It seems we can’t just have a holiday anymore…it must have a shopping experience associated with it. Think about it…we expect gifts on Valentine’s Day; Memorial Day and Labor Day are just another excuse for a sale; and, of course, Thanksgiving, followed by Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are just the kickstart to a frantic Christmas season.
Don’t get me wrong — I love giving and getting presents, and I love getting a deal. But for solo and small business owners, offering deals can be fraught with problems. Here are a few things to think about as you consider offering a “sale” in your business: Read the rest of this post »
Steve Jobs sums up what are, for me, the two most important things you need to be a successful solo entrepreneur:
This is why picking a niche based on keywords doesn’t work! You have to love what you are doing, or you won’t be doing it long enough to count for much. And you simply can’t do it all yourself. Powerful concepts that we all need to be reminded of once in a while!
Last week, in Part 1 of 15 Ways to Leverage a Key Marketing Moment, I shared five ways to Lay The Foundation with a new subscriber at that singular moment when they decide they like and trust you enough to share their personal info and subscribe to your ezine. Today I share five ways to Strengthen The Connection with your subscriber, followed by five ways to Leverage Their Trust.
All of these ideas make use of the real estate associated with signing up for your newsletter: the page they see after they subscribe; the email they receive asking them to confirm their subscription; the page they see after they confirm; and the thank-you email they receive after they confirm. Are you using this real estate to it’s best advantage? Here are the rest of the ideas for doing just that: Read the rest of this post »
But you can’t stop there! It is a unique moment when someone subscribes to your newsletter online — they’ve decided that they like and trust you enough to part with some personal information in order to get more from you. At that moment, you have a special opportunity to strengthen and leverage that trust. Are you taking advantage of it? Read the rest of this post »
It’s one thing to get people to visit your website. You might employ SEO, pay-per-click, or joint ventures, for example. But all of your hard work and $$ will be wasted if they merely look around but don’t sign up for your newsletter while they are there.
So how can you optimize your website so people will convert? Here are five essential elements that you must have: Read the rest of this post »
I don’t call myself a social media expert, but I do have enough years (and hours!) working on social media to be able to share what works for me. A caveat: my goal is to grow my Twitter following, to reach as many solo entrepreneurs as I can, so I can share what I’ve found to be valuable information. If you are of the “keep my Twitter following under 200″ mind, that’s fine…but this advice won’t help you.
However, if you, like me, want to grow your following, here are four tips to grow your Twitter followers and, more importantly, keep them! Read the rest of this post »
How do you know when something is bad for your business? There’s so much advice out there, and so many people telling you that you should do this, or try that. If you try to do it all, you can drive yourself crazy (and be exhausted). But picking and choosing can be difficult, especially when the benefits aren’t directly monetary. So how do you know?
It isn’t very often that a book has the power to save a life. Yes, good books can improve lives, shape lives, even change lives. But when was the last time a book literally helped save a life? That’s why I told Michael Bungay Stanier that I would be delighted to spread the word about his new book End Malaria. The Domino Project in conjunction with Michael’s Box of Crayons is working with Malaria No More to help end malaria.
In addition to saving lives, buying this book means you can enjoy essays by 62 of America’s favorite business authors, including Tom Peters, Nicholas Carr, Pam Slim, and Sir Ken Robinson. The essays are organized into three main sections – Focus, Courage, and Resilience – all essays in End Malaria share a desire to inspire readers to look within themselves for solutions to their everyday dilemmas and for motivation to realize their desires.
At its core, End Malaria is about doing great work, and there’s no better work than saving a life.
The magic of the book is that: $20 from every sale will go to Malaria No More to buy mosquito nets for Africa. That’s 100% of the Kindle sale, and most of the hard copy price ($25). So let’s save lives and End Malaria now.
This weekend I watched “City Slickers” with my family. It had been quite a while since I’d seen the movie, and between the mid-life crisis drama, witty dialogue and sight gags, there were some wonderful “life lessons” in there worth pondering.
The one that really caught my attention, though, was the scene where Curly (Jack Palance) tells Mitch (Billy Crystal), that the secret to life is just “one thing”. Mitch asks what that one thing is, and Curly tells him, “That’s what you have to figure out.” It struck me that this is a truth not just for life, but for the solo business owner as well. Read the rest of this post »
I have, at long last, finished my first video! It’s not perfect (gotta figure out how to stop blinking so much!) but it’s good enough, I think. Check it out below.
Many thanks to Michele PW, who wrote the script, and to Lou Bortone, who gave me the inspiration and courage that I could do it!
(Note: You can sign up for the ebook referenced in the video in the left column on this page.)
