Archives for March 2014
Your Hobby Morphed Into a Business to Run
What Inspires You as a Small Business Owner? Is it the same as why you started your business? Every day I see small business owners overcome Herculean struggles and challenges in their work. They started their business with a talent that relates to a craft, hobby or job, and now it's a business that they have to work in. At some point, all small business owners will go through struggles related to motivation and inspiration. My job is to rekindle the flame of passion that the business side of their company stole from them.
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There are many ways that I can help owners restore their passion for their work, but the first step is to figure out what your true areas of inspiration are. Here are some common sources of inspiration. Do any of these sound like you?
- Creating a vision. Some people are drawn to big picture ideas. They are dreamers, and their dreams ignite their entrepreneurial spark. When inspiration becomes a struggle, it's important to try to find the original vision and spark that got you excited enough to start your business in the first place. Also, when it comes to visions and dream, I love a quote I recently saw on my Facebook feed. “Action + No-Vision = Chaos. No-Action + Vision = A Daydream”.
- Goals. Goal-oriented people are driven by checking items off their list of milestones and achievements. A lack of inspiration could be caused by a lack of progress on goals. A good way to solve this is by setting smaller, more manageable goals to act as stepping stones toward larger ones. It becomes much easier to get a tangible grasp on your progress using this method. Reward yourself for those risks you took. Applaud yourself for hitting targets on the way to your ultimate goal.
- Impulsiveness. Many business owners get bogged down in the routines of their work and feel that they don't have the type of freedom they had imagined when they started the business. Be creative and find new ways to accomplish your everyday tasks, or delegate them to employees. Don't forget that impulsive moves can in a business can often be the result of making decision on emotion. As Ben Ruby wisely pointed out to me decades ago, emotion plays no role in a business decision and once you learn to remove emotion from the equation, you'll become more profitable.
- Other people. All of us have people that we look up to. Consider reading about other successful innovators, leaders and entrepreneurs who have faced significant obstacles yet overcame them in their own way. No obstacle is too big, and their stories can help to give you back your motivation. Also, look to your spheres of influence for guidance and support. Find those affordable resources that compliment your skill sets. This will keep your heart in what you love to do most.
- Success. We all measure success in different ways. If you feel like you are getting sucked into a pattern of your daily work and aren't seeing the kind of success you had imagined when you started on the business, be sure to regularly take some moments to reflect on what you have achieved. This offers some perspective into how far you have truly come already as a small business owner. Regularly document what your successes have been – Too often we concentrate solely on our failures and short-comings.
I love the spirit and conviction of the small business owner. You truly are the backbone of our nations economy, let alone the spirit that drives then next entrepreneur to ‘take-you-out'. I am happy to discuss this topic more with any small business owner who struggles with inspiration. Feel free to contact me today!
Thomas von Ahn | Chief Elephant Slayer | Viral Solutions LLC
Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100’s of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.
What Makes for a Niche in the Small Business World?
As a small business owner, you probably are pretty well aware that it is important to get your business into a niche to narrow down your marketing focus. However, you might not know exactly how narrow your focus needs to be. One of the most common mistakes that small business owners make as they try to get into a specific niche is that they think they're being specific enough, when they're still marketing toward a hundred million people. One-third of the US population is not a niche market!
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Here's a tip that should help you get started: the number one question that every true small business owner should be able to answer is, “How would you describe your perfect prospective target customer's characteristics?” Many business owners will answer this question in a way that is far too vague. Sure, you can look at basic demographics like age, gender, location and more, but you need to delve even deeper.
Here are some additional questions that you should consider as you try to find your niche:
1. What is the role of your prospective customer?
Is your customer a business professional, a blue collar employee or a stay-at-home mom? Come up with a rigid definition. Are they a consultant, retailer or licensed professional? You should be able to come up with at least seven qualifiers. Whatever role your customer fits in will have a significant impact on your marketing campaign. It's much easier to determine your tactics when you can define exactly who it is that your relish a business relationship with.
2. What is your perfect customer's economic sector?
Are you marketing toward people in the middle class, or are you in the luxury, upper-class market? Unfortunately, you can't have it both ways, so you need to narrow down your focus. Are they manufacturers, transporters or health care professionals? What economic sector do they focus on?
3. What are your perfect customer's core values?
With core values, you may also take political alignment into account. Products geared toward generally liberal consumers will hit on different core values than those geared toward generally conservative consumers. These values will have a significant impact on how you devise your marketing campaign. Make sure your perfect prospective customer has similar core values. Whether these are political, moral, ethical, spiritual or – whatever – it is relevant when defining your target. Core values that do not align with yours can cause problems for your support staff and sales team.
4. What are the problems that your perfect customer faces?
Your product or service should solve a problem that a specific niche faces. But what is that problem, and does it align with the niche that you are hoping to market to? When you begin to list these pain points, do not list them from your perspective. Put yourself in your perfect prospective customer's shoes. Think of the benefits you offer, not the features of your product or service. Your prospective customer cares about themselves, about their problems, about finding a solutions that fits their objectives – profitably!
5. What brands are already catering toward your perfect customer?
Obviously the fewer the better, but there are likely to be at least a couple brands that have some sort of contact with your perfect customer. What needs are those brands still not meeting, and how can you deliver on those needs? What are your competitor's weaknesses that you can beat them with? The only time this is a problem is when you are selling what may be considered a commodity. That's how you work yourself into the niche more quickly.
Keep these tips in mind as you try to find your niche, and you will set yourself up for success.
Thomas von Ahn | Chief Elephant Slayer | Viral Solutions LLC
Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100’s of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.
Helping Google Find Your Social Media Profile
Let’s face it, Google is still the king. And the king may not have a clue about your social media profile. If you want your Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, or other social media accounts to show up in Google’s search results, you need to help Google figure out what they’re all about. Use these tips to provide Google with important clues.
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1. Fill out your profile completely. You may have rushed through the About Us and Description sections when you first set up your account. While you were understandably anxious to get started, going back to edit these sections may have slipped your mind. Now’s the time to remedy that. Go in and edit your profile. Make sure to choose the most appropriate category for your page and use keywords that are relevant to your business. Include your address and phone number as this information will give you an edge in local search results. It may also boost your credibility in Google’s eyes as it may deem your business more “serious” than those that do not list contact information.
2. Post shareable content, and post it often. While it’s easy to click “share” on someone else’s Facebook page, it’s better to create your own shareable content and prompt others to share it with their followers. Periodically share your blog posts on your Facebook or Twitter 
pages. Periodically embed your social posts into your blog posts. These links will help Google to understand the relationship between the various pages. While you’re at it, refer to your company by name in your social posts. This can also help Google to link your business name with relevant keywords.
3. Cozy up to Google’s own offerings. If you don’t have a Google+ account or a Google+ local listing, get one. The same is true of YouTube. By joining some of Google’s own offerings, you’ll be more likely to catch Google’s eye. As with your other social media profiles, you’ll want to fill out your profile completely and post shareable content on your Google accounts.
4. Make sure your business pages are set to public. Google can’t possibly list your private posts in its search results pages – and you wouldn’t want it to. However, you do want it to find your public posts. Thus, make sure your business’s social media pages are public.
5. Use Pinterest strategically. Did you know that you can set up pinned images with links back to your website? You can also include keywords in each image’s description. Again, make sure to complete your Pinterest profile, pin regularly, and make your Pinterest boards public.
The more you can help Google figure out what your business is all about, the more likely it will be able to associate your business with the most relevant keywords. You don’t need to bombard your sites with keywords, but you should take every opportunity to provide Google with clues. Plan on creating and sharing content on a regular basis and you will have even more opportunities.
Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100’s of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.
Ideas for More Engagement on Twitter
With just 140 characters to work with, Twitter definitely has its limits. However, you can squeeze a lot into 140 characters, and so can your followers. Use the tips below to connect with your followers on Twitter.
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- Practice conciseness – Using Twitter is a great way to improve your writing. Think of the 140-character limit as an exercise that forces you boil down your message to its core elements. Why use five words when one will do? For example, the phrase “special offer for our Twitter followers only” could be reworded as “Exclusive offer” for a savings of 29 characters.
- Avoid confusing acronyms and shortcuts – Many Twitter users resort to acronyms and shortcuts in an effort to be concise; however, if they were to pick their words wisely, they would not need to resort to confusing shortcuts in the first place. By using plain English, your message is clear and you look more professional.
- Leave room for retweets – Retweets expose your message to a much broader audience, so leave room for your followers to include the characters “RT:” as well as their own @username. Usernames, RT, and spacing can easily add over 15 characters to a retweet, so shoot for a
retweet-worthy length of about 125 characters. If you don’t leave room, your messages will be cut off or ruthlessly edited by retweeters.
- Use URL shorteners – Long URLs take up valuable real estate. Thus, if you are linking to something, use a link shortener.
- Ask engaging questions – What better way to start a conversation than to ask a question? Ask open-ended questions that require much more than a yes or no answer.
- Hold a #chat – Hold a chat about a topic related to your niche and invite your followers to join you at the appointed time. You will need to use a hashtag (#) so that participants can see the discussions. For example, if you intend to discuss hot rods, you might use the hashtag #hotrodchat. Make sure that you share the time of the chat using your time zone so that users can figure out when to participate based on local time.
- Share the Twitter love – If you want your Twitter followers to participate in your conversations and retweet your tweets, you will need to actively do the same. Designate at least a few times per week to retweet interesting tweets and engage in conversations started by other users.
- Preschedule some tweets so you have more free time to engage – By prescheduling the bulk of your tweets, your tweets will go out consistently. In addition, you will have more time to simply interact with fellow Twitter users.
- Show your appreciation – Share exclusive offers with your Twitter followers and make them feel special! By offering coupons and exclusive promotions, you are giving your Twitter followers yet another good reason to follow your business.
It’s your turn: What are you doing on Twitter to drive more engagement?
Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100’s of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.