There aren’t too many times when I make a sweeping statement as it relates to business ownership, but when it comes to blogging, I believe that every business could benefit from having one. Why? There are myriad reasons, but I will share my top three here:
Your blog is a platform to share your unique knowledge and expertise. If you are the expert in your field, then you need a platform on which to share it and your blog is the ideal place for that knowledge-sharing. Provide your readers with hints and tips that are in your area of expertise and that will help make their lives easier.
Use your blog to announce specials, promotions, coupons or other deals you may be offering. While you will also want to share that information on your social media platforms, use your blog as the jumping off point.
Ask your clients or potential clients questions and use the blog as a platform to answer them. If even one individual writes to you, they are in the midst of a pain point and if you can offer a solution to that pain, they will continue to look to you as the resource.
Consider, too that adding a blog to your website — and updating your blog regularly — means that your website will keep being ranked by Google. That is because Google loves fresh content and “rewards” you for it by keeping your site higher in the search engines. PS frequent posting isn’t the only way to get your site found — you need to employ quality SEO, but that is the topic for another blog post.
As business owners we must track and monitor our business efforts so we can tell whether our actual efforts are yielding results. How, though, can you determine what you should be measuring? What are your key performance indicators? That isn’t a trick question, but most businesses have different variables that they want to, or need to, track.
Here are a few items you may want to track for your business:
Determine your business goal. Is it to bring in X number of new clients? Do you want to make X amount of money is sales? Put a number to it then you will know what you’re tracking and whether you’re achieving what you’d hoped.
Break the goal down into achievable steps if necessary. If, for example, you say you want to bring in 50 new clients in December, it might be best to break that down by the week so that you’re not tempted to put off bringing in those new clients until December 31.
Make sure you’re comparing the results with the goals you’d set. If you’re not achieving them, take a step back and determine why. Were the goals too lofty? Did you truly not work hard enough on achieving them? Procrastination can be the death of many-a-goal being met.
Your business success can hinge on whether you’re setting goals. If you don’t know where you’re going and what you consider to be a “successful endeavor” how will you know if you’ve arrived?
Quick! Who is your ideal customer? If you have to stumble around for an answer, then you need to take a few moments — perhaps longer — to formulate an answer so that you have it front of mind every time you meet a potential client at a networking event or even when you’re out for a cup of coffee at a local restaurant.
Here are some things to consider when thinking of who, and how to reach, your ideal client:
Reach them with a story. Every business owner has a story. What’s yours? Use your story to connect with potential clients and as a way to tell what you do without being overly salesy
What do you do that can keep the attention of a prospect? Do you have unique goods or services? What sets you apart from the competition? Know this and you can determine your ideal client — it’s the person for whom you can address a pain point with your goods or services
Look at your current client base and analyze it. What are the common characteristics they all — or most — share? This could put you on the path of understanding who your ideal client is
Once you know who your potential ideal client is, you can work toward going where they are and amping up your prospecting!
Is there a secret to success? The beginning entrepreneur would surely hope so, but it’s not quite the case. Actually, a study performed by the Harvard Business School — The Evergreen Project — found it “doesn’t matter what you do.” The study uncovered that successful companies all employed the same management practices.
These practices included (and I paraphrase):
The development and maintenance of flawless operational strategies
Clearly defined strategies and a thorough understanding of your ideal client
Nurturing employees and holding them to high standards of performance
Simplification of the business management levels aka bureaucracy
Hiring talented employees and helping them develop those talents even further
Being innovative and keeping up with trends
Being a great leader
Check this list and see how many of the practices you’re employing in your business.
Business owners wear many hats and one of those hats is “Sales Person.” If you dreamed of becoming a business owner and not having to be involved in sales, chances are you received a rude awakening. In business, we are always selling if we want to grow and thrive.
Here are the steps I believe are involved in the life cycle of a sale:
The all important prospecting. If you’re not out meeting people and working to make connections and grow your business, it will perish. You need to go where your ideal clients gather, build relationships and begin the cycle of prospecting.
Identify the needs of the potential client. Remember, it’s not a one size fits all approach. You need to listen to what your potential client has to say, understand his or her pain points and see if you have a solution to them.
The better you understand the issues facing your client, the better you will be able to tailor a solution. You need to delve deep and understand how your mousetrap will help them and how it’s better than the mousetrap they’re using today.
Once you’ve decided to work together, you will need to make a commitment and that will likely involve a contract of understanding. “You will provide me this and I will provide you that.” Make sure everything is transparent so you will have a good working relationship from the onset.
The next time you put on your Sales Person hat, keep these steps in mind.
