Small business

Are You Waiting for Things to Happen?

As entrepreneurs, so often we can bump up against obstacles in our businesses. I certainly know I have. We think we don’t have the time, the money, the skills, the experience, the energy, the perfect marketing message, website, etc.

Successful entrepreneurs don’t let obstacles get in their way. They find a way to make things happen. They figure out what they need to do, how to get the resources to do it, and take massive action.

If you are sitting around waiting for the economy to get better, or for your website to get done, or your business cards to get printed, before you feel you can get out there in a big way, then you need to rethink your strategy.

Here are several things to consider, when obstacles get in your way:

1-Break your challenge down into smaller “bite-size” pieces.

Sometimes we look at our obstacles and they just seem too overwhelming that we don’t even know where to start. Breaking them down into smaller chunks, then sequencing them in a logical order can help get you moving and make it all seem more doable.

2-Look for the unexpected resources around you

I recently had a challenge in my business that had me stuck, and really wasn’t sure where to turn. It finally occurred to me, after unsuccessfully talking with others about it, that my daily accountability partner was the person to help me out of my rut. Take a look around you and see where there might be some unexpected resources. Who haven’t you considered before to help or guide you in your business?

3-Instead of saying to yourself, “I can’t afford this”, ask yourself, “HOW can I afford this”.

I’m still practicing this one for myself, and am finding that a simple shift in mindset has been very helpful. Particularly when we are starting out in our businesses, we don’t always have the money to invest in everything we want. But it’s amazing how creative one can get when you ask yourself, “How can I afford such and such”. You might come up with things you never thought about, to raise the cash to pay for something in your business!

Remember, successful entrepreneurs find a way to overcome their obstacles, they don’t give up, and they have made the commitment to keep at it-no matter what!

Mandy works with talented, bright, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own.

Sign up for her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” at www.mandyschumaker.com. Or contact her at 207-653-6977

Charge What You’re Worth

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It’s very typical for me to get my clients to raise their rates within our first few months of working together. So often when we are first starting out in our businesses, we don’t want to be accused of being “too expensive.” And, particularly since we’ve just started out, we don’t feel comfortable pricing ourselves at too high of a rate, even when we might have years of experience and training in our field. We worry that we might lose business or at least lose the opportunity, if we charge too much.

For example, one of my clients has recently started an IT services company for small businesses. She has nearly twenty years experience in the IT business, including global experience. When we had a conversation about what she was charging for pricing, she admitted she had severely underpriced her first few jobs, because she was afraid she might not have gotten the business if she hadn’t.

These feelings are normal for new business owners, and it’s not unusual to under price one’s services, particularly at the beginning. But it’s really important NOT to do this for several reasons.

1. If you are really good at what you do, you don’t need to become a commodity with your gifts and skills. Figure out what you’re worth – set your prices and sell the value and results you bring to your clients. If someone is in pain, or really struggling, and you can fix that, he or she won’t necessarily care what you are charging – as long as you relieve their pain. It’s about the value, not the price.

2. If you undervalue your services with rates that are too low, you will forever be angry with yourself (and eventually with your client). A client may need some extra attention from you one of these days and you don’t want to end up being resentful that they aren’t paying you enough now, so how could you possibly give them more!

3. Make sure you have some sense of what your competitors are charging. Chances are, you will find a fairly wide range of pricing. Think about your experience, what you bring to your clients, your gifts and skills, then price yourself accordingly after taking in all that information. I like to tell my clients, set your price – then raise it 25% — then you will probably be in the ballpark of what you’re worth.

When people ask you right off the bat what you charge, or call out of the blue wanting to know your prices, you can be sure that these are not your ideal clients. These are people who are price shopping. You do not want or need to get into that. You want clients who can see the gifts, value and results you bring to the relationship, and are confident you are just the person to help them!

If you are wondering about your pricing – if you are charging too little, too much or the right amount for your services – I would be happy to have a quick chat with you to help you determine if you are in the right place. Feel free to give me a call at 207-653-6977, or contact me at mandy@mandyschumaker.com

Mandy works with talented, bright, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own.

Sign up for her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” at www.mandyschumaker.com. Or contact her at 207-653-6977

How to Find Your Ideal Client

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It’s a common struggle for entrepreneurs: getting really clear on who their ideal client is. When you ask entrepreneurs who their ideal clients are, they may say, “well, it’s this group and that group and a little of some other group,” Sometimes they can’t really tell you.

It’s so important to know who your ideal client is for several reasons:

1-You need to develop marketing messages that speak directly to your ideal group, so you can “pull” in more of your ideal client type.

2-It’s impossible to market to everyone. Trying to attract everyone through your marketing messages will only create unclear messages for anyone who reads them. You don’t need everyone – you just need your ideal client type. That requires a niche message, not an “everybody” message.

3-Being really clear on your ideal client type makes it easier for other people to send referrals your way. If you are trying to market to two or three different client types, it can be very difficult for others to really understand who you serve. That makes it hard for them to truly understand who to refer to you.

One way to really hone in on your ideal client type is to make a list of all your clients, going back one or two years. Then grade them with an A, B, C, D, F. Your A’s will be the ones with whom you love working. They are getting great results, and they refer others to you. Your D’s and F’s are those who, when you look at your appointment book and see their name, that feeling of dread comes over you again.

Next, you want to look at the things the A’s and B’s have in common. What are their common personality traits, problems, obstacles and challenges? The next step is to interview some of your A and B clients to find out from them what they were experiencing before they worked with you, and the results they received after working with you.

Look for the common words and phrases they use. Write down verbatim their answers to your questions. In order for you to attract more A’s and B’s into your business, you want to use the language that they use to describe how you helped them.

Do yourself (and your business) a favor and stop trying to serve everyone, or even several client types. Try to narrow your focus to one or two ideal client types and see what a tremendous difference it can make it attracting new clients to your business.

Mandy works with talented, bright, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. And who would like to overcome their fear of sales, change their mindset, increase their self-confidence, and create a step-by-step strategy for taking their business to the next level. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. Mandy offers one-on-one coaching and consulting, as well as facilitates workshops and teleclasses and speaks on a variety of topics.

Get a copy of her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” at www.mandyschumaker.com. Or contact her at 207-653-6977

5 Best Cold Calling Tips EVER!

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I once asked a training class to describe how they felt when I said the words, “cold calling.” I got the typical answers, “scary,” “hate it,” “don’t do it,” “necessary evil.” But interesting enough there were a couple of entrepreneurs in the room who had a different take on cold calling. Their answers were, “possibilities,” “helping others,” “opportunity to make things happen.”

Cold calling, just like selling, is how you see it and 90% of your success at it is in your mindset. If you believe it’s hard, scary, difficult, no fun, and challenging – that’s what it’s going to be for you. But if you can shift your mindset to see how it can be full of possibilities, reaching out to help others and an opportunity to grow, then that’s what it’s going to be for you and you will have a lot more success at it.

Cold calling is necessary to grow your business, particularly in the first few years of starting your business. But it certainly doesn’t have to be seen as a pressure-ridden nuisance by your you or your prospective clients.

Here are five great tips that can help you become more effective around cold calling:

1. Shift your mindset away from “making the sale” towards whether there is a “fit” or not.

Too often when we call prospective clients, even on the first call, we are trying to sell them, even before we’ve determined whether or not they are an ideal client. If your intention on the call is to get to know the person better and to determine whether or not you can help them, or even want to work with them, you will be far more likely to be successful. You’ll know if you want to begin to enter into a deeper relationship with the prospect, or you’ll figure out quickly that they are not the client for you.

2. Be a helper, not a pitcher

Understand where your prospective client is struggling, what is keeping them up at night, and how can you help solve their problems. Too often, I see people begin the calls talking about all the features their product or service offers, well before they have a good understanding of the potential client’s problem!

3. Focus on the beginning, not the end

You are probably not going to close the sale on a cold call. It’s not totally impossible, but it’s not likely. That’s okay, so get that out of your mind and stop trying so hard. Be real. Be authentic, and think about slowly building a relationship with the client that could last a lifetime. Creating trust with your prospect should be your initial goal, not making the sale.

4. Stop chasing prospects, start solving problems

This is a mindset. You are not chasing people; you are reaching out to people who may have a problem that you can solve. It’s like that quote from motivational speaker Bob Proctor, “Sales is not something you do TO someone, it’s something you do FOR someone.” Don’t think of it as “chasing” a prospect. You have a product or service that could change someone’s life, end a struggle, help them make more money, save money, or save time. If you aren’t reaching out to people and letting them know what you have to offer, they may continue to go without solutions to their problems. You don’t want to be responsible for that, do you??

5. Connect with your prospects

Make sure you fully understand your prospects problems, so that they feel you get what they need. Think about beginning a long-term relationship with them. Drop the “sales speak” and relate to them in a natural, authentic way that makes a genuine connection. Cold calling is the only way to increase your business. You must let people know about you and your products or services. You have to get them to trust you to help them solve their problems.

If you can learn to incorporate these five strategies into your mindset about cold calling, you will quickly increase your number of solid prospects and start to build the long-term client relationships that will fuel the growth of your business.

Mandy works with talented, bright, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. And who would like to overcome their fear of sales, change their mindset, increase their self-confidence, and create a step-by-step strategy for taking their business to the next level. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. Mandy offers one-on-one coaching and consulting, as well as facilitates workshops and teleclasses and speaks on a variety of topics.

Get a copy of her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” at www.mandyschumaker.com. Or contact her at 207-653-6977

What Three Things Did You Do Today To Generate More Income?

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So, how did you answer this question? Were there three things you specifically did today that were income generating activities? So often as entrepreneurs we get pulled in many directions and pulled away from the activities that will make us money!

If you want to make more money in your business, you must focus your time –all of it – on actions that have a direct impact helping your business grow.

In my experience in working with entrepreneurs who don’t have enough business I see two things:

1. They let non-revenue generating activities take up their whole day or week.

Solution: Delegate, outsource, automate or systematize everything that is NOT a revenue generating activity –EVERYTHING! This may not be possible for awhile, but you need to get creative about moving in this direction. Are you spending time on your bookkeeping, or administrative tasks? Perhaps it’s time to hire a bookkeeper or a virtual assistant.

2. Because their business is not yet full of clients, they fill the time during working hours with other things: doing errands, social media, web surfing, having lunch with friends, doing things around the house, etc.

Solution: You need to set up a weekly and daily schedule. What days will you be seeing clients? Which day will be your business development day? (Yes, a whole day devoted to business development!) If you have a relatively new business and aren’t yet full with clients, you MUST be doing additional marketing and networking on those days, not taking the time off or running personal errands!

ASSIGNMENT: Answer the following questions:

What are your revenue generating activities?
What are the things you will consider delegating so you have more time to market?

Then every night before you leave your office or turn off your computer, make a list of the three things you will do tomorrow that will generate more income for your business?

Trust me on this, do three things every day to generate more income and you will see results.

Mandy works with talented, bright, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. And who would like to overcome their fear of sales, change their mindset, increase their self-confidence, and create a step-by-step strategy for taking their business to the next level. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. Mandy offers one-on-one coaching and consulting, as well as facilitates workshops and teleclasses and speaks on a variety of topics.

Get a copy of her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” at www.mandyschumaker.com. Or contact her at 207-653-6977

I’ve turned into one of those…

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“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship”–Benjamin Franklin

I’ve turned into one of those…a cheapskate! At the expense of perhaps making a fool of myself, I’m going to be totally transparent about a decision I made in my business, which has cost me money. As a business coach and mindset mentor, I help people think and play bigger, get more clients and make more money. I ask them to upgrade their life everyday, live it “as if” right now, buy the “best in class”.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t suggest that my clients spend carelessly, but I do encourage them to invest in their businesses and not to scrimp on the resources they need. Indulge yourself whenever you can, because it is about being in a mindset of abundance versus one of scarcity that brings you what you want.

This week however, I realized I was not “walking the talk” 100% of the time, so I’m here to come clean with you. Nearly two years ago, I needed a new website for my business. I met with several experienced local web design firms. But along the way, I also met someone who had used a – let’s just say more economical– web designer from out of state. And that’s the route I chose.

To make a long story short, what I thought I had received from this designer in terms of the ability to manage the site myself and to have effective search engine optimization (SEO) – the ability to get found on the web – hadn’t happened at all.

And to make matters worse, as my virtual assistant made changes to my site over the past year or so, I realized that I had virtually no keywords listed, so my name was not coming up when people were looking for a business coach. Ouch, ouch and ouch!

I am very committed to marketing my business, and spend long hours on it every week trying to drive people to my website. But because I was trying to save a few pennies, I found myself with none of the important pieces in place on my website to help people find me.

So the lesson I’ve learned is to listen to myself and the words I impart to my clients on a weekly basis:

“Think bigger, don’t play small. Invest in your business. Buy the resources you need to successfully run your business, and don’t scrimp. Because it’s about being in a place of abundance – not scarcity – that brings you what you want!”

Mandy works with talented, bright, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. And who would like to overcome their fear of sales, change their mindset, increase their self-confidence, and create a step-by-step strategy for taking their business to the next level. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. Mandy offers one-on-one coaching and consulting, as well as facilitates workshops and teleclasses and speaks on a variety of topics.

Get a copy of her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” at www.mandyschumaker.com. Or contact her at 207-653-6977

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