Savvy Management of Your 4 P’s

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This month we have been discussing the value of distinguishing your target market in the most specific details possible. By now, you have a good snapshot of who your target market is and what makes him/her tick. You may even have a photo of your target market person.

So, what is the value of such research? Knowing your target market will point you in the direction of distinguishing your business from your competition so that your specific clients can find you and do business with you. It is the trim tab which will allow you to attract the type of clients you want to attract.

Your next step is to research your competition.

Here is what you want to know about your competition: what are the companies and services that are offering services similar to what you are offering? What are you offering that you do better than they do? What would have the customers choose to work with you instead of with the competition? (What do I do better or differently?) And what do I offer that the competition doesn’t?

By taking the time to do this type of research on your competition, you will discover what you didn’t know that you didn’t know about them. It will also allow you to uniquely place your services in the market place so that you stand out. You can then begin to market your business in a way that raises a beckoning flag to your client saying: Come Here!

You can then apply your research in developing your marketing plan. Your plan will be comprised of the following marketing elements. This mixture of marketing elements is referred to as the ” 4 P’s”: products, place, price and promotion. Essentially what you want to create is the “4 P’s” to be tailored specifically to your market or your “one person”. You are highlighting your difference from the competition which specifically matters to your one person. When they see your marketing, they will say to themselves: “This is exactly what I am looking for.”

Most likely, you will have to go through several iterations in order to have the perfect element mix. And, that is okay and normal. It is worth it because when you nail it you will notice that your flow of clients is increasing—after all, they have been looking for you.

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Your Ideal Client Is Who?

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Once you have decided that you do want to be in business, and you have an concrete idea about what it is that you want to offer the market, you naturally will have some idea about who it will be you are offering your services to. Your idea about who is your customer is probably vague. Usually what I hear from new entrepreneurs is, “Well, what I am offering is good for everyone.”

No, it isn’t!

One of the most important steps that any new entrepreneur can take is to thoroughly understand his target market. The target market needs to be specifically defined so that it loses its name “Target Market” and becomes instead a person who has a name. Not only a name but also a photo. And, if you want to take this concept to its ultimate height, hang that photo in your office. No, I am not kidding. The entrepreneurs I know who are very successful do have photos of “their people” hanging on the walls of their offices. Every time they forget what they are doing and why, good old Shirley or Jack is smiling down on them.

So how exactly do you get to know your target market so personally and what tools do you use to do that?

The two key factors in determining your target market are the demographics and psychographics about your desired client.

Demographics are the facts about your customers that are easy to observe: age, nationality, gender, income, where they live, if they have pets, children, how many cars they own, what their income is, and their level of education. These are the characteristics of people that are measurable and verifiable. This is information that is available on the internet in the form of census, Chamber of Commerce reports and some Google searches can provide much demographic information.

Psychographics are characteristics about your target clients that are defined by their interests, values, opinions and behaviors. The best way to find out the psychographics of your market it to ask them. What works is to design a group of questions that will help you understand why they do what they do regarding the product or service you are offering—I mean finding out specifically what has them want or not want your product. What would they do to get it? What motivates them to actually buy such a product?

What kind of questions do you ask?

Research Google for psychographic survey questions, you will find a treasure trove of templates to help you determine your target markets attitudes, beliefs, interests, opinions and behaviors. Many of the survey templates are free.

By spending time in thoroughly knowing the demographics and psychographics of your potential clients, you will be ahead of the curve in developing a solid business structure.

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5 Questions To Ask Before You Start A Business

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There are few things more exhilarating than having an idea for a new business, if you have the entrepreneurial spirit of adventure, “can do” and any thing is possible. Entrepreneurs can see a pot of gold at the end of every good idea. It is that spirit that I appreciate about entrepreneurs and it’s why I am a business coach. It’s their energy and enthusiasm that lights me up. Enthusiasm and the “can do” spirit have created many great innovative services that wouldn’t have been available otherwise.

Recently I was approached by a colleague about a new idea. I was excited for her; I could see that this idea would work. I know she has the spirit, the intelligence and the drive to pull it off. I also could see how she could make a lot of money with her idea.

But!

Before she quit her day job and plunged into implementing this new idea, I recommended that she ask herself the following 5 questions.

Who is your target market?
How can you know that that target market actually wants or needs the service? What problems will you be solving to meet the needs of the target market?
How will your service be different from those of your competitors? Keeping in mind that there are already solutions being offered, how is your solution to the target market’s problem better?
What will be the “WOW” factor of your business service? Jeanne Liedtka, a design and innovation expert at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business says this about the “WOW” factor: “That’s the intersection of something that customers want, that you can create, and that’s likely to have a profitable business model associated with it.”
How much capital do you need to fund the foundation and maintenance of the business before it turns a profit?

These questions are not the only ones to answer, however, they are great starting out inquiries to allow your new entrepreneurial adventure to succeed. Actually spending time with these questions will point you in the direction that will be most effective in getting your business started up.

If you get stuck along the way, please call me. I am here to partner with you to make your business idea be as successful as you dream it will be.

Photo by Renjith Krishnan from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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What’s Your Most Powerful Word?

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How is your business going?

We do not always think about the power of the words we use to describe our lives, feelings, behaviors and yes, our businesses. It is through what we say about our lives and business that we define how we behave and even the outcomes that happen to us.

Phrases and adjectives can actually define what happens to us. For instance, years ago I was a probation officer for both juveniles and adults. It was the words, tattooed on my clients arms and hands that indicated to me what they really thought of themselves; and many times, more often than not, those words totally described their lives. I would wince when I saw the words “Born to Lose” tattooed on a body. Each time I saw it I knew that they were fulfilling on their own prophesy. These people did not think they had a chance so they didn’t take the actions that would have changed their “bad luck”; they just kept on doing what they had always done, even though they knew where it would lead.

I think that you get my point here. So, what word will you choose to inspire you and your business as you head into the the second half of 2015?

Here are some words that I found on “List ly” that people are using to describe the results that they want in themselves and their business: awake, implement, smarter, ignite, abundance, amplify, progress, living, re-imagine, humility, simplicity, know, embrace, give, action, now, uphold, do.

The word that I find inspiring is “powerful”. The rest of this year will be powerful for both my clients and for me. Using that word as a litmus test for actions, and then measuring for results, will give me a pathway for achieving what it is I want to achieve.

Now it’s your turn.

What is your word? What word will inspire you to make the rest of 2015 awesome?

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Making Lemonade Out Of This Lemon, An Impressive Lesson About Resiliency

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One of my clients has spent months and lots of money on creating a new product to sell to his target market. It was decided that a guest event would be the ideal way to launch the product. Invitations were carefully crafted and sent to a large segmented base of potential clients. Phone calls were made, reservations for the event were noted and then carefully followed up to make sure that attendees were coming. This event was going to be great!

Except that it wasn’t.

One person showed up. Yes, that was it…one, lone person showed up. To say that the event was a no go is an understatement.

Think about it. What would your reaction be to this huge disappointment? Tears? Anger? Despondency? Regret? Yes, me too. However, this is what happened instead and the reaction became a lesson in resiliency.

This client led the event to the one person audience. And then this is what he told me afterward. I learned so much about what I was doing wrong. I now know how to fix my presentation and will do that. It was so empowering. I am very excited about the value that I have created and now know how to relate it to more people.

We then spent the rest of our session planning for the new event and adjusting how to promote it so that it could have the maximum appeal to the target market.

You see he didn’t give up or waste his time on being despondent and victim of the circumstances. He believes in himself and the new product so much that he couldn’t waste time feeling sorry for himself. This person is very intentional, purposeful and focused on the end result. I have no doubt that the next event will be well attended and be what he intends for it to be, something to make a difference in his clients lives.

When something goes wrong and you claim responsibility for it, something powerful and magical happens.

Photo courtesy of graur razvan ionut, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Why Not Change?

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You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.

William Faulkner

There is something about change that sometimes makes us cringe and hold back. I think that it is the unknown and our lack of belief in ourselves that keeps us from accomplishing what it is that we want to accomplish—if only we could make that first step. We know we are capable of changing but we hold back unless something calls us forth. Often we let our fears, or imagined fears, keep us from moving ahead. Sometimes we just have a first reaction of “no” for any change that is required. Whatever the mechanism we have developed for holding back when change is present, it is time to call it out and see if it really serves us.

I recently talked to a potential client who had a different protection from making a change. Her well-rehearsed protection is “changing everything all the time”. She is an idea machine with an idea a minute. She reminded me of a hummingbird flitting from one flower to the next. She would touch on something then immediately move on to next great idea. No wonder she was frustrated and unable to make a go of her business. Her business changed every other day. After listening to a seemingly endless list of ideas, I realized that she didn’t really like change, so to actually change she would have to pick one thing and just do it.

I agreed with her that the list of ideas was excellent. In fact, I pointed out that I could see a theme in the ideas that pointed to her towards a vision for her business, and from a vision for her business she could start with one offering from the list of ideas. She really didn’t like the idea of just choosing one and after some indecision she reluctantly chose one idea. We then made a little plan on how she could implement that one idea. The plan included how long the implementation would take, what the simple steps were needed to achieve the goal, how much she would charge for it, and an estimate on how much she could make. Then I asked her to just follow the plan for two weeks and see what happened. Part of the plan was to complete one step a day and report back to me every day as that step was complete.

You can probably predict the outcome of this plan. Yes, it worked. She stayed with the plan and began to meet people who really were interested in what she was doing. Within a couple of days of focusing on the project she met people who were interested in using her services. She was excited that her idea was well received and decided to follow through with providing the product. She changed her way of being and it took courage to do so.

I don’t know if the change will last. It really doesn’t matter because now she has tasted what it is like to stick with something. I think this will be the beginning of a new way of being for her.

If you are stuck and know that change is required to move forward, please give me a call. I would love to hear from you.

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net, Miles Stuart

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It’s Time To Build An Ark

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“Predicting Rain Doesn’t Count. Building Arks Does”

-Warren Buffett

Buffett’s quote applies to life as well as to business. He is referring to preparing for adversity, hiccups in business and in life that can take us out if we’re not prepared.

Often we only begin to build the ark after the rains come. This is not the best plan. With some reflection, you can discern what backups you need in preparation for what might happen to seriously stop your business or prevent it from performing at an optimum level. I am not talking about the major disasters either. I think it’s better to have backups for the small daily details of your how you effectively run your business.

If you think about what you do in your business daily, and what props you use to perform even the smallest tasks, you will begin to see areas where having backups is vital to be open for the day. Simple things like, telephone lines, internet connectivity, keys to open the door. Yes, simple things like that. Nothing is more frustrating than turning on your computer and the line is dead or picking up the phone and line is hissing. Then what do you do? Do you have a backup plan?

Here are some suggestions about what I have and use. This list is designed as a way to prompt you to think of what is necessary for you to run your business.

Keys hidden in top secret places in case I lose my key.
Two land lines, cellular lines and 3 different internet connections.
I know business people in different areas of the region who will let me use their internet and telephones, if mine go down.
Two different independent VPN networks.
Google voice mail and land line voice mail
Two independent printers
Passwords I frequently use in a paper list format in two locations.

This is just the short list of ways I have to “build the ark”. I am sure that you could add to this just by reading through it.

The most important back up is to have relationships with people who you know you can call or go to for support if a system goes down. We don’t always think of people who we can count on to be there for us if we are in trouble. It is important to build the relationships before you urgently need them. For instance, have you built a professional team of people including a lawyer, a business coach, banker, accountant and computer technician? If not, please do that now. That team will be there for you when and if you have an urgent challenge.

Please use this blog as stimulus for building your own “ark”. You will be very happy you did—even if you never need it.

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If Profit Isn’t Your Business Purpose…What Is?

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Profit isn’t a purpose, it’s a result. To have purpose means the things we do are of real value to others.

-Simon Sinek

The most important contribution that a business coach can make is to keep the client in touch with their purpose. When a client has lost touch with his purpose he usually has a meltdown, begins frothing at the mouth, mad with desire for more and more profit.

I am not exaggerating. Think about it. When you lose touch with your purpose in life, you go adrift; you begin to flop about like a fish out of water. You say you’re out of touch with yourself. You may display it in various ways: eating too much or too little, over drinking, over shopping, or finding that you gleefully hate everyone around you and the horse that they rode in on as well.

I have worked with people who do not know why they are starting their business since making pots of money seems like the best purpose in the world to them. It takes some time and detective work for us to coax out the real purpose of their business, and once we find their purpose, hidden under plots and schemes to make money, it’s as if the world shifts and implementing their business plan becomes easy, effortless, and triumphant.

I have also worked with people who have lost touch with their purpose. They are listless, not creative, and generally think that anything and everything is too much to handle. They end up being a big “no” to suggestions and good ideas. When this occurs in a coaching session, it is my signal to question their purpose. What I mean by that is: Why did you start this business? Usually, the response is to make money. The tone of their voice indicates to me that everyone knows that.

Of course, that is not why they are in business. They started their business with a vision and mission that had nothing to do with money. Money, as Simon Sinek says, is the result of fulfilling the purpose.

To me, the most important conversation I can have with someone is “what is your purpose?” Try it out for yourself. Have a conversation with someone about their purpose and watch them light up with enthusiasm.

I offer a free consultation to anyone who is interested in discussing their purpose and how to make it real. Call me.

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Help! I Am Lost In The Dark Unknown

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One of my clients came to his coaching call completely despondent. He said, “I need a double session today—I am totally upset and completely confused.” Somewhat surprising, given that this client has turned his business around since we began working together. He has had enormous sales, and has the concrete potential for tripling his income over the next few months.

“Goodness Gracious! What happened?”

Once we got clear about his concerns, we were able to distill them into one overriding worry—it was going to cost him capital to reach the next level of sales. He didn’t know how much but he was certain it would be thousands of dollars. Really?

We began by getting clear about the next step he was to take in order to fulfill on pending orders. Once that step was done, we began to itemize the costs, one by one, including the minute details that worried him so much. When we finished he was astounded by how little capital he really needed to use in order to achieve the next sales goal.

I am not minimizing the fear that the client was experiencing. I think it’s very human to react to our fears. The important lesson from this experience is: When you are worried about achieving something, and the worry gets blown out of proportion, talk with someone who is committed to your success, but is not invested in achieving the result. I am recommending that you get a second or third opinion about what is really holding you back. This client could have stopped the progress that he was making by letting his fear overtake his momentum. Instead he admitted to his fear, communicated about it, and then together we could make it doable and achievable.

Promise yourself that the next time you are stopped by something in your path to success that seems overwhelming, you will seek another opinion. You have people who can assist you to look at things from an alternate perspective. They can help you in developing a workable way to achieve your goal. Solutions abound if you let them occur and just ask.

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The Key To Business Success…It’s Not What You Think

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We have been looking at what actions and ways of being make a business a success. There are many trim tabs a business owner can do which are administrative and mechanical such as using a calendar for marketing events, hiring a virtual assistant, and having a system for accurate bookkeeping. These items are important and help to develop a solid foundation for your business, but it takes something more than just the administrative and mechanical components; there is something greater that you, the business owner, must bring to the party. What I am talking about is your ability to keep your word. This is one of the greatest assets your business can have.

Surely you have noticed that when a powerful person says that something will happen, it usually happens—and it’s not a function of luck, or how they dress, or how loud they say it.

Let’s dive into that for a moment. I say keeping your word makes you powerful. But why? Because the way people listen to what you say depends upon the reputation that you have for keeping your word. Simply put, people are much more likely to cooperate, collaborate, work with, and do things for—in a real sense, go out on a limb for—people who keep their word. Over time, your keeping your word makes what you say actually mean something in the world—it gives your words power.

The opposite of keeping your word costs you business and sales. Here is an example of what I am talking about. The sky lights in my house are old and cracked. We need to replace them before our rainy season begins. There are a variety of window and glass replacement businesses in our town. There seems to be a universal agreement about who NOT to use. And, that agreement is predicated not on their businesses’ skills or on their knowing how to do the work. Nope, the agreement is about who keeps their word. One thing that stood out for me as I researched who to hire is that what people said is don’t hire them because they don’t show up when they say they will. What they did say is oh, the company is very good in window replacement BUT . . .

Word keeping is the gold standard for most people when they are deciding who to hire, what services to use, and most people will pay a premium for word keeping. It boils down to this—people who keep their word have more business. No one is in business to provide lousy service, however, many people acquire a reputation for providing lousy service because of the missing factor in their business—they don’t keep their word.

You may want to look at your business and see what areas you are strong in and measure the strength of those areas against word keeping. I bet you will find it is those areas that your word keeping is the strongest. Tell me where I am wrong.

Image courtesy of FreePhotos.com

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