The Insatiable Solopreneur™

Succeeding and Surviving as a Solopreneur

Archive for the tag “small business advice”

15 Oct 2012
2 Comments

Solopreneurs Campaign Every Day: What to Consider to Win the Votes from Your Prospective Clients

Not wholly unlike presidential candidates, solopreneurs undergo a degree of scrutiny before being selected as providersAmerican flag of choice. Clients do research, and they put a good deal of thought into whom they choose for professional services. Although you most likely don’t run up against negative ads and spin doctoring like candidates in an election, you are judged according to comparable categories of performance and perception.

Keep these in mind as you strive to put your best foot forward and win the favor of prospective clients:

Your past record

It’s far easier to garner new business when you’ve got a body of work available for review that demonstrates your skills and expertise. A portfolio can absolutely tip the needle toward you versus someone who appears comparatively green in your industry. And by making your portfolio easily accessible online via your website, Facebook page, Pinterest, a Commonfig multi-media profile, or other web venue, you’ll gain the advantage of making an impression quickly. If you’re a new solopreneur with not a whole lot of experience or samples to share, consider practicing your craft on a pro bono basis to build up your repertoire of examples.

Your reputation

Sometimes prospects will base their buying decisions on knowing that others have something good to say about your work and your work ethic. When clients are happy with your services and their experience in working with you, ask them for brief endorsements. One easy way to accomplish gathering testimonials is via LinkedIn’s Recommendations feature. It gives your professional connections a convenient way to share their experience with you, plus it gives you a record of referral that you can copy and paste (with permission from the author of the recommendation) on your website and other marketing communications. If you’ve got it, flaunt it. Nothing says credibility more than happy clients who talk up your service.

Your capabilities

While your portfolio and testimonials establish that you do what you’ve done well, you’ll also be judged by what you potentially can do for prospects. Sometimes you’ll run across opportunities to work on projects with very unique requirements. How well do your online points of presence and print marketing materials project the skills and expertise that show your potential to do more? Although you might have less (or no) experience with a particular type of endeavor, that doesn’t mean you’re not the right professional services provider for the job. When writing about your credentials, don’t miss out on highlighting the talents and skills sets that are transferable to projects beyond those that you already have in your repository of experience.

Your promises

Ultimately, people do business with people and brands they believe they can trust. As a solopreneur, you make promises to prospects when you propose services to them. Your approach, your tone, your listening skills, and your responsiveness to questions will all influence whether a prospect chooses you or your competitor. Not only do your credentials, reputation and past experience play important roles in securing clients, so does instilling confidence that you’re going to follow through on what you say you’re going to do for them. Always be realistic and rational…and NEVER overpromise on what you can deliver.

As solopreneurs, there’s no escaping our constant state of “campaign mode,” but fortunately that doesn’t mean we have to resort to hosting extravagant events and slamming our competition. By focusing on what we do best, highlighting recommendations of our services, effectively projecting our potential and by following through on what we propose to do for clients, we stand a very good chance of winning the vote.

Your turn! Any other parallels between being a solopreneur and the presidential campaign in progress? 

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Customer Expectations, Customer Satisfaction and tagged , , , , ,
20 Aug 2012
2 Comments

2 Things You Need To Deliver In Every Customer Experience (the Good, the Bad and the Ugly!)

Communication and caring: If they’re MIA in customer interactions – especially the ones gone bad – kiss your credibility and your customer goodbye.  Lesson learned from my vacation experience with an airline that did it all wrong and an airline employee who did it all right.

Groggy, but excited to start our vacation, my family awakened at 3:30 a.m. last Saturday. We wanted to allow plenty of time to travel to the Baltimore/Washington airport, park the car, check our luggage, go through security and board our 8 a.m. flight to Texas.

Despite our punctuality, below is the situation we found upon arrival to the United Airlines check-in area.

A rocky customer experience

Worried? Sure we were. But we figured if things were going to get a little tight, eventually a United representative would call out our flight and expedite our visit to the desk so we could get on our way. So we waited.

And waited…

And waited.

The line hardly budged after an hour, and not a single United rep ventured anywhere close to our neck of the woods to pull people to the front for any soon-departing flights. Nor did anyone offer any explanation whatsoever about the problem in progress.

Getting desperate, we decided to try our luck at the curbside check –in. The line there was also long, but it had to be moving faster than the stagnant one we were standing in. It was. And even more promising was when the attendant asked for everyone in line with an 8 a.m. flight to go inside the airport. FINALLY, they were going to put us through baggage check and send us onward!

So inside we went…only to find what we did before. A long line with no official airport peeps providing any direction. We went back out to the curbside check-in attendant to politely ask what we were supposed to do.

His response, “Go to the back of the line.”

Our observation, “But we were already there, and our flight is leaving in 20 minutes.”

His response, “Not my problem.” (Truth. He really did say that!)

So there we were again…in the same line where we had originally been. Sadly, it still had not moved. In fact, it had grown longer since our first go at it.

As before, no United reps or other airport staff walked to our end of the earth to provide assistance or insight into to what was happening – or not happening as it were.

No communication (not even by email on my smart phone). No information. No alternatives.

Clearly we were going to miss our flight and had no choice but to wait with the other hundreds of people who needed to have their departure plans amended.

Eventually, after about two hours, an announcement aired over the P.A. system indicating that United had delays due to “airport conditions.” Oddly, the same BWI “airport conditions” didn’t seem to be affecting the flight schedules of the Delta passengers who we enviously allowed to cross through to get to their check-in desk. The relief on their faces was insuppressible as they realized they didn’t have to stand in our line!

After another hour, we decided to take our chances and join a few other United passengers in a separate line that we self-proclaimed as the “we missed our flight because of your ‘airport conditions’ so you need to make us a priority” section. Finally, around 10:30 a.m., we were at the desk.

Exhausted and frustrated with no high expectations for anything resembling satisfactory service, we met customer service rep Myra. Myra greeted us with a smile, compassion and a willingness to do whatever she could to get our vacation started as smoothly as possible considering the present circumstances. For two arduous hours, she scoured through the reservation system and talked us through the process as she searched to find suitable flights at BWI and nearby airports that would accommodate our party of 5. Although she surely was feeling stressed and at the end of her rope, Myra never took it out on us. No aggravated tone, no apathy. Just stellar customer service in a situation that seemed completely unsalvageable.

Despite Myra’s best attempts, we had to begin our vacation a day late and from an airport that was an additional hour away from home. Sensitive to the inconvenience we were experiencing, she secured reservations at a Washington DC hotel that was within 5 minutes of Reagan International airport and changed our return flights so that we arrived ½ hour earlier there than we would have at BWI.

Did that make it all better? No. But because of her positive attitude and hard work to make things as right as possible, Myra succeeded in diffusing much of our distress and disappointment.

Will we fly United again? Not sure that we will. But then again, I’m not sure that we won’t. And United has Myra and Myra alone to thank for us not completely wiping them from our list of carrier options. What a difference communication and caring can make – even in the most challenging situations.

Your turn! What customer experience have you had that got turned around (good or bad) by a solitary someone or something?

Posted in Customer Expectations, Customer Satisfaction and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
25 Jul 2012

3 Ways You Should NEVER Treat Your Customers

Although customers aren’t always right, they are the lifeblood of your business. You need them. And though you thinkSkull & crossbones they need you in return, the truth is they can go somewhere else if they really want to.

Creating a customer experience that keeps them coming back can be done in many, many creative ways that suit your business and your clients. But there are a few things that solopreneurs universally should NEVER do when dealing with customers:

Take them for granted

With so many external variables (budget constraints, shifts in priorities, hiring talent in-house, etc.) that could come into play when working with a client, don’t assume they’ll be around forever – even if they’re happy with your products and services.  Always make an effort to maintain strong rapport with them, because that could prompt them to do their best to keep you on projects even when times are tough. And always think ahead about how you’ll replace the revenue from them if ever they meet unforeseen pressures and need to cut you loose.

Take advantage of them

True story: Not too terribly long ago, I trained at a martial arts studio that had a very closely-knit community of members. Eager to help the sole owner of the studio, members would freely donate their time to tasks like refilling the refrigerator with water bottles, helping with the kids’ classes, even cleaning the bathroom. Rather than show appreciation, the owner started taking members’ generosity for granted. He would get them to fill in for him when he didn’t feel like showing up to teach or when he wanted to step out for a cup of coffee. Rather than answer his own phone or greet prospective new members when they walked in the door, he instead expected his members to do it.

Bad move.

The members got fed up with it, and the vast majority left. In fact, many of them left to study martial arts at the home-based studio that two of the former members started on their own. All they had learned from essentially running the other guy’s business for him paid off. Now they are his competition.

Treat them like crap

In a bad mood? Who cares! At all times, you need to treat your clients with respect and kindness. That’s not to say you can’t ever disagree with them or share when something doesn’t seem quite equitable. But you need to do it tactfully and in a non-accusatory tone. Your words and actions matter a great deal in building and nurturing business relationships. Nothing can spoil your brand reputation faster than being a jerk – word of mouth travels fastest when it doesn’t have anything nice to say!

Remember, as a solopreneur, you are your brand. And it’s on your shoulders to make that brand one with a reputation of excellence. Always put your best foot forward when working and communicating with clients.

 

Do you have any examples of businesses that have totally missed the mark in how they treat their customers? How do you approach your client relationships to make them stronger?

 

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Customer Expectations, Customer Satisfaction and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
17 Jul 2012
2 Comments

It Isn’t Easy Being Green: 3 Tips for Getting Up to Speed as a Startup Solopreneur

Let’s cut to the chase – starting out as a solopreneur is challenging.  Although you don’t have to deal with certain aspectsGreen of running a business like payroll or employee benefits, you’ve got to have the other core operations and administrative components covered like:

  • Customer service
  • Sales
  • Marketing
  • Invoicing
  • Collections
  • Bookkeeping
  • Public relations
  • Strategizing and planning

All of those things and more need to be done to keep your business afloat – and you’ll be the one doing them.

Overwhelming? You bet it can be. But by taking action on the following tips, you’ll make your journey as a new solopreneur less mysterious and more empowering even straight out of the starting gate:

Get Social as a Solo Small Biz Owner

Connect face-to-face and build relationships with other solopreneurs and small business owners. They’ve walked the walk and can relate to most – if not all – of the specific challenges you’re facing as a new entrepreneur.  Join your local chamber of commerce, a Toastmasters group, ABWA, or some other professional group – most have at least a few solo business owners within their memberships. Actively participate and interact, and you’ll likely find that your fellow members will be happy to lend their insight and advice to help guide you through tough decisions and situations.

Link Up with LinkedIn Groups

Although as a rule I don’t tell anyone that they should be on a specific social media platform, LinkedIn is the exception. A purely professional network, LinkedIn lets you connect with not only clients, prospective clients, and business colleagues, but it also provides you the opportunity to join online entrepreneurial-minded groups. And groups exist for many niche industries and specific locales, too. Got a problem you don’t know how to solve? Need advice on how to handle a particular situation? Post your question as a “discussion” on the page of a group that has a membership rich with people who are knowledgeable about the topic or your area of business. I’ve gotten some very valuable guidance, tips and tricks through discussions on several group pages focused on writing and editing and on a group page dedicated to businesses located within my county. Group members are generally very willing to share their thoughts and guide you to additional resources to help you with your challenges. Just be sure to reciprocate and occasionally check discussions to see how you might be of assistance.

Get One-to-One Guidance

As a solopreneur you don’t have to totally go it alone. As a startup, you can find free help in wrapping your arms around all things business. Organizations like SCORE (who has 365 chapters nation-wide) provide free mentoring to new entrepreneurs and existing small businesses. Also look for other nonprofits in your area that give cost-free business consulting.

No, it really isn’t easy being green, but it doesn’t have to be painful either. With some concentrated outreach effort on your part, you can go from novice to in-the-know solopreneur without too many scrapes or scratches.

What resources do you tap into most to learn best practices and get real-world experience about being a solopreneur?

 

 

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Business challenges, Professional Development, Starting a business and tagged , , , , , ,
03 Jul 2012

To “MT” or “RT” on Twitter? That is the Question.

When I first took notice of “MT”s (Modified Tweets) in my Twitter feed, I commented on someone’s blog post on the topic that I really didn’t see the point in it. Why complicate things? “RT” (Retweet) covers it.

I take that back.

Though I originally objected to yet another Tweetism that would make Twitter an even more mysterious and scary platform for those who so want to dip their toes in the water but can’t muster the courage, I now find myself using MT in most of my retweets.

Why MT vs. RT?

MT indicates openly that you’ve in some way changed the content of the tweet you’re retweeting.

When should you use it?  MT when…

  • you eliminate words from a tweet to make it shorter to fit the confines of Twitter’s 140-character limit. To facilitate retweeting, you might consider cutting a tweet so it provides room for “RT @” plus your Twitter handle.
  • you change or eliminate a portion of a tweet that might not be appropriate for your audience. Maybe it’s too niche focused or perhaps it has strong language. Either way, MT!
MT Example:

MT (Modified Tweet)

Rules of thumb:
  • MT when you’ve done more than just add or remove punctuation or spaces in a retweet.
  • Don’t MT or RT if you’ve changed a tweet’s content and/or intent beyond recognition. In that case, create your own intro, share the link and mention (@) the Twitter user who brought it to your stream.

Although I don’t view tweets as works of art that should be protected as creative property, I do believe it is common courtesy to acknowledge that a retweet no longer reflects verbatim the words of its source. I predict lots more MTs in your Twitter Home Feed’s future!

Using MTs yet? What unspoken rules do you have for MTing and RTing?

Posted in Social Media, Twitter and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
22 Jun 2012

Making Your Personal Likeability Your Biggest Business Asset

When you’re in business for yourself, especially as a professional services provider, it’s evident that people do businessLike on chalkboard with other people – not with a product, not with a service. They do business with YOU.

Of course, you need to provide something that they need and deliver quality at a fair price, but they’re only part of the buying equation. Bigger is the relationship component. All other things relatively equal, people will do business with you instead of your competitors because they like you.

Don’t underestimate the likeability factor. Don’t dismiss it as icing on the cake. As a solopreneur, it can be one of your biggest assets.

What being likeable means

Maybe it’s best to start with what likeability doesn’t mean. Being likeable doesn’t mean that you agree with everyone all the time. It doesn’t mean that you give your service or product away for next to nothing. It doesn’t mean that EVERYONE will think you’re the best thing since sliced bread. And it doesn’t require that you’re innately an extrovert.

It does mean that you exhibit personality traits that draw most people to you. It’s about being genuine – and genuinely caring about other people.

Ways to boost your reading on the Likeability Meter

  • Be yourself – You can’t please all of the people all of the time, so don’t try. Be real. People can spot a fake a mile away. But…
  • Be nice! – When you’re having a bad day, making it a bad one for everyone around you won’t make it better. Just be honest if you’re not at the top of your emotional game. No need to share the intimate details, but let others know that you’re struggling and are operating at less than optimum. They’ll understand and respect your candor.
  • Lend a hand – Literally or figuratively, helping a client or prospective client with something that they hadn’t expected you to will generate a ton of good will. It could be pointing them to a resource to solve a problem or question, offering advice (when asked) on a business process, or offering to help them move into their new office.
  • Show your support on social media – Go beyond just “liking” someone’s Facebook Page and following them on Twitter, interact with them. Don’t go overboard and “like” every post or retweet every tweet, but regularly check out what they’re sharing and make it known - via comments and sharing with your audience - when you find something interesting or helpful. What business owner doesn’t love it when someone acknowledges that her/his social media efforts are noticed and appreciated?

Being likeable can do wonders for attracting new clients, maintaining those you already have, and gaining referrals from others in the business community. Make it work for your business!

What other ways can you demonstrate your personal likeability through – and for the success of – your business? 

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Social Media and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
19 Jun 2012

Building a Runaway Truck Ramp for Your Business

Runaway truck ramps are one of those “hope I’ll never need to use one” necessities that minimize the risk of a catastrophe. Big rig drivers hope to never lose braking control on steep, continuous inclines, but it Photobucket Image Hostingcould happen. It’s a definite risk; and runaway truck ramps are the result of planning for it.

As a solopreneur, you probably won’t ever find yourself steering a 18-wheeler up a steep escape route to safety, but there will likely be times when your business meets risk head on and will need to be redirected. How can you prepare for that?

Be Aware

Before you can think about how you’ll get yourself out of a fix, you need to give some thought to the risks that you face in your business. New competition, losing an anchor client, a bad online review, vendors rate increases…all could have an impact on your business – and how you do business. Think about them – and write them down.

Build Your Runaway Truck Ramp

Next, think about both what you can do to prepare yourself to minimize the impact of the risks you’ve identified,  AND determine what you’ll do after a risk becomes reality.

For example:

Risk: You lose an anchor client/lose recurring revenue.

Preparation: Consistently network face-to-face, build a strong LinkedIn network that includes professionals in your industry/target market. Make sure people know who you are and what you offer.

Action: Prospect to fill the void that the anchor client left. Reach out to contacts on LinkedIn and in the community to let them know you’re taking on new clients. Proactively ask for referrals.

Use this format to document a plan of action for each possible risk factor.

It doesn’t take a heap of time or energy. And because it takes what might have been “unforeseen circumstances” and makes them “foreseen”, you won’t have to hit the panic button when things don’t quite go according to plan in your business.

Your turn! How do you plan for and mitigate risk in your business? What risk factors pose the biggest threats to you?

Posted in Business challenges and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
05 Jun 2012
2 Comments

The Essentials Every Solopreneur Needs to Track about Leads, Prospects and Clients

Solopreneurs who provide professional services know that “who they know” goes a long way in bringing in new business.Where do your clients come from? There’s no sitting around and waiting for new clients to find us; we have to make connections. And that can be done in many different ways.

But as important as making connections is, so is keeping tabs on how those connections happened and where they’ve led. Without having a handle on where leads, prospects and clients are coming from and the outcome of those inquiries, there’s no way to really know which of your marketing tactics are working the best for you.

Tracking those things doesn’t require any sort of elaborate database. A simple Excel spreadsheet will do the trick provided that you record the information that matters – and that you keep up with it!

The essentials:

  • Name of the lead/prospect/customer (Company and contact name)
  • Email address
  • Physical address
  • Phone number
  • Website and Social Media links
  • Types of services inquired about
  • How did they find you? / How did you connect with them? (e.g. Chamber mixers, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, web search, referral from a client, direct mail campaign…)
  • Date when you first connected
  • Potential assessment (e.g. general interest/no specific opportunity, specific project opportunity, potential for recurring work, etc.)
  • If applicable, date when they became your client

Easy, right? It will take you 5 minutes tops to capture this basic information when someone contacts you about your services and even less to update it when a prospect converts to a paying customer. If you devote that small bit of time to the cause, you’ll have at your fingertips a simple way to quickly see where the majority of your leads – and clients – are coming from. And with that, you can begin to focus your marketing and sales time, energy and dollars on the strategies and tactics that have shown the most promise and results.

Your turn! How do you keep track of where your leads, prospects and clients are coming from? What marketing tactics are working best for you?


Dialing 8 Project

Consider joining the Dialing 8 Project! A forum for learning, sharing & getting the most out of your social media efforts for your small business.

Free images from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Marketing, Networking and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
01 Jun 2012

Fortune Cookie Friday: “Good news will come to you by mail.” – But you need to work for it!

The first Friday in June has arrived – and with it, another Fortune Cookie Friday! Time to explore the wisdom within…Fortune cookie

 

“Good news will come to you by mail.”

Well, that sounds promising! But in business, good news isn’t generally something that comes from out of the blue without any sort of effort behind the scenes to make it happen. As solopreneurs, we have to give good news a jump start. We have to pave the way for good news to reach us.

How can you set the foundation for good news to come your way?

  • Do your homework to make sure your services and products are fulfilling a want or need in the market.
  • Network to build relationships and establish respect for – and trust in – your brand.
  • Be responsive to client inquiries and feedback.
  • Go the extra mile to be a source of information and tips that will help others succeed.
  • Make use of your social media channels and email to do all of the above, but don’t rely on them completely. Communicate through phone calls and face-to-face meetings whenever possible, too.
  • Be fair to your customers – and to your business – in your pricing.
  • Be patient.
  • Genuinely care about what you do every day; it will show, and people will notice.

Do all of these, and good news will surely arrive!

What do you do to boost the volume of good news that flows your way? 


Dialing 8 Project

Consider joining the Dialing 8 Project! A forum for learning, sharing & getting the most out of your social media efforts for your small business.

Free images from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Fortune Cookie Friday Posts, Networking and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
22 May 2012
2 Comments

United We Stand: Small Business Week and the Solopreneur

It’s Small Business Week! What better time to reflect on the many wonderful aspects of being a solopreneur and to offer Face-to-face networkinginsight to people who are just now setting out on their own?

Now in my third year of running my freelance writing business, when I look back on all that I’ve learned along the way, one particular fundamental jumps out as the #1 piece of advice to give to new solopreneurs:

Take the initiative, time and effort to build face-to-face relationships with other solopreneurs and small business professionals.

Although you’re running a solo business, you can’t afford to be a loner. Businesses are built on starting – and developing – relationships. As a solopreneur, it can be tempting (and maybe comforting) to hide away in your home office and interact with prospects and peers solely via electronic means. Resist that temptation! Put a face to your name, and whenever possible, seize opportunities to meet potential clients and colleagues in person.

Why?

  • Learn best practices from your peers. Believe it or not, you will probably find that even your competitors will be relatively open about sharing tips and brainstorming on how to overcome challenges.
  • Extend your referral network. The more business professionals who know and trust you, the better your chances will be to have prospective clients directed your way.
  • Discover new resources in your community. Through mixing and mingling, you might very well find other businesses that provide services to help you run your business more efficiently or that can add value to your offerings through partnering to provide complementary services to your clients.

How to get started

  • This week, there are special networking opportunities all over the nation celebrating Small Business Week. Why not find one local to you and break the ice with other solopreneurs and small business owners.
  • Reach out and invite a LinkedIn connection out for coffee.
  • Join your local chamber of commerce and become a regular at their networking events. Most are likely included in the price of your membership.
  • Volunteer your time and talents to a business-focused organization in your community. Main Street organizations, chambers of commerce, merchants’ associations, SCORE chapters and other local nonprofits provide connections with other business owners AND they offer opportunities for professional development as well.

During this Small Business Week, make an effort to meet face-to-face with other professionals in your locale. And, where geography doesn’t cooperate, take a few minutes to make a few phone calls to supportive connections whom you’ve had strong rapport with via email and social media. That little bit of time can generate a lot of good will – and you just might enjoy it more than you expect!

 

How do you build and strengthen connections with your peers and prospects? What Small Business Week networking events are you attending?


Dialing 8 Project

Consider joining the Dialing 8 Project! A forum for learning, sharing & getting the most out of your social media efforts for your small business.

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Networking and tagged , , , , , , ,

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