100 Keys to Solo Success – #11 Gratitude Works

It is simple – say thank you! …… and say it regularly.

Simple, honest, heart-felt gratitude is not only good for your business it is good for your soul.

Yeah I know this is a blog on business and the word soul is like a dirty s-word for many business owners but guess what  – even if you hide it really, really well you still have one (unless of course you have sold it to get the business you want ) so get over yourself and know that YOUR soul is part of your business.

So if it is good for the person you are thanking and good for you then why don’t you do it more often.

Yeah, yeah I know the excuses about how time slips by, how you only remember at 10pm when you have stopped for the day but these are just excuses because a thank you can take no longer than 2 minutes.  You only need to say thank you – you don’t need a large essay or pages of cheesy platitudes.

The other excuse is that you have no one to thank – now that is not just sad it is down right bad for business.  If there are not people in and around your business that you can thank then you have serious problems.  They could be a client, a prospect you just met with, a supplier, and adviser that has just gone above and beyond, your partner, a staff member for that little extra, a store that you use that has just provided good service, a colleague, your family for putting up with your business demands.  See there are lots of opportunities to say thank you.

Still stuck on this thank you thing – here are a couple of hints for thank yous -

1.  Put down the phone, push away the keyboard and pick up a pen (you know those old-fashioned writing tools).

2.  Get out one of your stock or thank you cards or note paper (you do have a stock of cards and paper don’t you )

3.  Write 2-3 lines expressing your gratitude and use the words thank you.

4.   Take an envelope, hand address it,  put a stamp on it and take it to the local post box – email doesn’t cut it (and you need to get out of the office for a quick walk anyway).

Make this a habit – get out the pen and cards on a regular basis (I would even say weekly – there has to be 52 people in your business world that you can thank) and just do it – no excuses!

Remember: “Performance” stems from Engagement … Encouragement … Passion … Appreciation … Public recognition … Respect. “Thanking” is a big part of that. – Tom Peters

People don’t have to like or support you, so you always have to say thank you. – Ruben Studdard

Simple, easy, effective.

Oh yeah – Thank you for reading this blog and my musings.  I really do appreciate you and your time.

100 Keys to Solo Success – #10 Get Free Advertising

As a solo practitioner the last thing you want to spend your hard-earned money on is advertising.  The fact that advertising doesn’t work for the majority of service professional also stacks up in favour of running as fast as you can from the media advertisers.

But this key is not about ignoring the media – it is just about not paying for it.  In fact the media can provide you with an additional level of credibility that you couldn’t pay for if you want it.

So the key here is to pay attention to the media that your target market reads, watches or listens to and create news-worthy information to send to these outlets.  Traditionally these are called press releases ….. and traditionally I have seen solo professionals run in the other direction when these are mentioned.

Well before you get your running shoes on I want you to check out Wayne Hurlbert’s post in Blog Business World Press Releases – How to Get Media Attention.

Wayne provides some very straight forward advice on structuring a press release, contacting the media, and get the most from your release.

He re-iterates why the media is an important part of your success as a solo practitioner.

A mention of you and your online business, in any of the online or offline
media, will get your business story out to a wider audience than almost any
other method.

By being the subject of a news story, your site and
business receive an implicit endorsement, that no amount of money spent on
advertising can match.

People tend to put more confidence in a business
that is covered in a news article than they do in any paid advertisement. It
should be part of your business promotional strategy to get your message into
the various news media.

Why not give it a try?  What do you have to loose?  On the other hand what do you have to gain?  You have a story (remember …. everyone has a story).

Need some help getting your backside into gear for this one.  Let me know the major obstacle in the way of you getting into the media and I will see if I can help.

100 Keys to Solo Success – #9 Go The Verb

You know that even before I was a coach I had a love affair with language that was pasted onto me from my maternal grandparents.  They were great people who loved language – books, crosswords, scrabble, dinner table conversation, you name it if it allowed you to use or play with language they were into it.  And now I am a coach I get to play with language everyday in my business.

What’s more is that Reg and Norah (my grandparents) were also into action.  They weren’t the sit around and wait for things, or think about things, they were the type that got up and did things.

I bet you are thinking “what does language, Reg and Norah, and action have to do with my business?”

Well let me throw in the catalyst here ……. Seth Godin.  Yes Seth!  (as you know I like the way he thinks and works).  He got me thinking with a blog post of his from last Friday called Nouns and Verbs.

A few years ago, the rage was to turn products into services. Then it was to turn services into products.

I think the next big thing is to turn nouns into verbs.

It is a great point that Seth raises and one critical to the success of solo practitioners and coaches in particular.  Clients don’t want a noun from you – they don’t want a thing.  They want an experience.  They want to take action.

So why not describe your services as verbs?  Why not use more verbs in your web presence, or your brochure or your letters?

The verbs are a call to action …. a call to do something on their part.

Through this shift in language you can take your clients and prospective clients from being a passive consumer of your services and product to an activate part of the process.

Isn’t the point of what you do to get people into action – do “do the verbs”?  It doesn’t matter whether you are an interior designer, a conference organiser, a personal trainer, a graphic artist or anything else you are trying to get a client or prospective client to do things differently than they did them yesterday.

So let’s start a revolution in the  beginning today – let’s take the verbs out of the client work and into the work of your business.

Your action (should you choose to accept it) is to go through your written material, and your verbal introduction, and all the things that you use to describe your business and swap the noun for verbs.

My action is to take a long hard look at my website and change the names of pages and the navigation buttons to things like – read, learn, join, get stuff, what others do, listen.

Get people into action!  You will notice a difference )

100 Keys to Solo Success – #8 Make Offers

An offer a day keeps the doctor away! (apologies if you always thought it was an apple).

“An offer?”, you say, “What kind of offer?”

Any offer, to anyone in your target market, to purchase, use or experience your services.

You might think this is obvious but you may also be surprised to find how many solo professional don’t do this.

As a solo business owner you know what you do and how people could use your service (jeez I hope you do!) but does your ideal client (you know them ) know?

Now you could proceed to create a brochure, or website, or sales letter, or one of a number of other initiatives that lists what you do, how you do it and possibly even list the benefits.  But that’s all about you.

The key is to make it about them!  And one of the best ways to make it about them is to make them an offer.

Now I want to jump on something that I hear on a regular basis and that I see as nothing more than an excuse for avoidance …

“But I don’t want to appear pushy.”

What is it with solo pros who think that telling someone you want them as a client is pushy?!?  Offers don’t have to be pushy – in fact it is better if they are not.

By definition the word “offer” has many meanings.  Here is what I mean here by “offer” -

OFFER – 1.  to present for acceptance or rejection; 2. to put forward for consideration; 3. to make a show of intention.
- Macquarie Dictionary, 2nd Ed.

No where does it say push! )

An offer is something that will assist and is of value to the person you are making the offer to – it is the good old-fashioned win-win.

Making an offer is the antidote to the “if you build it they will come syndrome”.

Want to know why I think solo pros don’t make more offers?  Have a look at the first definition above for a clue).

Yes …. the rejection bit (I will address this more tomorrow in key #9).

So work out what you have to offer and make an offer today to someone you want to work with.

Make it relevant to them.
Make it timely.
Make it with heart.

(Oh yeah, the doctor that I mentioned at the beginning relates to the lack of stress you will have because your business is going well due to the offers you are making and having accepted.  I can guarantee you if there are no offers, then there are no clients, and if there are no clients then there is stress and then there is the doc).

It is straightforward – if the clients aren’t there you not making enough relevant offers!

100 Keys to Solo Success – #7 Have a Remarkable Point of View

Listen to the people who get paid loads and loads of money to advise the top businesses in the world (namely Seth Godin and Tom Peters) and you will hear them say over and over again, “Have a remarkable point of view!”.

Seth, as he often does, takes it one step further ““If you can’t state your position in eight words or less you don’t have a position.”

What is your position when it comes to your clients, their challenges and your solution?

Are you just saying what everyone else says?  If so then why would someone come to you and not use the services of the other people saying the same thing that you do.

Challenge the status quo – do/think say something different.

Dont’ play by the rules!  The rules were created by the guys that were there first in order to protect their patch.  Create your own patch!

Tom Peters has reduced this key to just 5 letters – R.POV8

It is not about being clever, it is about being remarkable.

What is your truth?  How are you remarkable?

100 Keys to Solo Success – #6 Playfulness Rules

Beware the overly serious business woman or man – and definitely don’t become one.  Your business, your clients, and your role as business owner IS important – but it is NOT deadly bloody serious.

If you are one of the people prone to being a little too serious then it is time to lighten up.  Your attractiveness as a service provider and business partner will go through the roof if you let yourself have some fun in your business.

Become playful!

Mary Catherine Bateson, cultural anthropologist and author, says “We live with strangers every day. It begins in the morning, when we’re looking in the mirror and brushing our teeth. People we think we know, certainties we think we cherish — these are phantoms. There is little in anyone’s identity that has to be preserved. We think that as leaders we are supposed to show gravitas: depth, profundity. But in fact, the goal should be playfulness — to go on playing, learning, and changing.”

Playful and professional are not mutually exclusive – they can co-exist!

Drop me an email or comment below on how you intend to be more playful this week.

100 Keys to Solo Success – #5 Get The Story

The continuation on from #4 Work on Your Story is #5 Get The Story.  This relates to everything that you do – in interactions with prospective clients, meeting people at networking events, talking with complete strangers.  Remember that Everyone has a story.

Tom Peters, in a blog post from Nov 2004, puts this better than I could :

Everybody has a story! It’s your job-opportunity … consultant, boss, project-peer … to get it!

Remember Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot above: “It was much later that I realized Dad’s secret. He gained respect by giving it. He talked and listened to a fourth-grade kid in Spring Valley who shined shoes the same way he talked and listened to a bishop or a college president. He was seriously interested in who you were and what you had to say.”

Likewise, in London I was driven around by a fellow who sometimes drives Richard Branson. Branson is famous, among other things, for his hundreds (literally) of notebooks in which he meticulously records what he hears from Virgin clients, and damn near anyone else he buttonholes.

This driver confirmed Sir R’s habit, and said a trip with RB is non-stop conversation about the world as seen through the driver’s eyes. “He bloody well interviewed me, for 90 minutes, non-stop,” this chap said with clear admiration, “as we crawled to town from Gatwick.” There was nothing or no one beneath RB’s abiding, compulsive interest. As we chatted, the driver (himself a Richard) allowed as how “the whole bit made me feel as though I had something important to say.”

Message/s:

The Driver/Richard II did have something to say!
(Axiom: EVERYBODY HAS A STORY, DESPERATE TO ESCAPE!)

The Driver/Richard II is important!
(Axiom: CONNECT!)

Richard I /Branson doubtless learned a thing or seven, duly recorded.
(Axiom: JUST ASK!)

Richard I/Branson made a friend-informant-confidant for life!
(Axiom: GET A STORY, MAKE A FRIEND.)

Richard II/driver will pass on the story of Richard I/Branson to 100, if not 1,000 people … and thus willfully extend the brand-enhancing mythology surrounding
Richard I/Branson.
(Axiom: CONNECT, JUST ASK, GET A STORY, MAKE A FRIEND, CREATE A “BUZZ-GENERATOR.”)

All because Sir Richard was determined to … Connect & Get the Story!

So … Get the Story!
(And, if you’re wise and of a mind, take pages from RB and record it as well. Someday, you may be on notebook #600—about RB’s tally, I’m told—and counting your Billions.)

100 Keys to Solo Success – #4 Work on Your Story

It takes more than just knowing what you do and being known for something (keys #2 & #3) …. YOU NEED A STORY!

In many things in life he/she who has the best story wins.  It is a simple as that in many cases.

You will find it in life …..

You will find it in business …… both large corporate and solo professionals

You will find it in politics …….

You will find it in families and communities (ever grow up with someone who could tell a better story than you?) …..

In management ……. “A key – perhaps the key to leadership is the effective communication of a story.” – Howard Gardner (Leading Minds:  An Anatomy of Leadership)

Some other wisdom on creating your story …

“You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own legend or not.” – Isabel Allende

“Companies will thrive on the basis of their stories and myths.  Companies will need to understand that their products are less important then their stories.” – Rolf Jensen, Compenhagen Institute for Future Studies

“The last few  decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind – computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers.  But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands.  The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind – creators and empathizers, pattern recognisers, and meaning makers.  These people – artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers – will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys.” – Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind
(Great book by the way)

Stories are engaging – elevator speeches are not.

Stories are memorable – features and benefits lists are not.

Stories are you !  Can you say the same for your marketing schpiel.

Your business has a story!

Your current project is a story!

Your career is a story!

You are a story!

Master the art of storytelling and stop presenting – the world will thank you for it and so will your nerves.

100 Keys to Solo Success – #3 Be Known for Something

Successful solo professionals are known for something! They don’t just provide their service (eg. consulting, training, event management, interior design etc); they provide a focus point that solves a problem.

You may call this a niche or a speciality – whatever it is labelled it a vital part of the success of solo practitioners who have a 6-figure practice.

In order to establish a thriving,
successful and profitable business you need to be
known for something.

Lack of focus on what they do is very common among solo professionals with many of them choosing to describe what they do by describing the industry they are in or the people that they work with (eg. I am a life coach, I am IT consultant, I am a graphic designer). Sharing with people your title or the industry you are in will work for you if all you are looking to do is be one of a million others. When you get clear on what your strengths, experience and passion bring to clients your beginning to be one in amillion. Do you really do things the same way as everyone else in your industry?

So, which do you want to be – one in a million or one of a million?

So why do so many solo professionals avoid clarifying what they do and create a niche for themselves?

· Niching seems hard

· Niching seems limiting

· Niching requires taking a stand

I can say that yes, it does take time, personal reflection and self-awareness but it is not hard. Yes it can seem that it limits you to work with a certain range of people, but it opens you up as a specialist and people start to know you for
something. And yes it does require you to take a stand, but that is part of the fun.

When you can clearly and confidently describe what you do you will find that :

· You will stand out from the “others”
in a memorable way.

· You will know how to spread the word about your
business, to whom, where and when.

· You will be able to turn your competitors into
colleagues and referral sources.

· You will generate more referrals.

· You will be able to obtain a better price.

· You will be able to do more meaningful, enjoyable and fulfilling work.

If there was one thing you could be known for within your target market, what would it be?

What do you need to do/learn/become to be recognised for that one thing?

You should certainly be able to answer the first question – what would you like to be known for? However, you may not know exactly what to do to become a recognised expert, but I bet you have some ideas.

There is nothing that gets attention faster in a crowded marketplace than being a recognised expert.

If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard
you apply yourself, you won’t get noticed and that increasingly means
you won’t get paid much, either. — Michael Goldhaber, Wired

So what do you want to be known for?

100 Keys to Solo Success – #2 Know What You Do

Does it really matter how much time, effort and money you spend networking and marketing?

If aren’t you are not clear about what you do for people, and how your service is valuable and useful, they won’t be
interested, they won’t follow-up, they won’t send referrals.

This is one of the most important things you can spend your time clarifying – if you don’t know and can’t articulate what you do then others will not be able to see the alignment between their needs and what you offer.

Even though you could possibly work with a wide variety of clients there is a very large case to say you shouldn’t.

What you do is much, much more than a title. What you do needs to be clarified in terms of:

· Who are your clients? (specifically)

· What are their strengths?

· What are their challenges?

· What outcomes are they looking for?

· What benefits can you provide them?

· How will you do it?

The clearer you are about these things the easier it will
be to target your written material, write your website content, create
alliances and partnerships that will benefit all parties, receive referrals and
make sense when you are talking about what you do.

Next Page »