Category Archives: Blog

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 Blog6.17.15 Marketing Mixspecific 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.

I Am Sorry

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Change is certain.  Peace is followed by disturbances; departure of evil men by their return.  Such recurrences should not constitute occasions for sadness but realities for awareness, so that one may be happy in the interim.
I Ching

After the rainSeveral years ago, I was the subject of a campaign of hate fueled by nasty rumors, gossip, and even some threats.  The result of this campaign was being socially “black balled” by a large influential segment of the community.  Naturally I was devastated and felt misidentified and maligned.  I also felt very alone.

That very event was a catalyst for my growth and development.  I made wonderful new friends, deepened my spiritual path, and gained the confidence to build two new businesses.

Until yesterday, that past was mostly forgotten.  I had moved on.  Then I had lunch with an acquaintance from the that time.  Lunch was delightful and stimulating.  I was so happy that we re-connected and as we asked for the bill, she said, “I need to apologize to you.”  She was quiet for a few moments.  Then she said, “Please accept my apology for believing the gossip and rumors about you.”  She said she was now puzzled as to why she ever gave the gossip any credence at all.

This was one of those huge moments that come into our lives sometimes, both for her and me.  It takes a big person to apologize for perpetrating harm, real or imagined, on another.  It takes courage to apologize—and its scary.

I was a little stunned and quiet as all the old hurt and isolation re-occurred for me.  Then I said, “Of course, I accept your apology, thank you”.  The moment was over, the damage undone, history once again tucked away in the past.  We both left that lunch looking forward to the next time we would see each other.

This woman’s courage and bigness has inspired me.  I am writing this blog today with the intention to inspire you too.  It is my goal to encourage you to apologize to whomever you think you may have hurt.  I promise that you will discover yourself to be a bigger and more complete person.

In the space below, please share with me times when you have apologized for wrong and what happened.  I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Fuel Your Life With Back to School Energy – Here’s How!

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Back to SchoolThere is the undercurrent of excitement in the air.  Can you feel it?  It’s back to school time!  Even though I am not personally going back to school, don’t have new books, a new pen or even a fresh clean uniform, I can feel the excitement of learning something new, opening up to possibilities not yet seen, new friends, new, well, everything.  See if you can feel it even if you hated school and the beginning of school.  If not steal some excitement from me.

This is the perfect time for you to review what you have accomplished so far this year.  Make a list of what you still want to accomplish and a plan to do so.  This is your second chance to end the year with a triumph of accomplishments graciously given to you by the arrival of “back to school” time.

The easiest way to do this is to get a pencil and paper and make this list of areas in your life:

  • Family
  • Personal Relationships
  • Spirituality
  • Physical Fitness
  • Health
  • Finances
  • Business
  • Fun/Vacations
  • Home
  • Contribution
  • Personal Style

Ask your self the following questions:

  1. Where am I now?
  2. Where do I want to be?
  3. What am I willing to do to get there

Rate each area from 5 (totally satisfied) to 1 (no, satisfaction ).

In some areas, you will be perfectly satisfied—and good for you!  What we are going for is for you to tag the areas of the your life that you are not satisfied with and are willing to change.  Notice that I used the word willing.  If you are not willing to take action, don’t even mess with it.  In the areas where you are willing to take some definite action, what will you accomplish?  Make it measurable and be accountable for it by putting a by when date next to it.  Put it in your calendar.  And, keep your word.

For example: Under the category of Personal Style, my closet rates a 1.  I am “willing” to move that from a 1 to a 3 by changing from plastic hangers to wooden hangers.  I will do that by August 30.

I am looking forward to hearing from you about what happened out of using this review of your life this year.  If you need any support, let me know.

Going Pro

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When I saw this definition of “Going Pro”, I knew that I wanted to share it with you.  I think that it nails what we, as entrepreneurs are about.  I contacted the author, Stephanie Pollock and requested her permission to use it.  She generously said yes!

Stephanie Pollock 516ae5ef84c49f1e24968632

Stephanie Pollock is a Business activator + leadership coach she is devoted to helping talented women in business GO PRO with their dreams, stepping into the spotlights – and revenue streams – they so richly deserve.

She’s the publisher of Going Pro Magazine, a Top 40 Under 40 change maker and author of the forthcoming b

ook: Claiming Greatness – How to Stop Hovering Around Your Potential and Actively CLAIM it!

You can check out her magazine here: http://goingpromagazine.com/

This is Stephanie’s definition of Going Pro:

“GOING PRO is about treating your business like an empire-in-the-making -not a half-hearted hobby.

It’s about carrying your best & brightest ideas to market – without any excuses.

It’s about knowing your value, owning your authority, and taking your own breath away.

It’s about stepping up as a true leader – taking personal responsibility for your message, your revenue, and your potential.

And ultimately, it’s about moving beyond the daily demands of running your business.

Stepping into a space where you can experiment, innovate & re-imagine your whole lifestyle.

GOING PRO is a mindset, a personal commitment, and a business revolution.

You in?”

 

In the comments below, I would love to hear your thoughts on Going Pro.  Have you Gone Pro yet?  If so, what has happened?

The Rules of Life

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Rule bookLife has rules, and the rules of life—your life—are not necessarily those rules and regulations which are most obvious.  Some are hidden; others appear to be of little consequence, and to complicate matters more, they are not the same for everyone.  But these are not the only problems with rules, nor are they the greatest.  The main problem arises when we make the rules a moral issue, when we make it right to obey the rules and wrong to disobey them.  Over the years this has created a huge amount of mischief and misery in people’s lives.  If you want to enslave a group of people, all you need do is present them with a set of rules and convince them they are morally wrong if they don’t obey them.

For the most part, you and I have made the rules in our lives a moral issue.  Why do we do this?  I don’t know.  Man has been doing it for thousands of years.  But that doesn’t mean we must continue doing it.  Try this on.  Begin to think of the rules of life in terms of workability and unworkability, rather than in terms of right and wrong.  The result will be that breaking a rule is no longer wrong; it simply has a consequence, and you don’t have to obey a rule if you are willing to deal with the consequence.  Obviously some consequences are not something you want to deal with.  For instance the consequence of you killing your neighbor would most likely be life in the penitentiary.  But is it wrong?  I don’t know.  For a samurai in sixteenth century Japan, to whom honor was everything (in theory at least), killing had a whole other meaning than it does for us.

An example of greater relevance to you and me are the consequences of tax evasion.  They are a lot less concrete than the consequences of murder.  For instance, if you take a few excess deductions and then get challenged, or even if you fail to file a return, you will have to pay a fine and some interest, but that is all.  On the other hand, if you file a bogus return and get caught, you may very well go to prison.

And there is the sleep problem as well.  Worrying about getting caught is a consequence.  And the worry may not be immediately obvious.  You know—break a little rule here and another one there, without being responsible for the fact that there are consequences, and by and by you will start looking and acting like someone who has something to hide.  Your life is no longer yours.

What is the practical point of this discussion?  This.  For most of us, we have a lot of useless and even counterproductive rules in our lives.  We break them all the time, and then feel guilty about breaking them.  If you shift rules from being a moral issue to being a practical issue, then you won’t experience the pain of guilt if you break them.  You still have to deal with the consequences.  If you’re not willing to deal with the consequence, don’t break the rule.

 

How To Re-imagine Part 2

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Apparently, I hit a nerve with the last newsletter, Re-imagine Your Failure.  Some readers commented on it and others just called to tell me what they saw about re-imagining.  What struck me as the most was that their reactions pointed to who they are as entrepreneurs.  Yes, they have failures.  Yes, they do NOT like failures, and YES, OF COURSE, re-imagining is what must occur.

Here is what one highly successful entrepreneur said: “When asking yourself Man Creatingthat important question, ‘What could you do differently that may make the project succeed?’… it is also important to realize it was YOUR SCENE…Re-Imagine the SCENE…you may not have failed, even though you FEEL that way! Re-imagining has you get out of the grief a LOT faster!”

I think it’s a brilliant response to the inquiry.  Taking the comment apart, here is what inspires me about it.  It is where this person is coming from, this person is totally taking responsibility for her reaction to the failure.  In being responsible for the reaction then she can re-imagine it and give herself an alternative to experiencing failure.

She pointed to a very important trait of successful entrepreneurs, the art of being responsible.  Responsibility is perhaps a unsung positive trait of entrepreneurs.  In the true meaning of the word, being responsible is not blame or guilt, shame or any such demoralizing explanation.  Being responsible is “liable to be called on to answer, being the cause or explanation, able to answer for one’s conduct and obligations.”  Notice that the word “being” is used.  Being meaning, at least to me, who we are on the playing field of business.

An entrepreneur who is being responsible can re-imagine effortlessly, as the commenter said: “it is also important to realize it was YOUR SCENE”.  She takes responsibility for the scene and then, since its hers, she can re-imagine it.  And, that ability, is the key factor for being a successful entrepreneur.  No one else did it to you, or even for you; you and you alone are the one.  There is so much power in that way of being that you cannot fail.  You can only re-imagine and move forward.

I look forward to hearing your comments about this way of being.

Re-imagining Your Failure

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Man CreatingWe have all been there: our good idea bombed, failed, went kaput!  And we sit in our office wondering what to do now?  We pass through the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance.  And still, we are left with, “Is that it?”

No!  That is not it.

Instead of sticking your head under your past due bills, do this: Re-imagine the the project.  What is re-imagining?  According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, it is: to imagine again or anew; especially: to form a new conception of.

Here is a simple way to re-imagine.  Begin by re-visiting the purpose of your project and the specific outcome that you expected it to deliver.  Then look at the way you went about fulfilling on the delivering of the outcome.  List the steps you took to make sure that the project would succeed. Your first go at the project failed, why?

Danger Alert: Avoid the pitfall of beating your self up newly for the failure, this is re-imagining; this is not a pity party.

Ask yourself, “What could you do differently that may make the project succeed?”  Make a plan to implement those steps.  Determine how long you will conduct your new experiment, and what the new measurements of success are. Make sure that your test is explicit and has a certain date to end.  Usually, a week or two is long enough to tell you what worked or did not work.  Do it again, making the adjustments you learned about in the last experiment.  Keep on adjusting the experiment until you reach a successful outcome.

If you follow this simple way of re-imagining, you will begin to develop a muscle in creating workable solutions.  You also will be engaged in the project, it will become a vehicle for your creativity instead of the end of your creativity.

Re-imagining gives you a direction to have something that you believe in become a real success.  It also gives you the ability to be the leader of your business, even if your business consists of one person—you.

I would enjoy reading your comments about re-imagining.   When have you re-imagined a project?  What happened?