Your Outsource Resource

By: Maria Elena Duron

“Small business” doesn’t mean “small-minded,” especially when it comes to the tasks that need to be completed to be successful and focus on those areas that provide high reward. Outsourcing is a great resource to your business. Yet, it can also be a great expense if not managed correctly.

Here are some tips to help you manage your virtual resources:

1. Secure a system to answer your phone and cell phone. Phone calls can be a huge interruption to your day. That does not mean that you should not be accessible to your clients and prospects, but it does mean that there is a need to manage that connection. Set hours and times when you’ll return the call. On the outgoing voice message, make sure you state when you return phone calls. When you leave messages, remember to state the number to reach you at and the time you’re available. Messages can be productive and helpful in managing your time to focus on those high profit areas. My favorite systems include: GotVMail and RingCentral. To leave messages, without having to speak to someone directly and consume valuable time, consider using PostCalls.com or Slydial.com

2. Hire a virtual assistant or assistants! I’ve worked with several virtual assistants, and I’ve found that one size does not fit all. In utilizing virtual resources, it’s time to “think out of the box” and break down what specific tasks do not need to be handled by you. This is the toughest part since so many small business owners are used to totally controlling the process. It is so important to separate out your tasks. Look at what are your most profitable activities and make sure they are ones that you enjoy! Whatever you don’t enjoy or whatever doesn’t directly drive the bottom-line, outsource to someone else. There are freelancers who will surf the internet for you, data enter, transcribe, screen phone calls, return calls, schedule appointments, write blog posts for you – even Twitter for you! Keep in mind – you can have a team of virtual assistants – not just one. In fact, I have fifteen on my team!

Maria Elena Duron is Chief Buzz Agent™ and an Inspiring Identity Coach with Buzz to Bucks. The agency focuses on visibility, credibility and profitability for individuals, professionals and small businesses with programs designed to Re-Invent, Rejuvenate and Re-Brand. To claim your FREE gift, a Crafting Your Own Brand Intro Toolkit, visit her site www.buzz2bucks.com .

Market Yourself With No Money

By: Brenda Nixon, M.A.

Whether a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker, you must promote your business; it’s your survival. We’ve heard, "It takes money to make money," but how do you market a product or service with no cash? If you’re starting a small or home-based business, try these tips:

Use your Voice. Announce to friends, neighbors, relatives, internet social networks and former coworkers what you do. Tell them of your product or service even if they’re not your target client. I utilize the free social networks on facebook and twitter to alert others to my speaking services or upcoming booksignings. Add a promotional line to your fax cover sheet, E-mails, or envelopes. I include "Brenda Nixon, your speaker for family events" on my fax cover sheets. My E-mail signature line always has some message about upcoming books or free discipline tips on my website.

Give Away. It’s a paradox; to stimulate income you must give away. We recognize this in supermarket samples and manufacturer coupons. If your business is making candles, donate one to be an event’s door prize. If you’re developing your massage therapy business, donate a gift certificate for a free massage to a health fair.

Move Outside. Get out of your comfort zone and involved with civic organizations, university events, or church groups that are unfamiliar to you. Join associations that force you to mingle with new people.

Do the Obvious. Get business cards, stationary, and laptop. These tax-deductible items make you feel professional. If you don’t have the revenue for business cards try www.vistaprint.com, where cards are free.

Follow Through. After contacting a prospect, follow up with a "Thanks for your time" card. Then, allow a reasonable period to pass and reconnect with her for a purchasing decision. Also, send periodic thanks to current customers. Does this courtesy translate into smart marketing? You decide. Would you rehire the speaker who sends you a note of gratitude and offers to serve you again or the one who took the check and ran?

Be Patiently Persistence. I often read this Shakespeare quote taped to my computer, "Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast." When discouraged because my E-mails, calls, or contracts aren’t returned, I read his counsel. It gives me the tenacity to keep trying.

Much of entrepreneurial promotion is creative energy and practice. Both of these are affordable.

©Copyright 2008, Brenda Nixon.

Brenda Nixon partners with organizations to attract and empower parents. She is a popular keynote speaker on parenting/family issues and the author of The Birth to Five Book (Revell). More on her bio and book are at: www.BrendaNixon.com.

The Power of Personal Branding to your Business

By: Natalie Jobity

What is it about Oprah, Suzie Orman, Katie Couric and Martha Stewart that make them household names worldwide? It’s the effectiveness of their strong personal brands! You are your own walking billboard, which markets and conveys information about the value of your business’s brand.

At the very heart of your brand message is you—the personal manifestation of your business’s brand. What brand image are you conveying by your visual presentation of your brand? Getting clear on this helps you develop a Unique Value Proposition that positions you for business success.

Your personal brand includes your image and marketing but it is also hinges upon establishing a reputation for yourself, showcasing what differentiates you from your peers, and leaving a lasting and unforgettable impression.

Every element or aspect of your personal brand needs to communicate your overall brand message.

This includes:
· Your image
· The way you communicate
· Your marketing materials
· The way you relate to people (approachability, likeability, trustworthiness etc.)
· The level/type of service you offer
· Your business’s mission and vision
· Your online identity (website, e-newsletters, blogs, etc.)

An effective personal brand helps you:
· Establish yourself as an expert
· Reinforce a clear and powerful ‘business’ brand message
· Market your services
· Establish credibility
· Engender trust and loyalty with your clients
· Differentiate your business
· Exert your ‘influence’ (your point of view, message, etc.) with those you interact with

Get clear on your brand promise. Think about what your target market needs and expects from you. How do you deliver against that in a way that delights them? How do you want your customers/clients to experience your brand? What images does your brand personify? Are your marketing materials and your own appearance congruent with this image?

Examine your personal brand in these key areas. Is it…
· Memorable?
· Well differentiated?
· Original?
· Sustainable?
· Credible/Authentic?
· Influential?
· Relevant?

All these areas need to be successfully conveyed otherwise your personal brand will be ineffective or non-existent. You must be very clear on who you are, what you do, and what makes you the best provider of your product/service to your clients. A strong, authentic and successful personal brand is easily identifiable and tangibly felt. This is why we unequivocally equate Oprah with generosity, compassion, positivity and personal enrichment. Her mantra, ‘live your best life’ and her look (bright, cheerful, happy colors/ soft, feminine silhouettes), reinforce these brand attributes.

Developing a strong personal brand takes effort, focus and tenacity. Play to your strengths. Take the time to build a strong foundation for your personal brand. Once established, make every effort to reinforce its message in everything you say and do. Remember that every interaction a person has with you is an opportunity to build or undermine your brand message and strength.
Re-examine your personal brand against the list of metrics above. I’m sure you have some work to do to refine and tweak your personal brand strategy.

Copyright Élan Image Management

Natalie Jobity, a wardrobe/ image consultant and President of Élan Image Management LLC, an image consulting firm, coaches women on how to look their best by helping them discover, define and project their own unique signature style, personal brand and an image that positions them for success. Visit her website and blog at www.ElanImageManagement.com

Success is in the Work You Love

By: Jennifer Goode

How many hours in the day do you spend working? If you're working for yourself, how many more hours did you just add to your day?

The hours we spend working should be dedicated to doing something we enjoy. We should be loving the work that we do every day because there is so much of it we have to do in a lifetime. It's hard enough to manage, organize, coordinate, plan, market, follow-up, reach out and brainstorm new angles. We don't need to add that nagging line of thought that sounds something like "is this really what I want to do?". There are so many more opportunities for success when we truly love what we are doing.

There will always be tasks we don't love, or even like for that matter. I greatly dislike billing and collections. Others may dislike the creative tasks I thoroughly enjoy. Instead of fighting these tasks, which usually lead to procrastinating or dragging our feet to finish, we should be finding helpful resources and use them to our advantage. For example, instead of managing the books and arguing with the numbers every month, find a bookkeeper, accountant or even software to take on the bulk of the task.

To build up these resources attend various events such as industry specific conventions. Get involved not just for the marketing or exposure value of your own business. Attend these events to meet people and companies with services and skills complimentary to your own. Swapping skills can be a fantastic way to grow a business while building a strong network of collaborators. When you work toward helping others while they help you, success is often a natural result.

Don't wait for the ideas to come to you, create them from what you already love!

Whether you are thinking about building a business or you are looking for new angles to grow, you can begin to build your business into something you love by merely knowing what you love. Think about what you enjoy most. What do you spend most your time doing (or wishing you had time to do)? What are your favorite hobbies, sports or traveling locations? Think about what things, foods, places and activities you prefer - and then think about why. These preferences are a great starting point for building foundations to support successful business ideas. Tie them into your business concept and make them work for you.

It's so much easier to share, spread the word and be proud of our accomplishments when we are truly excited about path we are on. There are a million good ideas - so reach deep down and pull out your favorites; find one you'd be happy to wear on your forehead. This is the idea you are mostly likely to put the most effort into. Grasp it, hold it tight and then run full steam ahead.

When you love what you do, eventually what you do will love you right back.

Jennifer Goode is a Colorado native, mother of 3 and the "doodler in charge" of JGoode Designs. http://www.JGoodeDesigns.com - Inspiring Smiles Every Day

Meet with Everyone

By: Kris Appel

One of the things I started doing early on was meeting with everyone who asked to meet with me, or who was referred to me by someone I trusted. At first I did it because I needed advice so desperately, but soon I realized that there were valuable contacts among all these lunches and coffee dates. (Side note: as a poor entrepreneur watching every penny, I didn't really mind if someone wanted to buy me breakfast or lunch.)

And I always make it rule to ask for something from everyone I met. I don't have much time for socializing, each meeting has to have a purpose. From most people I ask for a piece of advice, or the name and number of another contact they mentioned that might be worth pursuing. From some people I ask for reports, scientific articles, market data, etc. that I couldn't otherwise get without paying for it. From others I ask for information about competitors and their sales figures and product development efforts.

Still others turned out to be real gems. I had a few breakfast meetings with a PR specialist someone had introduced me to, and he took an interest in my business. By our third meeting, he offered to make a sizable investment in my company in the form of PR and marketing services. And since his firm specializes in my field, that investment has made a significant impact on my company. Two other people I was casually introduced to are now serving on my Board of Directors.

Sure, some meetings result in nothing, no new information or advice. But the majority have been valuable in some small way, and I highly recommend it as a strategy for gaining critical supporters, insightful advice, and valuable business intelligence.

Posted to the Average Entrepreneur Blog on July 29, 2008. www.averageentrepreneur.blogspot.com

After a 17-year career in the federal government, Kris Appel left in 2006 to start Encore Path, a medical device company. Her first product, for stroke rehabilitation, will be released later this year. She can be reached at kris@encorepath.com.

Break Through! 8 Ways to Kick-Start Your Creativity

By: Sharon Reus

So if you're trying to solve a problem creatively and you're stumped, what do you do? These are a few of my favorite techniques.

1. Define the problem
The more specific your problem statement, the more likely you are to solve it quickly and cleanly. Define your problem as a question relating to the outcome you're trying to achieve. For example: "How can I create a word-of-mouth campaign that will bring additional traffic to my web site?”

2. Get random
Random inspiration is one of my favorite kick-start methods. Get three magazines you’ve never looked at. Scan through them, including the ads. Look for things that might spark an answer for your creative challenge.

3. Learn something new
This doesn't have to take weeks, like attending a class at the community college. You can do this right now at your computer. Pick an interesting topic you don't know much about. Google it... and follow the links where they lead you. Clear out some cobwebs by turning your brain onto something entirely new.

4. Steal something
I’m not talking full-on plagiarism here. Chances are, the problem you're trying to solve has already been solved by someone else. Can you find examples? Sometimes seeing someone else’s solutions can inspire you.

5. Turn it upside down
Try turning your normal process upside down, backwards or inside out to get different results. If you're a writer, and you usually work from an outline, try starting with your first sentence or your last paragraph. If you're a designer, and you usually work in Illustrator or Photoshop, grab a pencil and start sketching. Switch things up and let your brain function differently for a while.

6. Walk away
Step back from your problem, but use the time away to allow your subconscious mind to help you out. Try rote tasks that don't involve reading, watching TV or web surfing... Dishwashing, cooking or baking, and number puzzles like Sudoku all allow your brain to work in the background.

7. Capture it
It's a simple thing, but do you have someplace where you can write down ideas no matter where or when you think of them… and then find them again? Use a tiny notebook, and then at least once a week download all the information into usable bits, filing them as action or reference items.

8. Talk it out
Don't try to work in a vacuum. Just explaining your problem to someone else can help you clarify it in your mind. And doing this on a regular basis with different people helps you stay connected to other perspectives too.

Sharon Reus is a coach and consultant who helps entrepreneurs and others reach their creative potential through one-on-one coaching, workshops and training. Visit her blog at http://insightintoaction.wordpress.com

Bikes to Biz: “Dr. Brand at Your Door”

By: Andrea L. Brand, MD

Riding bicycles, swimming, writing and doctoring – these are my passions. How do I combine them into a business? The answer, I discovered, is outside my front door.

I moved to Longboat Key, Florida, an island off the west coast of Florida, after being downsized out of my job as a salaried physician in a hospital owned practice.

After 25 plus years in traditional office based, high volume medical practice, I was ready to pursue a dream: create a practice that allowed me to pedal to work, medical bag in tow, see a smaller number of patients, spending more time with each person. One look at our new surroundings – a twelve-mile long island with one main street down the center and a lone traffic light on the southern tip convinced me that I could start a mobile house call practice here. Here’s how it works:

Low overhead and no debt form the base of my model. My business plan is a solo show: no employees, office, or billing. I answer the phone myself, and offer open access (same day service) with medical care delivered in the comfort and privacy of the patient’s home. I collect fees at the time of service, thereby avoiding the need for billing software and labor intensive submissions to insurance. Instead, I provide patients with the paperwork they need to submit claims to insurance for reimbursement.

I met my first house call patient while riding my bike. She was jogging in the opposite direction when she recognized me and called out, “Stop. I need you to look at my toe. When are you starting your new practice?”

“Now,” I answered. I’ll be at your house in an hour.”

News of my practice spread quickly, and in 2005, I was named Rookie Small Businessperson of the Year” by the Chamber of Commerce. I have since published articles in national medical journals and mentored several physicians and nurse practitioners across the county in starting house call practices.

My neighbors wave as I pass by on my bicycle or in my convertible, and I swim with several patients and friends in the Gulf on Sundays. “Dr. Brand at You Door” is entered in the 2008 Top 100 Businesses competition sponsored by startupnation.com.

Please visit my website at http://www.drbrandatyourdoor.com/

Creating my practice was half of the dream. The other was tracing my emotional journeys in a book, “Daddy: the search for my father,” which I published in 2008. I reveal my transition from lost little girl to physician, from doubt to belief.

I encourage everyone with a dream to go for it, as I believe each of us has a gift that is unique, to be shared with other

Andrea l. Brand, MD
Dr. Brand at Your Door

Experiential Marketing: Lead the Way in Branding & Sales!

By: Beth Butler

Many of us are desperately trying to stand out from among the crowds. We try to craftily create ads that catch our target market’s attention and beat our competitor’s ads creating better results. Read here about the leading trend in marketing – experiential marketing that engages and entertains your target audience.

I am right there with you – executing daily my “To Do List” that consists of what I feel will get my product line the attention it deserves and so desperately needs. We all churn away at the endless list of things that we hope and, often times feel certain, will drive our companies to that next level and beyond. And yet, do you ever find yourself stopping in the middle of the day and asking yourself, “What can I do to shake this up some?” Feeling perhaps that the results aren’t quite what you were hoping for?

More than three years ago I paid some pretty pennies for one-on-one coaching with a well known contributing writer for Entrepreneur Magazine who enlightened me to the ways of experiential marketing. First of all, many of you might be phonetically stumbling over how to even SAY the word, much less execute it! Let’s use the following, very basic pronunciation key (compliments of yours truly, an elementary school teacher forever at heart!): ek-spear-ee-en-shuhl. Now please note. You will not find that pronunciation guide in Webster’s! But it works! Because if you are going to use experiential marketing, you need to know how to say it!

I implemented this type of marketing into the plan for my business, and we have experienced exponential growth every one of the six years we have sold our products. The simplicity of why and how experiential marketing works is the key to making it possible for each and every one of us to use it right away. It offers the consumer engaging, entertaining and interactive experiences with your product which helps create a stronger relationship with the consumer.

In a simple step-by-step process you and your team create a plan to bring the experience of your product to your target market. You then activate the plan by finding the venue where you will demonstrate and bring your product to life for your potential consumer along with conceptualizing how you will make the demonstration interactive. Once there at the time of the actual experience, you engage the consumers in attendance by allowing them to try, to sample, to hear, to play with (you get the idea!) your product. Once back in your office you measure the results to check your return on investment.

Call it what you will – some refer to it as guerilla marketing, some say it is out-of-the-box marketing, and many of us refer to it as experiential marketing. The bottom line is it improves your bottom line! And isn’t that what we all are searching for? Starbucks, Harley-Davidson, Kraft Foods, T-Mobile USA and many others use it regularly to connect with their consumers; you should too!

Not sold on this idea yet? Check out the psychology associated with the success of experiential marketing which reflects a right brain bias as it aims to fulfill a consumer’s desire to experience comfort and pleasure. Research suggests that this type of interactive marketing creates a stronger relationship with the consumer by delivering a deep and connected meaning which is instrumental in brand-building. Contrast this with traditional product-centric marketing that many of us still use, and you will note that it reflects a left brain bias because that style seeks to persuade a consumer to buy your brand over a competitor’s. Consumers buy more often based on emotion than on rational thinking.

Think about your own buying patterns and how often that statement is true…have you not found yourself more often buying things because of the connection you have with the product, the feeling it creates within you once you see the packaging or smell the scent of it or hear the sound it creates or feel the texture of its fabric? Just imagine allowing several hundred of your potential consumers experience your product with you right there to share your passion about the product and the story behind it. Now you are most likely asking, “Where do I find those hundreds of people?”

Experiential marketing can start off for you as simply as calling a local moms’ group and asking to share part of your morning with them. Sure, it might be only fifteen or so families represented, but it is a great way to get your feet wet. Once there you demonstrate your fun product, allow the moms and their children to experience it (if applicable), and share your true story of how this product came to life and how cool it is. As you become more and more comfortable with the live demonstrations and fielding all of the questions, the sky is the limit!

Local craft fairs, expos and associations that deal directly with your target market are excellent ways to build your audience numbers. Offer to speak at these events for free where in turn you get to set up a booth or a trade table with your terrific product front and center for people to interact with. The speaking aspect of these types of venues increases your visibility as an expert in your field. Now is not the time to be shy! You believe in your product, and you are the best one to demonstrate to others just how necessary it is to have it!

Be innovative, make your target market smile while in your presence, and be certain that human interaction takes place. If you remember to do those three things – things that used to be considered alternative approaches for good marketing – you will blaze a trail to higher product sales!

Beth Butler, CEO of The Boca Beth Program www.bocabeth.com