What's holding your business back? Some days its cranky prospects and customers; occasionally it's employee, supply chain, or financing issues that get out of control -- but some days it's just YOU. Successful executives, it is sometimes said, are motivated by a grandiose belief in their own abilities; successful entrepreneurs, by a desire to prove their abilities to themselves and the world.
Many great entrepreneurs come out of dysfunctional families, UC Berkeley's Lean Launch Pad professor Steve Blank points out. Their chaotic childhoods help them learn a resilience that works well in the chaos of a start-up:
Founding a company is a sheer act of will and tenacity in the face of immense skepticism from everyone, Blank says —investors, customers, friends, family, and employees, to name a few. The founder takes his or her vision of the opportunity—one only he/she may see...to execute against all rational odds ... product development and customer input collide, the facts change, the business model changes, and stuff happens.
Anyone who can’t manage chaos and uncertainty, isn’t totally oriented for action, and has no sense of urgency, is in the wrong business.
via www.inc.comDysfunctional Family? You'd Make a Great Entrepreneur | Inc.com
There's a downside when things start going well, though. If you are energized by crises and uncertainty, success can seem boring. You may not even recognize it when you come up with new ideas, or disrupt the smooth flow of your business, because chaos is your comfort zone. Currently I'm watching one entrepreneur whose genius I've admired completely dissassemble a successful brand and head in a new direction. In his wake is a tribe of loyal, committed customers scratching their heads wondering what services the company offers now and where do I fit? A woman who has been extremely successful brokering national media for her organization advertises new services so often it's hard to tell which is what -- creating a paralyzing confusion for prospects and leaving existing subscribers in the dust. Both are brilliant entrepreneurs who seem to be getting in the way of their own success because they don't think they are good enough, or growing fast enough. As marketing strategies for small business, they seem disruptive. Hopefully their brands and messages will get clear before their customers wander off.
Want to look at your own company in this light? Here are some questions to get your thinking started: Look back at interactions with your employees or contractors -- are you allowing them to do their jobs, or micro-managing and getting in their way? Do you hire experts to coach or advise you in areas that are not your expertise, then ignore or argue with their advice? When things are rolling along smoothly, do you tend to come up with a new idea or new direction before your customers, contractors or employees are ready? You might need a good dose of Wabi Sabi.
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese notion that beauty is not perfect. It is seeing the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete -- modest and humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional... So what is Wabi Sabi for a small business? Taking a deep breath, recognizing and accepting with humility your own imperfections and those of your team. Seeing them as the right kind of imperfection, like asymmetry in a bowl that shows the handmade craftsmanship, instead of a perfect, but soul-less, machine-made bowl. Celebrating your successes with the team who helped you achieve them and dialing back on striving for the much more you think you "should" be achieving. "Sabi" in Japanese, is the kind of beauty that can come only with age, such as the patina on an old bronze statue. For you it means recognizing that building a business requires time -- 3-5 years say the retired C-level advisors at Score. Discounting yourself, your support team and your business for not achieving great things within that first five years only drains away your momentum. Whether you are a sole practitioner, leader of a large organization, or doing small home business marketing, Wabi Sabi is that balance point between keeping your operation energized and getting your anxieties and need to be seen as brilliant out of the way.
For more on Wabi Sabi look at: Wabi-Sabi: For Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, by Leonard Koren ISBN 1880656124
or http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WabiSabi
About the Author:
If you are ready to take your business vision to the next level, let Maggie Anderson Words That Work help you look at all the new media marketing solutions for small business today and become more visible and credible as a leader in your industry. Maggie Anderson is a communications coach and marketing expert and provides simple, step-by-step programs for small business executives and professionals, coaches and consultants. She helps you find effective communication strategies to develop your personal or company brand, stand out and attract more opportunities using social media, blogs, Web content, speechwriting and presentations, white papers and other effective communication tools.
Or Do It Yourself with her Marketing Kit for Experts that shows you how:
January 19, 2012
January 10, 2012
January 02, 2012
Stillness: Source of New Ideas
The 17th century philosopher Blaise Pascal said: all of man's problems come from his inability to sit quietly in a room alone. And they didn't have internet, email or iPads back then! Around this time of year there is usually a lot of energy around making lists and getting a fresh start and I wanted to make a different suggestion. Schedule time to do nothing. At Intel they scheduled engineers to have 4 hours of uninterrupted time every Tuesday morning just to hear themselves think -- and it was so unusual (apparently the usual is about 3 minutes of uninterrupted time) and had such an impact that at the end of the experiment the participants recommended extending it to everyone in the company.
I just returned from the longest getaway I've ever taken -- two weeks at a wonderfully quiet beach where there is almost nothing to do. We had a partial excuse because we were having work done at our house, but I have to admit, I was lazy. Having two weeks meant I didn't have to start right away "planning" how to enjoy my vacation. I walked on the beach under brilliant blue skies -- only when I felt like it. I listened to the waves, wrote, fell in love with the BBC series Doc Martin and read. My family and I biked at a leisurely pace, played a lot of bananagrams and Settlers of Catan and tried out some interesting new recipes.
You probably think I'm going to say something earth-shaking or deeply transforming happened. It didn't. I was finally able to help my husband start his blog, which has turned out to be even more amazing than I thought it would be. I started two poems. And he and I were able to reconnect in ways our crazy schedules don't usually allow. What it did make me realize is that our usual pace is only possible in fast forward -- and that cuts way back on time for the human connections and the beautiful, satisfying and sustaining details of what we are experiencing. Worst of all, it leaves no time for the solitary reflection that allows our imaginations to connect the dots of all those experiences and reframe them into the ideas & passions that keep us moving forward instead of running on our hamster wheels. We tell ourselves you can do this, numb out everything so we can keep going, but get nowhere, then feel more pressure to do more to get ahead. Do you see how this can become a seriously vicious cycle?
Don't give in to the pressure that you "should" be making a new start this January. If you believe there is something creative and valuable in you, find ways to be still this year and allow it to surface.
And if you think that sounds too airy-fairy for a serious, success-oriented business person, go ask Intel what were they thinking?
About the Author:
If you are ready to take your business vision to the next level, let Maggie Anderson Words That Work help you look at all the new media marketing solutions for small business today and become more visible and credible as a leader in your industry. Maggie Anderson is a communications coach and marketing expert and provides simple, step-by-step programs for small business executives and professionals, coaches and consultants. She helps you find effective communication strategies to develop your personal or company brand, stand out and attract more opportunities using social media, blogs, Internet, speechwriting and presentations, white papers and other effective communication tools.
Or Do It Yourself with her Marketing Kit for Experts that shows you how:
December 23, 2011
November 24, 2011
November 07, 2011
How To Change Your Twitter Handle : Technology :: American Express OPEN Forum
Instead of creating a new Twitter account, head over to the Account tab on Twitter.com. There, you can change your username, as well as your e-mail address and security settings.
You'll also want to visit the Profile tab to update your picture and bio. In the bio section, it's wise to let your followers know—for the next few weeks, at least—that you've changed your account username, and that you'll continue to receive all of their @replies and direct messages at your new username.
With the success of my book, I wanted to shift my branding to "Do You Stand Out Enough?" but thought I was stuck with the Twitter handle I came up with before I knew what I was doing :~) Nice to know you are now free to align your Twitter name with the rest of your branding without losing all your followers. From now on you'll be seeing me as "DoYouStandOut?" on Twitter!
October 21, 2011
Building A Brand That Breaks Through The Noise
Branding is a way to boost your visibility and help your small business marketing efforts produce more results. As a small business marketing consultant I've noticed that entrepreneurs often hurt themselves by going too big or too small in their efforts to create a strong brand. Branding is not an action -- it's a process. It's not a big transformation you budget time and money for "when business picks up next year" but strength that builds gradually. Regular and consistent steps that build credibility, appreciation and trust for your company, your products, your services is what builds a strong brand. This article from David Brier at Fast Company has some insights about branding that are thought provoking. I picked a few favorites -- find all nine by following the link below. Looking for new marketing strategies for a small business or professional practise? Pick one of these and use it as a lens to look at your brand -- what is one step you can take next week to strengthen it?_________________________
Every business owner and CEO has the right to a superior brand. One that's meaningful. Powerful. Long-lasting. Inspiring. And effective. Here is our 9-step program to building a brand that cuts through the noise:
- We know there are thousands of ways to solve any problem and that the only valuable solutions are the effective ones. Doing something ineffective in half the time--or "more efficiently" or “more economically”--isn't progress, but is instead bad business.
- Social media isn't a brand strategy. Social media is a channel. While it’s important for a brand to develop something to say, it’s more important to create something that will be heard.
- Consumers and clients have a first moment when they discover a brand. It’s this defining moment that establishes expectation and perceived value. Delivering on that value will determine whether your company thrives or merely stumbles along.
- Brands that use clichés to promote their brand end up promoting their category, not their brand.
- Growth and brand dominance is created by having the highest brand value, not the lowest price tag. One can always sell something by offering the lowest price. But this does not create loyalty to your brand. Never did and never will. It only creates "loyalty" to that price point. As soon as your customer is offered a better price, he or she will jump ship, leaving you like a scorned lover in the middle of the night.
About Maggie Anderson Words That Work
We are small business marketing consultants with hands-on experience. Maggie formed Words That Work after 20 years founding and operating her own communications business. A registered corporate coach with the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches, Maggie and her team now help professionals and business owners discover strengths that make their company unique; claim a lucrative niche in the market and attract their ideal prospects. Her book Do You Stand Out Enough? is a compact, step-by-step branding and marketing guide for consultants, coaches, professionals and entrepreneurs who want to spend more time doing what they are good at and less on marketing. Discover the marketing guide for experts here.
October 05, 2011
Excellence and Creativity at Work
I saw the amazing violinist Joshua Bell perform with the Symphony on Sunday, and was reminded how moving unself-conscious excellence can be. Bell glides about the stage seemingly pulled and played by his violin rather than the other way around! Fully wrapped in music creation, he seems to give himself over to focus on the music with little on himself. The result is a unique and moving sound. How does this help your small business marketing efforts? Stay with me and I promise a very short marketing course that I hope will spark some innovative ideas for you. There has never been a time when entrepreneurs had so many new media marketing solutions available, but as many of my clients complain, they do require work and constant creativity and innovation from us.
Joshua Bell's kind of deep, creative focus is satisfying for the player and for the audience who experiences his uplifting, regenerative performance. As I work with entrepreneurs on how to stand out, I help them differentiate their company by defining a niche based on their strengths and work they are passionate about. If they achieve that kind of full satisfaction for themselves they can more easily delight and engage their ideal prospects. This analogy may seem like a stretch if you are putting out fires and racing to catch up all day at your desk. I admit it is -- but wait a minute. Joshua Bell was playing full force -- if you follow your passion it's not that the the work is easy, but it is fully satisfying. Look at these comments about the role of play, creativity and innovation at work from a world reknown American design firm, IDEO:
To me, play is what you're passionate about doing. You want to do it because it's enjoyable and you want to keep doing it because it brings you joy. But play is a ton of effort. ... The core difference we're trying to incorporate at IDEO is that play is part of the innovation process not just something you do when you roll out the ping pong tables ... it's about pushing the boundaries and discovering something. (From Brendan Boyle and Joe Wilcox of the award-winning global design consultancy, IDEO)
Recently I spent a weekend writing poetry with John Fox. He would read us a few poems, then pick a few lines as starters and give us the loosest of boundaries: Where can you go with that? What does that move in you? And our group of would-be poets went off with trepidation and no ideas, but came back with bits of experience made into sometimes amazingly graceful lines of poetry. The day went by disappointingly fast.
One of the perks of being an entrepreneur is the freedom to innovate, create. Please share some of your favorite ways to spark your own creativity. How do you push your boundaries, add play or a deep creative focus to your day to innovate and improve performance? Let us hear from you!
_________________________
If you are ready to take your business vision to the next level, let us help you look at all the new media marketing solutions for small business today and help you create more visibility and credibility as a leader in your industry. Maggie Anderson is a communications coach and marketing expert and provides simple, step-by-step programs for small business executives and professionals, coaches and consultants. She helps you find effective communication strategies to develop your personal or company brand, stand out and attract more opportunities using social media, blogs, Internet, speechwriting and presentations, white papers and other effective communication tools.
Or DIY with the Marketing Kit for Experts that shows you how:
September 28, 2011
3 Steps to Maximize Your Networking and Stand Out in the Room
Yesterday I tried out a game with an audience that was a stark wake-up call. There were about 25 attendees, most had been together multiple times before, and each person in the group stood up to do a 30-second introduction. Then I asked them to write in one sentence on a card the one thing they wanted everyone in the room to remember about them and their company when they left. At the end of my presentation about 30 minutes later I read out the "memorable" sentences from the cards and invited people to guess which person it belonged to -- to keep things exciting I tossed a candy bar to anyone who got it right! Of the half dozen or so cards I read, the audience got only one right. If we'd had time to read all of them it would have been even more painful. I didn't intend to be mean, but it was a stark reminder how difficult it is to distill a clear, compelling message that tells others quickly what you do, what differentiates you and makes you stand out. And getting it right may be the most important thing you do for your business!
Think about it: if all 24 of the other people in a room understand exactly what you do, and how it could benefit someone, what possibilities does that open up?
You X 24 =
Questions. When people you meet are confident they have a basic grasp of what you do, they are more likely to explore further by asking questions. A 30 or 60-second introduction is not likely to make a sale, but questions that let you explain more about how you can meet their specific needs do!
Referrals. When others are clear what you do and have simple, memorable words to express it they can confidently connect you with their networks. It's easy to see how connecting with the networks of 24 other people in the room could geometrically expand your market!
Opportunities. You know your business well, but I'm sure there are opportunities for growth you are simply unaware of. One woman told me afterwards she got a great lead from the meeting because something she said in her introduction made someone else think of someone who should be doing business with her.
Your Soundbite Introduction
A clear, concise and compelling introduction is one of your most important business assets today and there are three basic elements it needs to include:
- Who do you work with? Be very specific about which groups or what singular characteristics identify people who are good clients for you. The more specific you are, the easier it is for those people to recognize that you can help them and say yes to learning more.
- What is the need, problem or pain they are experiencing? There's time enough for you to explain later the ins and outs, features and benefits of what you offer and how you work with people. When you clearly define the need that motivates people to come to you, and how your product or service meets that need, your ideal clients will self-select and connect with you and the others will move on so they don't waste your time.
- How does working with you fix it? If they are still listening, here's where you give them a taste of the relief they will feel when they become your client. From birth on, all human beings naturally move towards comfort and away from pain, so when you give someone a compelling opportunity to get relief from a real need, you move them a few steps closer toward a decision to buy from you.
We entrepreneurs are a creative bunch, and we have a hard time repeating the same message over and over. You'll hear it dismissed as "rehearsed" or an "elevator speech" but don't be fooled. What you say in the first few minutes of introducing yourself to someone can have a very big impact on future business. Finding words that work to concisely, precisely communicate to your ideal prospects is an art worth spending precious time and effort on.
Wishing you and your business great networking and growing prosperity... Maggie
_________________________
If you are ready for the right words or a bigger presence in your market, let us help you look at all the options today for creating more visibility and credibility as a leader in your industry. Maggie Anderson is a communications coach and marketing expert and provides simple, step-by-step programs for small business executives and professionals. She helps you find effective communication strategies to develop your personal or company brand, stand out and attract more opportunities using social media, blogs, Internet, speechwriting and presentations, white papers and other effective communication tools.
Or DIY with the Marketing Kit for Experts that shows you how:
September 06, 2011
Play to Your Audience
Maybe it's because I came up in the theater. There's a strict rule for actors -- if the audience is restless, not engaged, not applauding, it's not a bad audience, it's bad acting! The same applies to business, and if you've been whining about working hard and getting little response this summer it's all up to you to change that.
That's why I loved this comment from one of my social media mentors who really gets it, Kathy Colaiacovo at Time on Task VA Services. Many of Kathy's clients and mine just don't see the point of Twitter for their small businesses. I just did a VIP One-day with an Atlanta Executive Homes advisor who is amazingly savvy on the internet -- he gets 200,000 hits to his Website every month! But in our session he was totally opposed to using Twitter. Here's what Kathy C. says about that:
One of the top social sharing tools you should include on your website is a Twitter Retweet button. Some small business owners laugh when I say this, and they laugh because they are not using Twitter and see no reason for having anything to do with it on their website. My answer is always: “What about your website visitors? They probably are using Twitter, or at least a good number of them.”
And then the light bulb moment comes… “Ohhhh, right.. “
Having a ReTweet button means visitors can share your website and links with their contacts and followers on twitter. You do not need to be a part of this, but you need to provide the tool for them to do so. There are many options for adding this to your site: Directly via code created by Twitter or if you have a WordPress self hosted website there are many plugins you can add that include a Retweet button for your site, in fact there are some that let you pick and choose from some of the top ones: Twitter, Facebook Like and Share buttons, Google plus and many more.
So take a quick peek at your website… have you made certain that your site is a social place for visitors??
Companies used to be able to Push marketing messages out to their target market but this Outbound Marketing methodology no longer works the way it did. One of the primary shifts that works really well in the new Pull or Inbound Marketing paradigm is giving others the tools to market your business for you. Satisfied clients, colleagues, family and friends are willing referral resources. Give them an easy way to pass on your expertise and great content. ReTweet!
If you are ready for a bigger presence in your market, let us help you look at all the options today for creating more visibility and credibility as a leader in your industry. Maggie Anderson is a communications coach and marketing expert and provides simple, step-by-step programs for small business executives and professionals. She helps you find effective communication strategies to develop your personal or company brand, stand out and attract more opportunities using social media, blogs, Internet, speechwriting and presentations, white papers and other effective communication tools.
Or DIY with the Marketing Kit for Experts that shows you how:
My Other Accounts
Recent Posts
- Turning Marketing Strategy Into Action
- Enough is Enough! Get Control of Your Stuff
- Stillness: Source of New Ideas
- 5 Things You Should Never Say While Negotiating | Inc.com
- Enjoy Thanksgiving -- What You Do Matters
- How To Change Your Twitter Handle : Technology :: American Express OPEN Forum
- Building A Brand That Breaks Through The Noise
- Excellence and Creativity at Work
- 3 Steps to Maximize Your Networking and Stand Out in the Room
Step-by-Step Marketing Programs for Consultants, Coaches & Entrepreneurs
Recent Comments