Tag: business success strategy

Categories
Business Ideas

What Dancing With the Stars Can Teach You About Business

In case dancing isn’t your thing, Donald Driver, wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers, won this year’s Dancing With the Stars.

 

Even if you’re not a Green Bay Packers fan, there are a lot of reasons to root for Donald. He’s the classic rags-to-riches story: Dad in jail when he was born, family was homeless during much of his childhood. He was a seventh round draft pick of the Packers and ended up becoming one of the most productive receivers in Packer history. (Plus he’s just an all-around really nice guy.)

 

But even though Donald is probably worth having an article devoted to him, that’s not why I’m doing it. Why I’m doing it is because the same strengths Donald brought to his career with the Packers is what ultimately was responsible for him winning Dancing with the Stars.

 

(Something for you to ponder: What strengths caused you to be successful in some other aspect of your life that you can draw upon for your business?)

 

What’s even more interesting is some of these strengths would also translate to the business world. Here are 3 of them:

 

1. Desire to win. By all accounts Donald is a really great, really nice guy. The first thing he did when he landed his first big contract with the Packers is buy his grandma a house and tell her she would never have to worry about money the rest of her life. He set up a foundation. He’s heavily involved in the Wisconsin community and volunteers his time as well as donating money for charity. He’s written 3 children’s books. His teammates love him.

 

But make no mistake — the man is a fierce competitor. That was on display front and center the entire dance competition. He was bound and determined to win and by God that was exactly what he did.

 

He wasn’t the best dancer — that was Katherine, the Welch Opera singer. If anything he was probably the most improved by the end of the season. But he was the most driven to win and if you could ever see someone will themselves to win something, this was it.

 

2. Know your strengths and assets and capitalize on them. Donald knew going in he had one GIANT asset — Green Bay Packer fans. You see, fan voting counts for half of his score. And he knew how loyal Packer fans are, and with no football to watch they would be watching (and voting) for him on Dancing With the Stars.

 

And speaking of fan voting…

 

3. Ask for the sale. Of all the dancers, Donald was the ONLY one who would mug for the camera, mouthing about he wanted their vote and making a phone gesture with his hand. It was really cute and very inoffensive how he did it (so yes it IS possible to ask for the sale in an inoffensive and cute way) but the point was made. Vote for Donald.

 

The other couples would simply stand there and smile for the camera. Donald actively asked for the vote over and over. And it was even bigger than that — he tweeted about it, he put it all over his website. He worked and worked that asset, and I suspect his efforts also got him some votes from non-Packer fans.

 

And it was a good thing he did this — according to people who watch the show more than me, this was the most competitive Dancing with the Stars ever. The 3 couples were virtually tied with the judges’ votes. It was up to the fans to make the decision.

 

And the one they voted for was the one who asked for it.

 

To grab your FREE “Ka-Ching! Business Kit” with a FREE CD visit http://www.MichelePW.com/freecd

 

 

 

Categories
Sales & Marketing

3 Steps to Crafting Your 2012 Marketing Plan

There’s no question you can start and grow a business without a marketing plan. However, I can tell you from personal experience, if you’re feeling stuck and can’t get to the next level, it’s probably because you never took the time to put a marketing plan together.

Having a marketing plan really is the key to growing and sustaining a successful, profitable business. Otherwise all you’re doing is winging it, and winging it only takes you so far.

So if you’re ready to craft your 2012 marketing plan but you’re not sure where to start, read on — I’m going to walk you through 3 steps to get you there.

1. Start with the end goal. If you don’t know where you’re going, then you really don’t need a plan. (And it’s impossible to plan without knowing where you want to end up anyway.)

It’s probably easiest to start with the money. How much do you want to make in 2012? Write that down. You probably also want to divide it up into monthly or quarterly goals so you know how much you need to make each month or quarter to reach that goal.

Now figure out how you’re going to make that monthly or quarterly figure. How many of your products/programs/books/service packages do you need to sell to hit that number? Write all that down too.

2. Put the big blocks in place. In order to meet your quotas are you going to need to do some launches? Put those in first. Or is there something else you need to do to get clients or customers? (Attend networking events, host teleclass, etc.) Make sure those are all accounted for before you do anything else.

Once you’ve put in the big blocks, take a moment and eyeball your calendar. Is it packed with launch after launch? Or do you have hardly anything in there? Check that it’s balanced — you want to have enough launches or big marketing events in there to generate some visibility and momentum for your business but you don’t want so many you feel exhausted and overwhelmed just looking at your calendar.

3. Fill in the details. Marketing is a dance — a dance between promoting and giving. Creating and building relationships then harvesting those relationships. You need to make sure you have all both things covered. (And if you’re wondering what I mean by marketing activities that create and build relationships, I’m talking about doing things like an ezine or answering people’s question on Facebook — content-rich activities that don’t obviously lead to a promotion.)

You may also want to take the time to actually fill in the actual launch steps. When are you doing the preview call? When do you want the emails to go out? When are you going to have all the copy written?

The more specific plan, the easier it’s going to be to execute. Not only will you know exactly what you’re supposed be doing at all times but your team will be able to help you a lot easier.

Categories
Business Ideas

3 Steps to Starting the New Year on The Right Foot for Your Business

There’s no better time to take stock of your business than the time between the end of one year and the beginning of the next. It’s “out with the old, in with the new” and that includes out with anything that isn’t serving you or your business at the highest level, and in with what you want your business to look like.

To help you get on track for the fresh New Year and all it’s possibilities, I thought I’d share 3 simple steps to get you and your business started on the right foot.

1. Start by cleaning out the old year. Are you surrounded by stacks of papers or old files? Now is the time to clean those up and make room for all the new business and opportunities that are bound to come your way (unless there’s no room for them).

What about old products or programs? Is everything you’re offering in your business still a good fit? Or maybe there’s something you’ve outgrown or doesn’t work with your brand anymore?

And don’t forget to look at your mindset or your habits. What are you still not doing you know you should be? What habits or blocks are you finally ready to ditch for good?

Get it all out there. Write everything down you want to throw out with the old year. Then you may want to destroy it — burn the paper or shred it. Remember, this is all about clearing away what you don’t want or don’t need anymore.

2. Be grateful for what you HAVE accomplished. Now that you’ve gotten rid of the old and worn out, don’t forget to take a moment and write down everything you’ve accomplished last year. What are you grateful for? What are you most proud of? It’s time to celebrate your accomplishments — take the time to do this. (If you’re anything like me, this is the first thing to go. It’s difficult for me to celebrate anything, I’m constantly looking at all the things I WANTED to do and didn’t.)

3. Now, get set up for the New Year. Some of the things I do include getting my new calendar in place and writing down my goals in it. Then I put together a marketing and promotional plan for the year so I can reach those goals.

You also may want to take some time to lay out a plan for getting rid of those blocks. Is there a program you need to buy? A coach you need to hire? Or maybe there’s something you need to implement. (Ditto for the changing those habits — what do you need to do to ditch those old habits that no longer serve you for good?)

Now, when you set up a plan, make sure you do what many people do when training their dogs — set yourself up for success. Create the plan with your success in mind. Don’t make it so overwhelming or paint yourself in a corner so there’s no way for you to succeed. Push yourself but be realistic too. There’s no shame in taking small steps toward your goal — the only shame is making yourself feel bad because you didn’t give yourself a realistic plan to meet your goals.

And, whatever you do, don’t forget to celebrate! You deserve it.

Categories
Planning & Management

What Do You Do When You Lose Your Mojo? 3 Tips

It happens. For many of us entrepreneurs, our business is built around us. So when we get tired, stressed, overwhelmed, burnt out or lose our mojo, our business suffers. And when that happens, it can impact us in all sorts of negative ways.

So when we do lose our mojo, what can we do to get it back? Here are 3 tips to help you out:

1. Take care of yourself so it doesn’t happen in the first place. Okay, I realize if you’re already suffering from burn  out and have lost your mojo this isn’t going to help you much, but for the rest of you (and once you’ve gotten your mojo back) this is where you need to start.

So, when I say take care of yourself, I mean more then eating well and getting enough sleep (although it can certainly mean that). What I mean is you have to do things that “fill the well.” That’s more of a creativity expression — if you don’t do things that feed your creativity and fill the well, the well of creativity will run dry and then you’ll be in a fix. But it’s the same concept for you as an entrepreneur.

Basically two things are going on as an entrepreneur — along with doing all those fun things that use up the well of creativity (or well of passion or whatever makes sense for you) you also end up doing things that aren’t your strengths. So, as an entrepreneur, you actually run the risk of burning out from two different sides — emptying the well and draining yourself from doing tasks you hate. (This is why so many entrepreneurs struggle with losing their mojo and burning out, because they don’t realize this is happening, they try and power through it and then it all blows up in their face.)

So what you need to do is take the time to do things that fill your well and feed your soul, plus try and eliminate the tasks you hate. (Honestly, there WILL come a time where you simply can’t do those tasks anymore and that’s a really bad place to be if you have no back up plan.) At the same time, you should do things that take care of your general health and well being — exercise, eat right, sleep more, go out with friends, read a good book, etc.

If you make a point of taking care of yourself and your needs, you should avoid this whole nasty business in the first place.

2. If you are stuck in burn out and have lost your mojo, be gentle with yourself. Look, you didn’t get here overnight and you’re not going to cure yourself overnight. So take a deep breath and know this is a process and you WILL recover, it just might take a little time. (Maybe more time than you want but it is what it is.) Beating yourself up and berating yourself is just going to make the healing process take that much longer.

3. Put together a plan. Start by taking some time off. Even if it’s a weekend. Or just one day. Try and get away from your office and your computer. If you can take a week off, better yet.

Now, if you only end up taking off a day or a weekend, you may still really not feel like being back when you open the door to your office, but remind yourself you’re being gentle and this is a process. I just want you to break the cycle you’re in and clear your head a bit. What you should do now is figure out what you need to be doing to feed your soul, fill the well AND take care of yourself. If you don’t know what those tasks would be, try a bunch of them out. (“The Artist Way” by Julia Cameron can really help fill the creative well if you want a place to start).

Also, take some time to start delegating those tasks you hate doing. Get them off your to-do list. The faster you can stop doing them, the faster you’re going to start feeling better.

And through it all, keep reminding yourself this is a process and it WILL get better, once you’re filled the well, feel better health-wise and get rid of the tasks that drain you.

Categories
Business Ideas

3 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make While Building Their Businesses

Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of working with both very successful entrepreneurs and ones who aren’t so successful. What makes one entrepreneur successful while the other one not-so-much? Chances are they’re making one (or all three) of these mistakes. Read on to learn more.

1. Marketing their business is not a priority. This is probably the biggest reason why I see businesses fail or either get sucked into a stressful feast-or-famine model (either too many or too few clients). They don’t make marketing their business a priority.

If you want to have a full pipeline of clients at all times then it’s crucial you make marketing a priority.

So what do I mean exactly by marketing your business? Basically two things — you have one or more ways to bring new leads in the door and you have one or more ways to turn those leads into clients. One of the easiest ways to do this is to set up an opt-in box on your website so you can collect the names and email addresses of the people who visit your site, then have a follow up system in place once they give you their email address to start warming them up so they become clients. Ezines and teleclasses are two great tactics to use as follow up.

2. They don’t take action (or they don’t take action fast enough). Successful businesses are built on momentum. Momentum is built on taking action. Whether it’s creating information products, launching new programs or even getting your new website up (or your ezine out), it’s all about taking action.

Now there is a caveat here. It’s not enough just to take action. You need to take the RIGHT action at the RIGHT time in the RIGHT order. So how do you know if you’re doing that or not?

Well, one way to do that is to educate yourself about marketing and business-building. Or an easier (and faster) way is to find yourself a business/marketing coach or mentor who can quickly assess your situation and give you a plan of action. (Of course, once you have that, then you need to make sure you actually implement that plan.)

3. They give up too soon. Look, every successful business person and entrepreneur I know has had a few stinkers. The difference is they’ve been in a business long enough to know a failure or two every now and then is normal and they move on. Entrepreneurs who are new or a little unsure of themselves tend to create a story around their failures that are simply not true. They’ll instead think there’s a problem with the product or the industry or themselves or something else — you get the picture. When the reality could be they didn’t market enough or they didn’t take enough action or they skipped a couple of steps when they were marketing their product or a myriad other easily preventable mistakes.

Before you throw in the towel on something — whether it’s a product you just created or your entire business, stop and ask for some help. Find out if success is just a few tweaks away or you really do need to do something more drastic.