Business Strategy Tip: No Follow Up...No Sales!

I just returned from eWomenNetwork National Conference and I will say it was electrifying. The energy along with the brilliant and powerful women just blew my mind. However, I would suspect that many of those who attended will not follow up and will lose many amazing opportunities.

What about you? How many networking events, seminars, lunches and coffees have you attended and afterwards you found yourself with a bunch of business cards that you politely place inside your top desk drawer?

Here is the thing..if you do not follow up you will not grow your business the way you wish. I too struggle with the same challenges as you and what I learned is one simple truth…if it is left up to me solely I will FAIL. I know you are probably thinking…how motivating? But I am a truth teller and I am reminded of a quote by W. Edward Deming that states “95% of all failure has nothing to do with the people but rather the systems.” Let me just add to the quote by saying or lack of a system.

What is your plan when you attend a networking event? Do you have a systematic and automated way of following up? If the answer is no then I will sadly predict that you will fail. It is because I am committed to your success that I am willing to have this big girl conversation with you and challenge you to look at what you are doing in regards to follow-up.

Here are the some things to consider:

1) Prior to attending a networking event, clearly determine your outcome or objective. How many people would you like to meet? Or is there a certain person you are targeting?

2) Make sure you have time blocked out to follow up. If you are attending a breakfast or lunch…schedule (1) hour in the afternoon on the same day to send personal notes, emails, or follow-up calls to schedule those all important lunches or coffees. If it is an evening event…schedule time the following morning before you begin your day.

3) Place them into you autoresponder systems…with permission so that you can systematically drip on them. I would highly recommend you checkout a service such as Monster Follow-Up.

4) Make the appointment and keep the appointment. I cannot tell you how many people who have called me to have coffee and then flake because something came up which was deemed more important than a new client. Unbelievable but true. Be a person of integrity and honor your commitments. Another great tool for scheduling appointments is TimeTrade which helps with the automation process.

5) Determine how you can serve them while you are at the meeting. If it is a connection….make the introduction. If it is a book…send them a copy. ADD value first and then work at nurturing the relationship.

These are just some business strategy tips that you can do to really impact, improve and skyrocket your sales.

Happy networking…or better yet “To the Follow-Up!”

Business Strategy Coach Tip: Don't Get Hacked

I woke up on a Saturday morning and my assistant a.k.a. Christopher stepped into my office to inform me that he couldn’t get onto my blog to do the maintenance and clean up that I had commissioned him to do. After several failed attempts, it became crystal clear that we had a problem. Support ticket and 25 minutes wait time lead to the word that literally de-stablized me…”Your website has been compromised by a malicious force.” I kid you not…that was the language to inform me that someone had “hacked” my account. All (7) of my websites were compromised.

Here are the lessons I learned that I figured what a great coaching opportunity to share with my community.

There are three things that you must do on a regular basis if you are using WordPress as a platform for your blog, membership site or company’s website.

1) BACK-UP, BACK-UP, BACK-UP - Did you hear me say backup? Yes…this was the one thing that I didn’t think about or even know that you should do. Backup your wordpress files. The easiest way to do it is to log in to your wp-admin and over to the left you will see a tab named “Tools.” If you click on tools you will see export tab…this allow you to export all of your posts, pages, pictures, media and comments to a file on your hard-drive and obvious you should be backing up your hard-drive…right? By doing this one thing it will save you a lot of pain and anquish if someone decides they don’t like you or that they are bored or whatever god-forsaken reason someone would choose to hack someone’s blog.

2) Update to New Version – Whenever I would log into my blog to make an update I would notice at the top of the page it would say new update available. In the past, I would ignore and continue working but what I’ve learned is that is how they are able to get in. They are able to write a “malicious script” from the older version and when you fail to update to the newer version you are leaving yourself wide open to get hacked. It really takes less than a minute…you just click on the update and click automatically update and voila (30 seconds later) you are done.

3) Change Your Passwords Frequently – What does frequently look like? For everyone it is going to be different but I would recommend at least quarterly if you are the only one in charge of the site. If you are outsourcing I would recommend that you do it on a monthly basis. I have hired and sadly fired over 8 virtual assistants which means there were 8 people who had access to my site. Not to mention when you hire someone to install it on your hosting account. Protect yourself…I am not suggesting that a virtual assistant would stoop so low as to sabotage your work. But this is your life’s work and your livelihood…not to mention your brand and reputation. Yes… it will take additional time which you may not have but at the end of the day it is well worth it.

Learn from my mistakes and take heed. As you grow your business and become more and more successful, you will make enemies. Everyone will not like you that sadly is the world we live in. Set-up your firewall, protect your computers, and do what you are good at which I hope is transforming and changing lives. To your success!

Business Strategy Tip - Authenticity is Your New Currency!

Social media is such a hot topic lately and there is so much buzz around how to truly capitalize and monetize this new marketing medium. Why is Facebook such a phenomenal? With over 500 million active users it is demonstrating our need to be part of a community. Think about it for one moment. The average person spends 18 minutes per day on Facebook while the average person views a website for less than 30 seconds. What I believe is that Facebook is meeting our human need to connect and although we have the most amazing technology this world has ever seen we still need to belong and feel like our life matters.

When I am coaching my clients who want to build an online platform the first thing that comes from many of their mouths are "Can I separate my business from my personal profile?" My follow up question to them is why. Why do you feel you need to have a separate page? Their answer, "Because I don't want people to see what I am doing on the personal side". This is when I get on my soap box and share that social media is about three things (1) connection (2) authenticity and (3) integrity. The consumer is sick and tired of people showing up one way in public and behind the scenes they are totally different. My response is who you are is who you are. If you are a jerk in private then be the jerk in public. In simple language, be authentic. Stop wearing the mask! If you think that you are going to show up online whether it is twitter, facebook or linkedin and be less the authentic or geniune then don't bother because you will be found out.

Let me get off of my box and share with you that if you show up in your greatness and with all of your flaws people with embrace you. People will trust you and ultimately people will buy what you have to offer. It really is about being comfortable in your own skin. No one is expecting you to be perfect but we are expecting you to be real. So if authenticity is your new currency, how do you want to show up? I will encourage you to embrace who you are and to celebrate your many different personalities (the light and the dark). When you show up like that you give other permission to do the same and then you have an amazing community who will celebrate your victories and lift you up when you feel that you are all alone.

Remember (1) Authenticity (2) Integrity and (3) Connection is what social media is all about. Start spending your currency today!

You Can Only Improve What Your Measure

As a business coach, one of the questions that I ask my clients regularly is where do you spend your time? We have so many hats that we wear and so many roles that we play as a Solopreneur, that many of us (myself included) can feel overwhelmed. There have been days in the past when I felt like I just wanted to put the sheets over your head and say I do it tomorrow. I am sure that this has NEVER happened to you.

So, where do you spend your time? The first step to making sure that you are doing the most important tasks is by looking at what you have been doing. My favorite tool for doing this is www.rescuetime.com

Rescue Time will basically track the activities that you do on your computer. Not only does it track it but it creates a really cool weekly report for you to analyze and keep you focus.



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RescueTime: recover time and productivity.



Your action step if you are ready to take your business to the next level is simple…go to www.rescuetime.com and download this service. Did I mention that it is FREE! No Excuses…if you commit to measuring your activities I promise you that you will begin to get your life back and it will be no “juggling act”.

Business Strategy Tip: Pros and Cons of Making Your Own YouTube Videos

Are you one of the millions of internet users who enjoy watching free videos on YouTube? If you are, the thought of creating your own YouTube video may have crossed your mind; has it? If so, you may be wondering whether or not you should make your own YouTube video and then upload it to the YouTube website. When making your decision, it is advised that you can examine the pros and cons of doing so.
When it comes to making your own YouTube video, there are a number of cons or downsides to doing so. Perhaps, the biggest downside to making your own video and then uploading it to YouTube is that you are essentially sharing the video with the whole world. Many individuals mistakenly believe that their videos will only be seen by YouTube members, but that isn’t the truth. Any internet user, even those without a YouTube account, can view videos on YouTube. In fact, it is not uncommon for YouTube video viewers to email a YouTube video link to those that they know. Therefore, the views that your YouTube videos may get may be more than you ever expected or wanted.
Although there are a few downsides or cons to uploading your videos to the YouTube website, there are also a number of pros or plus sides to doing so. One of those pros is ease of use. Even if you consider yourself to be unskilled with computers, you should still be able to make, upload, and share your video or videos on YouTube. In all honesty, all you need is a video recording device, like a camcorder or a webcam, and a movie editing software program, which now comes standard with most computers. Once you have your video on your computer and edited, if you wish to do so, you will just need to follow YouTube’s step-by-step uploading instructions and then your video should be ready for sharing, in as little as a few minutes.
Another pro to using YouTube to share your own videos with other internet users is uses. Although a large number of internet users use YouTube videos for fun or for personal reasons, there are many others who use them for business or at least to up their exposure. You need to remember that millions of internet users watch videos on YouTube. While your YouTube video will be unlikely to get one million views, you could get quite a bit. Whether you are advertising your services, like as a website designer or a real estate agent, you can do so through YouTube. The only thing that you will want to do is try to not take the spam approach. If you are advertising yourself as a website designer, try taking a few videos of you making a website or use your video to explore websites that you have made. Simply adding your business information at the end of the video is a great way to get your point across, but without making your YouTube video seem as it is an advertisement.
As you can see, there are a number of advantages and disadvantages, or pros and cons, to making your own YouTube videos. As stated above, it is advised that you use your best judgment. Of course, you can post a video on YouTube if you want to do so, but just make sure that you are doing so safely.

Business Strategy Tip - Personal Branding for Success

One important part of branding is the image you yourself portray. Developing a likeable personal brand is essential for succeeding. If you want to rise to the top of your particular arena, you need to first be able to sell yourself to your potential customers.

Think about it. Would you rather do business with a person who smiles and comes across as friendly or with one who snarls and ignores you? The first impression a potential customer receives is from you. Make it a good one.

How can you accomplish this?

One: Become an expert source.


Two: Become a great communicator. Research shows communications skill is the top determinant for upward social and professional mobility.

Three: Draft a marketing plan for yourself annually, and review it quarterly. Include specific goals, strategies, action steps, and a timetable.

Four: Develop an 'elevator speech." Within the time that it takes an elevator to travel one floor - about 60-seconds - be able to deliver a succinct description of what you do, how you do it differently, and the benefit it provides.

Five: Build your Rolodex. Make new business contacts and stay in touch with them. Most people with powerful brands have powerful friends.

Six: Balance your individual style with clothing that will appeal to those you are trying to impress.

Seven: Learn good business and social etiquette. Buy elegant personal stationery and send hand-written notes.

Eight: Give something back. Giving your time, talent, and money to charitable causes is a brand-builder especially when it complements your brand strategy. Find a cause you are passionate about.

Your personal brand is one of your greatest business assets. Put as much time and effort into it as you do in branding your product. In the end, if you can't sell yourself, you'll find it nearly impossible to sell your product.

Business Strategy Coach - Why Isn't My Marketing Working?