Business Tip of the Week – 11/26/07

Do you want to grow your business? How about growing your skills? Consider how continued education and professional development can help you impact your business and clients.

Business Tip of the Week – 11/19/07

Build your resource list before you need help. Use networking opportunities to identify potential resources for your business and clients. Have your resources in place before you need them!

Business Tip of the Week – 11/12/07

Set your boundaries – with family, friends and clients. Schedule your business hours and family time separately. If you do have a “family appointment” during business hours, don’t feel obligated to explain your “appointments” to clients. It’s your business, not theirs.

Business Tip of the Week – 11/5/07

Never miss a chance to hand out or leave a business card with someone. At a restaurant leave your card on the table, at the dry cleaners or repair shop leave your business card for “contact” information.

Business Tip of the Week – 10/29/07

Your 30-second commercial (a.k.a. elevator speech) should tell people who you are (you and your company), what you do (services and products you sell) and whom you do it for (your ideal client).

Business Tip of the Week – 10/22/07

Selling is about creating and building relationships. Get to know your prospect personally. People buy from people they know, like and trust!

Business Tip of the Week – 10/15/07

Build your sales team through referral partners. Be sure you reciprocated and become a participating member of their sales team too!

A 30 Second Commercial

A 30 Second Commercial: How to Showcase Your Business
in 30 Seconds or Less

So that listeners will want to know more!

(Get your worksheet at http://www.uofvas.com/30-Second Commercial Worksheet UofVAs.pdf)

One of your most powerful marketing tools is a dynamic and enticing elevator speech or 30-second commercial.  In the next few pages, you will learn how to craft a winning commercial, and taking the time now to work through each point thoroughly will be well worth it!

Have you watched business people in networking situations politely nodding, while sneaking a quick peek around the room in search of a more interesting discussion partner?  Don’t let this happen to you! 

Avoid the three biggest mistakes people make when telling about their businesses:

 Mistake #1 – Focus on your services, products or yourself

• Talk about yourself and your company

• Talk about your product(s) or the service(s) you offer

  

Mistake #2 – Failure to clarify exactly who you help and the benefits you bring to them

• No clearly defined target market – hope to sell to everyone

• Don’t understand and address your ideal clients’ needs or frustrations – their point of pain that your product or service relieves

  

Mistake #3 – Make it difficult for people to refer your company

• Your message isn’t memorable, easy to understand, easy to relate to, or easy repeat

•  The listener won’t clearly know who needs what you offer or how to tell others about your company

The Three Essential Elements of a 30-Second Commercial:

Essential Element #1 - Define Your Target Market – Your “Ideal Client”

 Be as specific as possible – the narrower your niche, the more successful your marketing will be! 

Example:

-     Owner of small business (0-5 employees), who needs accounting or bookkeeping help

-          Needs at least three hours of help a week

-          Has enough revenue to afford my services

-          Is open to suggestions for improving processes 

Action Item:  On a piece of paper or on your computer complete Essential Element #1: Describe your “Ideal Client.” Then return to Essential Element #2. 

Essential Element #2 – Understand and List the Problems or Frustrations Your Ideal Clients Face that You, Your Products or Services Solve. Remember: People make decisions and purchases based, not on facts, but on emotions! How does your ideal client feel about the problems and challenges that you, your product and/or service fix?   

Example:

-     Not enough time, knowledge or desire to do their bookkeeping or accounting

Consequent emotions:  Anxious, frustrated

-     Waste too much money in late fees and poor budgeting 

Consequent emotions:  Anger, feeling of “not enough”

-          Don’t know where they stand financially; business running them instead of the reverse

Consequent emotions:  Scared, out of control 

Action Item:  Complete Essential Element #2: List the problems they face and consequent emotions.   Then return to Essential Element #3.

Essential Element #3 – Highlight the Benefits You Bring that Solve These Problems

Answer your ideal client’s question: What’s in it for me? How will your ideal client benefit from using your services and/or products?What are the potential positive consequences for them?   

Example:

-     Save time and lower stress

Consequent emotions:  Relieved, free

-          Reliable, accurate results they can trust

Consequent emotions:  Confident, safe

-          Save money, meet deadlines

Consequent emotions:  In control, feeling of enough 

Action Item:  Complete Essential Element #3: List the benefits received from using your services and/or products.   Prioritize your list, and then cross off all but the top two benefits and the resulting feelings.    

An important piece of knowing how your company benefits your clients is getting it straight from them!  This will also provide you with terrific verbiage you can use to construct your commercial. 

Action Item:  Interview several of your raving fan clients, remembering to listen for emotions, and ask them: 

 -     How did you/your products or services benefit them?

-          What was their number one problem or challenge that your services or products solved for them?

-     What do they value about you and your services or products?

-          How did they feel as a result of using you/your services or products?  

While you’re talking to them, ask for a testimonial!

Craft Your 30 Second Commercial

 And now it is time to put this 30 second commercial jigsaw puzzle together!   Using the three essential elements of Ideal Client, Problems You Solve and Benefits Received, write your commercial in language that is conversational and comfortable for you to say.  Make it easy to understand, remember and explain.  Then pare it down to the core – cut out all the “fluff” and anything complex or difficult to understand.  Make every word count! 

Example: 

-          I help small business owners to feel confident, secure and in control of their finances and business by creating accurate and efficient bookkeeping and accounting processes.

-          I relieve stress and frustration for owners of small businesses, by creating accurate and efficient bookkeeping and accounting processes. Now all you have to do is practice, practice, practice! 

The more you say it, refine it and perfect it, the more effective your marketing will be.  Watch your listeners, listen to and evaluate their responses (body language too) to your commercial. 

Practice:

• In front of the mirror

• Tape yourself

• Try it on friends and family

• Then on others

Effective Add-ons to your 30-Second Commercial:

• Tell a brief client story that supports your claims

• Consider what your potential customer could possibly see as a risk to them, and take it away, perhaps by offering a guarantee or reference

  Marketing opportunities are everywhere!  If you’re prepared!    

Seven Tips for Time Management

1. Begin each day knowing what you need to accomplish.

This means keeping a to-do list whether paper-based or digital. Have a master list for work and one for your personal life. You could commingle the lists but I suggest that you color code “work” and “personal” to-dos. Use the same color coding on your master calendar too.

2. End each day knowing what you need to do tomorrow.

As you work through your day constantly update your to-do list. When you wrap up your day take a few minutes to create tomorrow’s priority to-do list. You won’t waste time once you’re at your desk wondering or deciding just what you should next. Just grab the list and get started.

3. Don’t let anyone else manage your time and suck away precious minutes from your day.

Be aware of the time vampires. Those people who call with you business questions that eventually segue into personal chit-chat. Before you pick up the phone check your clock or watch and tell the person on the line you have 5 minutes, how can you help them?

Email can drain minutes or even hours from your day. Set your computer to only download your email 3 times a day, first thing in the morning, mid-day and just before you leave for the day. Employ the features in Outlook (or whatever email and contact manager you use) to file incoming email in the appropriate folders so you know what to look it first and what can wait. Always utilize technology to serve you.

4. Ensure sufficient energy.

Be kind to yourself and take good care of your body. The standards of enough sleep, healthy food and exercise cannot be overlooked. During your day get up at least once per hour and stretch or take a short walk for 10 minutes. Remember to make smart choices and drink water instead soft drinks or coffee.

5. Don’t procrastinate, just do it.

We all procrastinate. The bottom line is if it’s on your to-do list then it has to be done. Just do it and move on. Big, small, simple, complex, easy or hard, most likely the task is not going to change if you ignore it. Just do it.

6. Plan for uninterrupted concentration.

Plan at least 90 minutes of uninterrupted time each day, perhaps even twice a day to really concentrate on getting priority projects done. No phones, no email, no faxes, no interruptions and no multi-tasking. Just you and your project. Once your 90 minutes is up, get up and stretch and move around. You’ll be surprised just how much you can accomplish in 90 minutes.

7. Organize and declutter.

Organization goes along way towards time management. You don’t need to spend your precious time looking for things – pens, files, paper, sticky notes. This extends beyond your physical office and to the digital world of your computer too. Take time, even 90 minutes of your uninterrupted time, and organize your office and your computer filing system.

- Put away the stuff that accumulates on your desk that you don’t use daily.

- File anything you’re not working on in the immediately future – say 24 hours.

- Stock up on the things you need, paper, pens, staples, paperclips, etc.

- Archive old and useless files on your computer and reorganize what’s left. Bring your physical filing system to your computer. Mirrored filing systems make easier to remember where things “should” be.

Business Tip of the Week – 10/8/07

Marketing is NOT rocket science. Marketing is simply telling people what you do and telling them over and over again.