keep your company name in their memory. The key is to be relevant with your messages and offer valuable and engaging content. On top of these, create a template (or templates) that incorporates your brand colors, fonts, and logo. Don’t miss a chance to build that trust between you and your audience.

Your Office / Retail Environment

If you have a retail store or a an office where customers come to you, carry your brand identity throughout the spaces that customers interact in. Think about wall color, having your logo as a piece of wall art, the color of upholstery on the furniture, rugs, etc. to carry your brand identity into every aspect of your customer relationships.

Take a little time to look at these five areas in your business and make note of how and where you can improve your brand consistency. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money to get your brand into shape. Incorporate changes slowly if you need to, such as updating your business cards and other printed materials the next time you need to order. As long as you are working toward the end goal of a strong, consistent brand you ARE taking your business to the next level.

To your success ~

Laura

What Exactly Is A Brand?


Marketing folks talk a lot about Branding - a lot. You may have a general understanding of how branding fits into an overall marketing program, but perhaps you've wondered what that means exactly. Some people think branding is like positioning, but it is different. The main difference is that positioning is a fluid concept. In other words, you can position yourself at different times in different markets as different things. Branding is more set in stone- it's a hard-core recognition factor.

Let's use Nike as an example: their branding is very clear - you can see that swoosh and instantly know that it's Nike because it's always the exact same shape and presented in the same way. Where you see a Nike message is the positioning: they will use their brand to position the company to different audiences - men, women, athletes, youth, etc.

Branding is more about the following of rules because if you don't follow those rules, things don't look the same and people won't remember you. When you put out your marketing pieces, you want to create a similar look and feel so that people remember you. And you want that similar look and feel on every thing you put out. If your logo is red and round, you don't want it to be pink and oval because someone distorted it to make it fit. Don't laugh - I've seen it happen!

The good thing is that you get to make the rules…colors the same, style of lettering the same, logo etc. And there is some flexibility as long as you follow the rules. You can't go too far out of bounds, but you can change some things within the frame of what others can still recognize.

"The way a company brands itself is everything - it will ultimately decide whether a business survives."

Sir Richard Branson

Branding in your marketing has to make you feel something.

Your brand should evoke some type of feeling to your audience. Do you want them to feel happy? Confident? Curious? Empowered?

Branding is just like the old coat of arms that families used to have connected with their name. It would instill respect, fear, and wealth - whatever. Likewise, a country's flag gets people to feel a certain way about their country. Think about what message you want to portray. What do you want recipients of your promotion to think about you? What do you want it to say? That you are a fun, easy going company? That you are a serious professional? That your business is all about children? What image of your company do you want to put out there? That is your brand. When people see you continually as one thing, they begin to expect the same from you and they get used to you. It matters: a technology company can't have an old style font in their logo - you might not think they were very far advanced.

Branding is a marketing technique that has the potential to elevate your business to the top. It involves helping your customers to form a recognizable association with you.
Link your business with a design, logo, slogan, and/or color and observe the positive results.

Brands create a feeling of familiarity.

If customers have seen your logo, insignia, or company name, they are more likely to continue to select your product or service. Also, they are more apt to suggest them to others. Referrals through word of mouth can be an extremely powerful form of advertising. The more often they see your branding - through your social media, website, email marketing, printed materials, apparel, etc. - the stronger that feeling of familiarity becomes.

A brand helps possible customers remember your business.

People may know little about your philosophy or reputation. However, if they can recognize your brand, the chances are greater that they will do business with you. Branding creates memory in the mind of the public.

When the public remembers your brand and familiarizes themselves and others with it, they will come back. Customers are more likely to remain devoted to your business and are apt to buy further products or services from you based on the brand of the initial product with which they had success.

Good branding pays off.

People are willing to pay more for products or services that they highly regard. This means that customers are likely to pass up cheaper prices with competitors if your brand has made a positive impression on them. If clients believe in your product, they will pay for it, AND they will tell their friends and colleagues about you!

When you have distinguished your business through branding, your marketing efforts will bring increased return on investment - more leads, more conversations, more sales. Developing your brand takes time and effort, but it is critical to your long term success. Don't let your competitors outpace you because their branding is on point and yours is not!

Need some help? Visit my website at www.nextlevelad.com for additional tips, tools, and resources to take your brand to the next level!

To your success ~

Laura

Why Planning Is The Secret To Success For The Coming Year

Do you set aside time regularly to plan what you want to do in your business? If it’s not something you currently do, I strongly encourage you to embrace it for the remainder of this year as well as the one coming up. Setting aside time at the end of the year, to plan out what I want to do and more importantly what growth I want to achieve in the coming year has been crucial to my own success. Once I have a clear picture of what I want to accomplish in my business, it's time to put those goals into a marketing plan that will guide the strategies and tactics that I will use to achieve my goals.

Sounds great, right? It is - but it is also hard. Most of the small business owners I meet don't have either a business plan or a marketing plan, even though they know that they should. Here are a few of the reasons I have heard over the years:

• "I don't have time to focus on my marketing."
• "I'm not sure what to do to get in front of my ideal clients."
• "I'm overwhelmed and struggle to be consistent."
• "I don't know where to start."

All of these marketing challenges can be fixed by creating a plan.

Why Planning Is So Important

Let’s start off by taking a look at why planning is “the secret” to success. There are a few different factors that come into play here. The first is efficiency. When you go in with a clear plan, you can focus on what’s most important. Instead of spending time trying to figure out what you should be working on, what pieces of the puzzle are missing from your sales program, or what you need to do to break through to the next income level, you know exactly what needs to come next.

With a clear goal in mind and a plan for the year, it becomes easy to walk backwards to create effective and efficient daily to-do lists. Work on what needs to get done each day and you will reach your goals.

Get Outside The Box

Next, setting a big goal for yourself helps you think outside the box. If you don’t believe me, try it. Decide on a big income goal for the coming month. Write it down. Keep it in front of you. Then get to work and start to notice what happens next. You start to think of things that didn’t occur to you before. You come up with creative ways to get more traffic. You decide to run a fun promo that adds dollars to your bank account. The same happens when an important deadline comes up unexpectedly. Think back on that time in college when finals rolled around, or the last time your in-laws told you they would stop by later in the day. You got very creative about studying and cleaning respectively.

Planning Is The Key To Business Growth

To put it very simply: A marketing plan is the bridge between where you're at now and where you want to be. Planning and setting goals is important because it helps you grow faster. That means you end up with more time and money for yourself and your loved ones while spending less time slaving away at your desk and wondering what to do next.

Help Is Available

Need some help? Visit the Next Level U Resource Library and download my Marketing Plan Template. Don't want to tackle it alone? Call me at 316-223-1921 or email me ([email protected]) to start a conversation about how I can help you through the process of creating a simple strategy, effective tactics for how your business will accommodate growth, and a set of action steps to get it done. I'll walk you through the whole thing.

To your success ~

Laura

Choosing an Email Service Provider: You’re Asking the Wrong Question

Here’s the question that’s on everyone’s mind when they start thinking about mailing lists: “Which service should I use?”

You’ve probably wondered yourself, and maybe even spent a few hours (or days, or weeks) researching your options.

Stop!

This is not the question you should be asking (yet). And it’s exactly why so many entrepreneurs get stuck in the planning stage of list building. Making the wrong decision on your ESP can leave you with a service that doesn't meet your needs, wasting both time and money. To find the provider that is right for your business, you need to do a little homework.

The First Step In List Building

Before you need to think about tools, you must ask yourself this:

“How can I best serve my market?”

It doesn't matter what type of business you have. Your customers and prospects have a need that only you can fulfill. And when you discover what that need is, you’ll have two valuable pieces of information:

  1. What incentive will be a true no-brainer for your ideal client to opt-in to your list?
  2. How can you use your mailing list to provide the best value for those who join your list? 

Don’t over-think these questions, though. Your opt-in incentive can be as simple as a resource guide or a short how-to video that answers a common question. You don’t have to go overboard with dozens of downloads and a 100-page eBook. Rather than providing value, these massive downloads are more likely to overwhelm your reader than encourage them to learn more.

And when it comes to providing value to your list members, keep three things in mind:

  1. Regular communication is a must (consider an autoresponder series if you’re not good with scheduling email updates)
  2. Marketing is second to information—too much selling will cause your opt-out rates to soar.
  3. It’s your responsibility as a thought leader in your market to distill and provide the information, tools and products your audience needs.

What is your list-building goal?

How will you be using your list? Will you:

The answers to these questions will help you determine not only the right tool for your list-building needs, but will also determine the path for your ongoing mailing list content, promotions, and growth.

There are many choices in Email Service Providers. Do your homework (above) and then do your research to make sure that the ESP you choose will make it both easy and affordable to reach your goals.

To your success!

Laura

P.S. I personally use and recommend Constant Contact for both email and social media management. Click here for a free trial.