Month: June 2013

List Building: 5 Reasons Why Your List Isn’t Growing

Post author By
Post date June 18, 2013

I’m sure you’ve heard this a ton of times already – that the gold in your business is in your list. And what this means is that if you’re going to run a successful business then you need to have people who are ready, willing, and able to buy your products, programs, and services. And you need to have this information all stored in one place, i.e. a list!

So, let me ask you, how is your list doing? Are you getting new subscribers to your list every single day, or is your list stagnant and not growing?

One of the areas I teach my clients about is creating an online marketing flow – that is having a series of list building strategies in place that draw new people into your list on a daily basis, and automating as much of this as possible. But if you find that this isn’t happening for you and you’re not getting new subscribers on a daily basis, it could be down to one of these five problems here:

1. No clear call to action. You attract people to your website/blog but once they get there it’s not clear what you want them to do. Obviously you want them to sign up to your list, but are you ASKING them to do that? And is your sign-up box in a prominent position on your website? Research has found that the best place for your sign up box is top right-hand corner of your website.

2. Not utilizing a squeeze page. People get to your website and there’s so much information there that they simply don’t know what to do – it’s too confusing. One way to streamline this is to create a ‘squeeze’ page – that is a page where your website visitor can do one thing and one thing only – and that is to sign up to your list. Then in all your marketing activities you will direct your visitors to your squeeze page.

3. Requesting too much information. Are you asking your visitor for everything except their shoe size? If you are then maybe you’re asking too much from them. Typically you want to get their first name, last name, and primary email address. If your visitor feels that you’re asking for too much information in exchange for a free report then they may leave your website all together.

4. No opt-in box on EVERY page of your website. This is another classic mistake I see many business owners make – they don’t have an opt in box on EVERY single page. If you have a blogsite then it’s really easy to make sure you have this on every page simply by adding your opt in box to your sidebar. Remember: not every visitor will enter your website via your home page – there are many different ways in for them.

5. Not asking your current subscribers to forward your ezine to their friends. This is one of the easiest and quickest ways to grow your list – simply use a Tell-A-Friend service to make it easy for your current subscribers to let their networks know about your ezine. You can set it up so that the more friends your subscribers forward your ezine to they are then eligible to get some kind of bonus. This could be a free report, tip sheet, checklist, or audio … anything that is easy to deliver and will make a great ‘special bonus’ as a way to say thank you to your current subscribers.

If your list isn’t growing then you’re going to have real problems maintaining a long-term successful business. Review the five areas I’ve shared with you above, and see if your lack of new subscribers is down to one (or more) of the above areas. And then set about creating a plan to rectify this problem.

Success Attitude

Are You Being Disrespectful (and losing business) And You Don’t Know Why?

Post author By
Post date June 17, 2013

If you wonder why you are losing business, the story below may be useful. I run several groups call the Business Growth Experience (www.businessgrowthexperience.com). During one group I mentioned how frustrated I am with contractor not showing up on time or not showing up at all and not letting me know. My specific comment was “if I am not yet a customer how will they treat me when I am a customer?”

This lead to a discussion of how disrespectful it is to be late. When you are late you are telling me that I am not important, you do not respect my time and effectively you do not respect me. Each member of the Business Growth Experience talked about how difficult it is to be on time and one gentleman stated, “when I am late I am not honoring who I am, I am not in sync with my values of honesty, respect and dignity towards myself. With that said, I am almost always late and people think nothing of it.”

Have we reached a point where we have no respect for our time or the time of others? I realize that people run late, do not returning call (people I know) or respond to emails, are not necessarily the people I want to do business with. I decided I would not do business with any contractor who was late, did not deliver the proposal when they said they would or did not show, even if they had a good reason (without a call).

I do not think I am too different from the average business owner. I do not have time to waste. I want to associate with people who value my time as much as they value their own time.

How much business is this costing you when you are late? What message are you sending your prospect, associate or friend?

Entrepreneurship

It’s About Progress, Not Perfection

Post author By
Post date June 12, 2013

“Strive for progress, not perfection!”

That’s a quote I’ve heard several times over the past couple of weeks, and I think it’s a brilliant summary of what we, as business owners, need to do. (I really don’t know who said this, by the way.)

We get so caught up in a lot of the hype that’s out there, and judge our success against what other’s are doing, rather than what we are doing ourselves. And as a result we become overwhelmed with so much to do; frustrated that we’re not achieving the same results as everyone else (so-and-so’s just had a $10k month, why can’t I do the same??); and just plain exhausted by the busyness of each and every day.

However, if we were to just take a pause … breathe … and focus on our own progress and what we’re doing each day to take our businesses forward, a lot of the problems currently being experienced would simple fade away.

For example:

How many people have you shared your business with this week? It could be through an in-person networking event; a one-on-one conversation with a potential client; hosting your own teleclass, or being a guest on someone elses’; or some other way that you’ve connected with people.

Jot down all that you’ve done this week to share your business … that’s progress.

What marketing activities have you done this week? Building regular marketing activities into your business, however small, will see your subscriber base grow week after week. Have you posted to your blog? Updated social media? Shared an article with your clients/colleagues? All of these small, quick marketing activities, when done regularly, lead to more subscribers.

I’ll give you a little sneak peek into my marketing activities… I have a weekly Monday Marketing appointment with myself that happens every Monday morning from 12-1pm Eastern. This is when I update my blog, schedule social media posts, record my podcast audio etc. It happens every week … it’s on my calendar!

What project have you moved forward with this week? We all have projects that we’re diligently working on behind-the-scenes. Some of them are huge projects that are ongoing over several weeks (such as a new program launch), and others are much smaller and can be accomplished quickly.

Jot down those projects that you’ve taken action on this week, however small and imperfect that action has been. You’re still making progress.

Next time you’re in overwhelm mode, just take a minute to acknowledge the progress that you’re making in your business … and don’t worry about it being perfect. If you waited for everything to be perfect, there never would be a right time!

Operations

Dedicate & Delegate

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date June 9, 2013

In many businesses, small startups in particular, success or failure hinges not on the product or service, but on the financial management side.

There’s a chicken-and-egg element to it: a good product is worthless without proper financial management, and proper financial management won’t create a good product.

While many entrepreneurs have sufficient skill, knowledge, and experience to monitor financial performance, they frequently enough on their plates just keeping up with the product side of things.

The opportunity cost of spending time on the books instead of quality control or productivity is too high, and small firms may not have enough financial work to hire a full-time employee for the job. A working mom with hopes of making it home for the first T-ball at-bat will be eager to be freed from this chore.

That leaves many CEO’s and upper level management searching for a way to outsource this work to an experienced, trustworthy provider who can produce meaningful, accurate data for analysis and planning.

Farming out this critical work to 3rd party systems like Goldleaf Financial Solutions frees you up to commit fully to providing top quality services and goods, instead of slogging your way through hours and hours of spread sheets, reports, and charts.

So what are some considerations you should make? This is not an exhaustive list, but it will get you started.

Electronic Funds Movement

Everybody pays everything electronically. We know that these days. Debit cards, electronic payments, and other types of computerized funds transfers dominate the movement of cash–if you can still call it cash–in today’s financial transactions. A worthwhile firm should offer efficient ways for your business to move money from customers and to vendors and employees.

Security, Security, and Security

Secure data storage, management, and handling is to today’s business what the strongbox was to the stagecoach. All the slick operating platforms and voluminous data in the world won’t bring back money that is hacked or misdirected, and they will show you no mercy on behalf of shortchanged vendors or underpaid employees. The systems they use must have fail-safe protections against both theft and error.

Broad-Based Services

If you just want someone to keep up with inflows and outflows, then throw you the occasional report, you’d get a freshly minted CPA and put her to work. Utilizing a larger firm that is involved in dozens of areas of financial management gives you the benefit of their insight and their awareness of what’s ahead. Which brings us to…

Adaptability and Responsiveness

Software and systems for financial transactions are changing constantly. Anyone who is attempting to maintain their own systems, while still juggling the other work of a company, finds that staying in the latest edition of everything is a job in and of itself. Even ordering a coffee is a computerized event now. Successful businesses must seek out and utilize firms with a history of staying up to the minute on technology.

The physical office is a reflection of our attitudes about our business. If we spend as much effort keeping our finances organized as our office environment, we’ll be in great shape. Because of the complexity and ever-changing technology in modern financial management, we’re better served to delegate to a professional for these tasks and dedicate ourselves to the widgets that make them possible.

Article contributed by Jenna Smith

Success Attitude

Playing The “What If? Game

Post author By
Post date June 8, 2013

Fear can have a powerfull negative impact on our lives especially when it spirals into dread that grows from anticipated unknown or troubling possibilities.

Our imagination can run wild with vivid details that can chain us to a life that is unwanted an unhappy.

The fact is no one can scare us better than we can. Most “what ifs” focus on worse case scenarios…”What if I lose my job?” or “What if I can’t pay my bills?” or “What if someone gets angry at me?”

Years ago I was having coffee with a colleague and the topic of fear came up. He asked me about one of my fears and I answered, “I have a fear of losing everything and being out on the street living as a homeless woman or a bag lady.”

He challenged me to heighten that fear and suggested the following scenario:

Imagine that I found myself in a town where I knew no one, had no money, no clothes except the ones I was wearing, no family, and no friends. As if I was just dropped there and had nothing except myself. He asked, “What would you do?” I could feel the panic beginning to escalate and I didn’t want to play.

After my initial shock, my answers began to pour out. I said, “The first thing I’d do is look for work. I would accept any kind of job I could get to earn immediate cash. Then I would look for some place to sleep, any shelter that felt safe.”

The more I talked about what I would do, the calmer I felt. This “what if” scenario reminded me that I’m a thriver and willing to do whatever it takes to land on my feet. I always have and reminding myself of my abilities, tenacity, and courage was comforting. Whew!

In the same situation, what would you do?

Playing the “What if?” game can help to expose the truth about your fears so that you can claim responsibility for what you will do if the worst happens. You can realize that these horrific situations are more manageable than you imagined. AND you can also see that many of the things you imagine never, ever happen!

Our negative fears view life through a narrow lens and eliminate creative options and solutions. This game can help to expand your viewpoint and invite you to see things from a fresher perspective.

Here’s how to play:

Make a list of the specific fears that occupy your thoughts and might keep you up at night. After each “what if?” write down what you would do if your worse fears actually came true. Describe in detail what would happen and what you could do about it. Consider your options, resources, support, people….

After you’ve done that exercise, consider the opposite position

Make a list of all the best scenarios you can imagine. In other words, “what if everything you ever desired, dreamed about, yearned for…. happened.”

What would you do?
Would you be able to receive all this good with open arms?
Who would you become?

I recommend journaling your feelings and observations. Reflect on what you learned about yourself that can become your growing edge.