Karen Skidmore's Kick-Ass Blog | CanDoCanBe

Hey! We've Moved to a New House!

Thank you so much for subscribing to my blog here on typepad.  I have had an absolute ball over the past three years writing this blog and I know some of you have been subcribers since the very beginning.

But the time has come and I have now set up everything under one roof.  My main site www.CanDoCanBe.com has now become a wordpress site and the time has come to say a sad farewell to typepad.

And I would be honoured if you re-subscribed.  I have kept my Kick-Ass Blog tag line - I was tempted to start completely afresh but it seems that the kick-ass tag suits me too well! So it's coming over with me!

You can either go and check out my new blog at:

CanDoCanBe.com/Blog

or you can subscribed directly to the new RSS feed by clicking here

If you have had enough of me :) I will not be offended and wish you all the success in your business. 

Thank you once again for your comments, thoughts and valuable contributions over the past few years and I hope you continue to share on my new blog.

Warm regards,

Karen

Do You Do Business With Your Competitors?

Attracting new clients is one of the toughest challenges to most small business owners.  You can spend thousands on advertising without hearing your phone ring once. 

And you can spend hours and hours going to networking events only to find yourself on everyone else's mailing lists and yours remain small and unresponsive.

That's hard work, demoralising and does nothing to help with the cashflow, does it?

I am sure you know there has to be easier ways of creating leads and enquiries.

But did you know that one of the quickest ways of attracting new clients to your business is to use other business' databases?

And that even includes using your direct competitors.

Now I am not suggesting in the slightest that you are to break in to their offices overnight and steal their client information! But what I am suggesting is that you collaborate and look at what joint ventures you can create.

Joint ventures are when two [or more] businesses join forces to create a more powerful force in the marketplace.  Think of as two heads are better than one.

Or more importantly, two databases are better than one!

Let me give you an example.

Jenny is a fitness trainer.  She works primarily with her clients on a 1-2-1 basis but is finding it hard going fitting enough sessions in to her day whilst still generating the income that she is aiming for.

She has decided to start offering group sessions and fitness training programmes as a way of working with more clients, increasing her cash flow yet reducing the number of hours she works.  But the big problem is her database.  It's just not big enough to market her programmes to.

So rather than spend hundreds on advertising in the local newspaper or even more on buying a database, she decides to seek out other business' who have the clients she is looking for.

She approaches her local gym.  Some may think this is a crazy idea as her local gym is a direct competitor of her business, but the manager of the gym is interested in talking. 

You see, although they have a strong membership at present, very few people are coming in and using the gym.  And they know when this happens, they start getting lots of cancellations.  By offering the gym members a discount on Jenny's fitness programme, this gives the gym a great benefit to add to their membership subscription without it costing them a thing.  It should also encourage the members to train more in the gym in between Jenny's sessions, thus reducing the chance of cancellations.

OK, so this story is hypothetical and there are probably many more gym managers who just wouldn't entertain this idea and turn Jenny down flat.

But we are in a very interesting economy at the moment.  Many businesses are experiencing huge slow downs and one of the positive things about a recession is that slow downs cause problems.  If you can solve the right problems, it's good for your business. And, of course, good for other businesses as you solve their problems, too.

More and more businesses are looking at joint ventures and building collaborative partnerships - even with direct competitors!  And if you are struggling to attract the right clients to your business, joint ventures could be the quickest [and cheapest] way of moving your business forward right now.

Who could you start talking to and create a win-win situation for you both?

You could have a business opportunity right there, in front of you!

Oh and before you click away ... would you want to know how to use joint ventures to promote your teleseminar events?

A couple of weeks ago, I ran the "Get Started With TeleSeminars" masterclass, a two hour live event where everything you need to know about running your own teleseminars was covered.  From what conference call systems to use and kit that you need through to marketing strategies and how to write effective email promotions.

But there was a lot of information to cover!  And the topic of using joint ventures to promote teleseminars was of particular interest.

So, by popular demand, you can access a special teleseminar session on this very topic: "How to Promote Your Teleseminars Using Joint Ventures".

This session is free to everyone who has already invested in the "Get Started with TeleSeminars" programme but as I know there are many of you already using teleseminars and would like to access this information, you can book a place for this session, too.

The live event is happening on Tuesday, 10th March and, as always, will be recorded.

So if you can't dial in live on the day, you will automatically receive the audio recording AND a workbook to accompany the session.

But hurry, it's less than 2 weeks away.  Click here for more information and to register for your place.

Are you just creating social media noise?

Whether you are facebooking, tweeting, linking up or connecting in any other way online, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the numbers of friends or followers some people have.

There are lots of people focusing on getting the highest number of followers and friends - chasing the numbers and thinking that size really does matter.

And yes, people with bigger networks do tend to have more opportunities come their way because of the six degrees of separation theory.

But the people out there who are chasing and creating a big network for the sake of having a big network, IMHO, are wasting their time.

Think about it. If you receive an invitation to friend or connect you will probably accept. They become part of your list but do you make the effort to check them out? Possibly a quick glance through their profile but that's all you have time for. 

And when the messages, invitations or tweets come through, do you take any notice?

Probably not!  They just become part of the social media noise that we filter out subconsciously.

But what about the tweets and updates from people you have proactively requested to be their friends.  Do you read them, retweet them or comment on them?

Absolutely.  These aren't noise to you.  You have consciously made a decision to seek out the information that they are sharing.

So when you are deciding on how to build up your friends, followers and connections, don't get caught up with all the hype of number chasing.  Take a step back and make a decision on what value you are going to offer and why people should reach out to you.

I got this message attached to a facebook friend request today:

"Hi I've been very inspired by your business approach and heard off my friend who's on your list that you post useful links on here, and was hoping you could add me?"

Be a magnet rather than an automatic follow-back and your voice will reach out through the social media noise.

Have you got a comment to add? Spend a second or two to leave your voice.

Feeling Twrustrated? Free Twitter Checklist to help you out

Just in case you haven't seen my Twitter feed last week, thought I better share with my blog readers my brand new Twitter Checklist for Small Businesses.

It has been getting some great reviews so if you are interested, you can hope on over to http://www.candocanbe.com/Twitter_Business_Checklist.php and get your hands on a copy too.

If you have any more checks to be added to the checklist, add them as a comment below or drop me a DM or email.  I'm sure there will be plenty of new ideas and suggestions as Twitter continues to grow and evolve.

Oh, and if you would like to follow me on Twitter, I'm at www.Twitter.com/CanDoCanBe

Have you finished your website yet?

Websites are often something that sits on your to-do-list, waiting to be ticked off.

You spend a few sessions with a web designer or graphic designer, write your copy and get it published.  Tah-Dah! It's live. Your website is complete!

But actually your website work has only just begun.  A website is NOT something that just gets ticked off from your marketing list.  A website is actually an evolving tool which needs to be nurtured, cared for and grown to keep up with your business.

One of 1-2-1 clients was getting very frustrated with her new website the other week.  She had decided to set one up using www.mrsite.com [a great way of getting a very affordable, user-friendly website up and running very quickly].  But after a week of playing around with different templates and writing copy for her 5 pages, she was pulling her hair out.

I shouted "Move away from the website!!!"  It was time to take a break and stop trying to make it perfect.

My advice to her was to leave her website alone for a week and then come back to it for an hour or two every week over the next month or so. No more, no less.  The site was working, the right pages were up, people where able to book a place on the workshop she was launching - but to keep fiddling to make it perfect before "launching" was just driving her nuts!

You see, a website should never be finished.  When you run your own business, you are probably evolving and growing at a rate of knots.  You start working with clients you hadn't thought possible, you create products and partnerships you hadn't quite planned for.  You are being flexible to meet the needs and demands of your clients [or you should be!].

And your website has to reflect this.  It's not a corporate brochure that once printed, has to be thrown out when out of date.  It's moving and evolving marketing tool that you need to be reviewing at least once a month. 

Have you finished your website, yet?  Good - so you shouldn't have!

Why building snowmen will help you attract clients

I live in a cul-de-sac.  It’s a quiet road with only 30 odd houses but we rarely see each other.  It’s a classic example of modern day life, everyone works and we all go about our busy lives, driving in and out of the road in our cars.

Today was different.  Today we were snowed in and no-one was going anywhere.  And with both children at home because of school closure, the best way to spend the morning was to get out there and build snowmen.

I phoned up two neighbours and invited their children to come and help us.  Within 15 minutes of being out, one of the other neighbours came over with 2 bright red toboggans.  We have never met each other in the 7 years of us living in this road and yet the snow brought us together, not only in a conversation, but with an exchange of her grown-up sons’ treasured possessions.  

Another 30 minutes later and 2 other children come bounding out of their house to join in the fun.  This family moved in about 6 months ago and we had never met.  Within another 30 minutes I was sharing a cup of tea in their kitchen with both the mum and dad, being shown around their house.

Today I have had more conversations with my neighbours than I think I have had in the seven years of living on my street.  And the only reason being was because we were spending time out in the street, being visible.

Why am I sharing my day with you?  Running your own business can be a very lonely business.  Stuck in front of your PC, returning emails and hiding in your home office.  Not conducive to making you very visible.

To attract clients you need to be build relationships.  And to build relationships you need to visible.  Whether that is going out to network meetings, being active on Facebook or getting articles published in your industry’s magazines; visibility is crucial to attracting clients and building your business.

Where could you go and build a snowman today?

Doesn't blogging & social media take up so much time?

I was speaking at a networking lunch this week sharing some tips and ideas on how to use blogging in one's business.  And the same old question came up "But doesn't all that stuff take a lot your time?"

Let's get this straight. All marketing takes time!

Driving to a networking lunch, spending 2 hours eating, talking and sharing business ideas, driving back from to your office, following up any contacts you met and sending them the info you promised - this all takes time!

Is it time well spent?  Well, hopefully yes especially if you met some interesting new contacts and some of those new contacts told others about you and your business.  Networking is an incredibly effective marketing tool.

So, why wouldn't using tools like blogging, twitter, facebook and all the other social tools out there take time to use, too?

And if the time you spend on twitter, facebook and writing your blog is used effectively - it will be time well spent too!

PLUS! anything you do online has the added benefit of being there forever.  Blog posts, twitter links and facebook photos can be found today, tomorrow and forever more.  So, yes blogging and social media does take up your time but before you use a lack of time as an excuse not to use these tools in your business, ask yourself how effective your marketing time is at the moment?

Can complaints be good for business?

No one likes it when someone complains about their service or returns a product because they are dissatisfied - especially when it is our very own business that we have built up from scratch. 

But complaints can be good for business.  And actually they can be the best thing for your business if dealt with in the right way.

Virgin airlines made headlines this morning in the British media.  No TV advertising, no front page splash in The Times, but they were being talked about on BBC news this morning.

Why?  Because of someone's complaint about the airline food.

Richard Branson responded personally to this one complaint and invited the person to be part of the next food tasting session to help Virgin airlines improve their catering.  The complaint was pretty scathing.  It included pictures of the food and didn't hold back on telling them what they thought.

But rather than ignore it or send a bulk autoreply including the standard discount coupon on the person's next travel, it was decided to let Richard Branson answer the complaint personally. 

What a great bit of free publicity!

so, how do you deal with any complaints you have? How can you turn them in to a business opportunity?