Secrets to Success

Those of you who have spent any time around me, or on the phone with me, or reading my blog have heard me get a little preachy when it comes to Social Media and its marketing capabilities. Especially now, when the economy is giving us “the gift” of more time to plan, organize and market our businesses, I’d like to help you get some great exposure for the hard work that you do. For FREE!Lately, I’ve been busy. Yahoo! In the last week, I’ve been invited to give a workshop to a parenting group in Ontario, I’ve been interviewed for a mini-documentary about my Mom Biz Coach business for a London, ON radio station, and I’ve been asked to contribute an article I’ve written and to consider collaborating with a phenomenal group of women coaches. In fact, I’m thrilled to have just received another invitation to be interviewed by a talk show hostess this morning.How did all this happen? I didn’t cold call anyone. I didn’t take out a large print ad in the local magazines and newspapers. I didn’t pay for specialized SEO for my websites. I didn’t pay for a booth at a networking event. I didn’t send out a press release to anyone. In fact, I didn’t pay for anything and I was probably wearing my pajamas in the comfort of my own home when my marketing was working for me. And rather than “pushing” my marketing message out to the world, I’m “attracting” an audience who is interested in what I do.So what is Social Media? The easiest way for me to think about it is to compare it to a Chamber of Commerce or a small business networking group (like BNI). All of us entrepreneurs know that marketing is important, but we seldom choose to allocate large portions of our budget to it. Instead, we often choose the “free” marketing route of appearing at various business networking events, introducing ourselves to other small business owners, exchanging business cards, and giving and asking for referrals.I did this for the first two or three years of my business. But then, when I moved across the border to Windsor, and had no babysitters for these morning Chamber/BNI meetings, I started seeing just how much these “free marketing” opportunities were costing me in time and headaches. As a mom of three kids aged six and under, attending a weekly 7am coffee at the local chapter of BNI simply doesn’t work. So how can we mom business owners effectively network, give and get referrals, and in general get the world “buzzing” about our businesses?Enter Social Media! You may also have heard some other terms associated with it, like Social Networking, Social Marketing, Viral Marketing, etc.Here’s the skinny:Social Media is a fast, professional, easy and effective way to market your business. And in my own humble opinion, it beats using the traditional methods (print ads, radio ads, tv ads, booths at tradeshows, etc.) since it is 1) free and 2) working for you when you’re not even awake!Some examples of Social Media I’m using are LinkedIn, Facebook, twitter and my wordpress.com blog. There are countless others out there, but I’m going to focus on the ones I use. Each of these sites allows me to set up an account for free. I create a profile of my business (including my bio/resume sometimes, or my background and interests, or my expertise on a certain topic), upload a professional photo of myself, and include links to all my other sites (websites, blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook and twitter accounts).All of these media allow me to build my online network by making connections (LinkedIn), inviting more friends (Facebook), increasing my followers and the people I follow (twitter), and offering an RSS/subscription service (blogs). Just as you would build your professional network via business card exchanges, referrals, attending networking events, etc., you build your community of people you are interested in and who are interested in you. Unlike traditional networking and marketing, you don’t have to hire a babysitter, dry clean your suit, and spend time commuting to and from your home or office. In fact, I do most of my social networking just two or three minutes at a time with at least one child on my lap. As a coach, I’m in the services business. I don’t have a product (other than myself) to sell (yet!). My intention when I market my business is to get people to know, like and trust me. People like to buy from people they know, like and trust. Of course, you can use Social Media platforms to socialize with friends and family, but the reason I use it for business is because I find the online business community to be extremely approachable. I am able to introduce myself and be introduced to others by typing a quick message like, “Hi! I love your work. Look forward to learning from you!” In very little time, I usually get a message back. There: a virtual handshake that’s informal, yet powerful. And if this new contact is interested in learning more about me, s/he can do so via my profile, which in turn links them to my websites, blogs and other Social Media platforms. After reading about me in these platforms, a potential client is pre-qualified to do business with me since I explain how I work, what I offer and what I charge on my website. So you see, I can end up with a pre-qualified sales lead as a result of typing 11 words and hitting send. How easy is that?And it can be even easier. Since most Social Networking platforms (like LinkedIn, Facebook and twitter) allow all of my friends/connections to see who I’m connected to and to read my posts, I often get messages from people who are “friends of my friends” who I never contacted directly. This passing of information continues to spread, like a virus (hence the term “viral marketing”) to all of my friends, then to their friends, and so on. And it travels fast!So this is where I’ll end my first installation about Social Media and why you should be using it to promote your business. I hope you’ll take a peak at some of the options out there. I’ll go into greater depth about how it works (including some examples) and offer some resources for more information in the next two issues of my ezine. If you have questions, please ask. I’m excited to help you grow your business

For many entrepreneurs networking is a must to build your contact list the fastest way possible. After all, networking is one of the least expensive, most effective forms of marketing that you can do!

Besides if you have no customers yet and nothing to do – you have to do something! Networking is also the best way to build relationships; no other form of marketing or advertising can do this for you. People buy from people they like and connect with.

I’ve been self employed for five years and I’m still networking; I’m just more selective now on where and who I network with. When I first started out I joined four local chambers, a women’s organization and a leads group and I was at every event all the time.

As my business started picking up, I reduced the number of groups I was involved in and remained in only those that were the best fit for me and that brought me the most clients. I was extremely active in those that I stayed in so that I would be well known; basically I became the Go-to-Gal for my industry and associations.

This is what you want. You want for others to see you as the expert in your field. The key is though to be selfless, generous and knowledgeable in the process.

These days I’m networking even online through various social networking sites like MySpace, business networking sites like LinkedIn and FastPitch and other membership sites that I belong to too but this all takes time and finesse as well.

Rarely do I see very many really good networkers though so I urge you to learn more, practice your skills, focus on giving to others and really work at becoming the best networker you can because it will pay off with more customers and bigger profits.

Here are a few habits that a good networker typically exudes; they will:

* Go with a goal

* Be prepared, mentally and with materials

* Arrive early and stay late

* Work the room

* Master their ‘commercials’ and alter them as needed

* Introduce others around

* Pass people off nicely and move on

* Ask questions of the other person

* Know to listen more than they talk

* Take notes on cards

* Quickly and repeatedly follow up

So, how to you match up? What are you doing?

One thing I want to remind you of is that no matter which ones you are doing if you are NOT doing the very last one listed – the FOLLOW UP – then I can tell you right now that you are absolutely wasting your time (and money) doing the networking in the first place!!

I can’t stress to you enough that if you find yourself not being able to get your follow up done – then figure out someone to delegate this to. It’s worth whatever it costs to pay someone to do this for you because it could mean the difference between one sale and fourteen sales!

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Few areas of business attract as much attention as entrepreneurship, and few aspects of entrepreneurship attract as much attention as a business plan. Increasingly, business plan competitions are springing up across the world, partly helped by the marketing gimmicks of business schools. Indeed, judging by all the hooplas surrounding business plans, you might want to ask yourself what happen to all those eventual winners, many of those MBA graduates would no doubt went on to work in investment banks, drawing huge bonuses managing venture capital and private equity funds rather than taking the uncertain path of entrepreneurship.Nothing could be further from the truth, in my experiences with the hundreds of entrepreneurial startups, business planning persistently ranked as one of the least important aspects of entrepreneurship. In fact, most wasted too much time and effort on numbers rather than actual implementation and the more elaborately crafted the documents, the more likely the venture would flop. Don’t misunderstood me, business plans are necessary for the eventual entrepreneur to soul search and clarify to himself his actual thought process, address unforeseen issues and to analyze likely market competitions and potential structural changes.There are plenty of existing business plans templates you can google on the Internet. On will provide an automatic formula for winning. Rather, business plans are meant to be temporary and subject to changes all the time. There is no need to follow the execution plan step-by-step. Rather, the general strategy should comprise of the following three core of interdependent factors critical to new ventures:a) People – The people starting and running the startups. Without the right people, nothing else really matters. “I invest in people, not ideas.”, is the famous saying of Arthur Rock, a legendary venture capitalist associated with the likes of Apple and Intel. The men and women involved should also include third parties providing key support and resources to the venture.b) Business Profile – The profile of the business itself. Selling the right thing is a battle half-won. These include questions like who will be the expected buyers, how fast can the business grow and what factors stand in the way. The business owners need to be specific on where the source of income is going to come from.c) The Big Picture – Social and technological evolution that are beyond the control of any entrepreneurs. Imaging trying to sell pagers 10 years ago. For this particular factor, would entrepreneurs must prepare to eventually cut their loss and stopped their businesses or switched to another products and services should situations changed. Many successful ventures adapted to new market environment and were in very different lines when they first started. This is also where a shift in market environment can turn an unattractive idea into a highly profitable ones.Good business planning is like a video show into the future, and discuss people, business profile and the big picture as a moving target. Be prepared to tear up the original plan and go back to re-write it as you move on.

Teachers and educators, are you finally ready for a change? You have successfully handled a classroom full of rambunctious kids all year and successfully taught them their lesson plans and how to do their ABCs and math. You encouraged, taught, and showed them exactly what it takes to learn and to be the best they can be. But now it’s your turn. Time to put yourself first and start on your journey to do what’s right for you. Time to finally begin your entrepreneurial dream of starting your own business or perhaps adding a supplementary income to your teacher’s salary. Time to do something just for you. And with summer right around the corner, the timing couldn’t be better. Plus, parents will spend over $4 billion nationwide this year on academic tutoring, with a predicted growth of 12 to 15 percent a year. You can see that now is the perfect time for teachers and others to consider starting their own home-based business in the hot educational industry.

The problem is finding the right business. One that can use your expertise and skills and will afford you the opportunity to not only make a great income, but feel the personal growth and satisfaction that comes with owning your own business. You want a business with a proven track record of success and one that can easily help you achieve a six-figure income. But perhaps the most important component of becoming an entrepreneur is finding a business that gives you the same personal satisfaction that teaching does, allowing you to help others, especially children. You know you can make a difference and you want that same feeling of gratitude and pride to continue outside of the classroom.

Is there such a business? The good news is, there is. Starting a home tutoring business is a perfect match for teachers and educators, women or men entering the workforce after staying home to care for family, or people who worked in Corporate America for many years and want a change. Whether you want to earn extra money or leave teaching all together and start your own business, starting a home tutoring business is the right choice. There is nothing better than being your own boss and making great money, even surpassing the income you made when employed by someone else – all from your home office on your own schedule.

So what exactly is involved in starting your own home tutoring business? Here are some of the facts, but we also encourage you to stop by our site, Home Tutoring Business, http://www.hometutoringbusiness.com for additional information.

By starting your own home tutoring business, you become a tutor broker, where you manage a network of professional teachers and educators, matching them with students in need of one-on-one in-home tutoring. In a sense you are establishing a home tutoring referral network in your community. The owner of the business, you, becomes a matchmaker, or broker, matching qualified tutors and teachers with children in need of individualized tutoring. Revenue is earned by splitting the fee for tutoring services with your tutors and teachers. The more hours you bill, the more income you will make. The potential for making money is virtually only limited to the amount of students for which you are willing to provide tutors.

All of the tutoring is done in the privacy of the child’s home. Clients love the convenience of this service because they do not have to drive anywhere to have their children tutored. Kids love it because there is no peer pressure to perform. They are in the comfort of their own home with the undivided attention of a dedicated teacher/tutor. Our experience has been that children learn better from individualized, private instruction. One does not get that at a busy learning center. You will be taking the time to get to know the student and family and matching them with a tutor who can help them with their academic needs, personalities and learning styles. This one-on-one attention is effective and offers parents the convenience of not having to drive their children anywhere to get quality, individualized tutoring.

The tutors you hire enjoy it because you have it all set up for them. They don’t have the expense of advertising for students, they can work with families that have signed a tutoring contract and have been “pre-screened” by you. The tutoring is consistent (we suggest at least one hour a week per subject per student) and they can pick and choose their clients and make their own schedules based on how far they want to travel and what subjects and grades they can tutor. Tutors love the flexibility and the constant stream of business being offered to them. It’s a win/win for all.

Laurie Hurley, the president of Home Tutoring Business, has been matching tutors with students since 2001 connecting over 150 qualified tutors with pupils throughout Southern California, and successfully assisting hundreds of students by matching them with dedicated professionals. During the peak school months, Hurley’s list of qualified instructors is extensive, and her clientele upwards of 200 kids tutored on any given evening during the school week. And, since 2005 Hurley has been offering her Home Tutoring Business Package to entrepreneurs wanting the same opportunity, to start their own tutoring referral business. Hurley offers entrepreneurs a program that provides all the necessary tools including a website and access to a customized accounting software program, as well as a detailed business manual.

Hurley states, “When I started out I made some mistakes, learned from them, and developed a distinct style of marketing myself and my business. At times I learned the hard way what didn’t work. It often cost me money, but I used every opportunity to improve upon my service and expand my home-based business. In the Home Tutoring Business Manual© I share my successes and failures and give the buyer the knowledge and business ideas to build a successful company. One of the hardest aspects of starting a new business is feeling like you are doing it alone. With HTB, our business packages provide on-going support and advice, which is like having a personalized business coach and mentor to help you grow your business.”

Home Tutoring Business Packages provides the personal accomplishments and financial freedom of being a business owner with its easy step-by step format. You don’t have to be a tutor or have any background in education. HTB gives you the entrepreneurial edge to create a lucrative tutoring service, matching qualified educators with students for private in-home tutoring. Hurley has been featured in various periodicals from Entrepreneur Magazine and Woman’s World Magazine, to Inside Business Newspaper to name a few and is receiving national recognition for her works.

One tutor broker, Jane Saeman, from Orange County, California had this to say about the program, “I was looking for a business that was “All ready to go” and all I had to do was implement it and continue to work it, but that I wouldn’t have to pay monthly franchise fees. Another requirement was not to pay an enormous amount for the business that I would be starting. Add in an ability to create my own flexible schedule and an unlimited amount of money I could make (depending upon how much time I wanted to put into the business) and I had found what I had been looking for. Now that I have bought and implemented the business, I am very much impressed by how thorough Laurie has been in putting it all together. The concept, the manual, the forms, the website, the marketing materials and suggestions and the ability to know that any question I need answered is “just an e-mail away” have all contributed to my being able to build a substantial business that is continuing to grow.”