Tag: products

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Why You’re Looking at “Time” the Wrong Way

Posted on by Maria Ross

8.23.16 Saving Time (Blog)

We have a funny relationship with time.

When we don’t have enough, we desperately wish we could find more.

When we have too much, we get impatient.

But ask someone “What is your time worth?” and you’ll get conflicting answers.

Entrepreneurs are willing to spend hours on social media, giving away their work for free or banging their heads against the wall launching marketing campaigns that result in zero new sales.

But ask them to spend the time required to make those activities count? Um, sorry. Too busy. Kids. Clients. Launches. Busy work. Errands.

And I’m looking in the mirror here, friend. I do it, too.

Your time is valuable. And that means that sometimes you have to invest it wisely.

Here’s the thing:

If you take a step back and spend the time putting together your brand strategy, getting super clear on your audience and message, developing valuable content, engaging your tribe before selling to them and building a strong foundation, guess what can happen?

You will do less marketing and achieve better results
You will be more consistent and memorable to your audience
You can get better results from fewer marketing tactics
You will stop getting overwhelmed by thousands of decisions
You will stand out from the competition
Your Facebook ads will convert better
Your events will sell out
Your client docket will fill up
Your products will sell
Your message will be heard
You will engage a raving fan base who will hang on your every word
You will win an Oscar! (OK, maybe that’s just in my own fantasy)

Assuming you deliver a quality product or service that people need, of course.

TOUGH LOVE TIME: Please stop wasting your valuable time. Right now. This minute. (TWEET THIS!)

You may think 12 months is too long to master your brand and marketing and slay your overwhelm in my MOMENTUM program.

“Ugh, really? That’s such a long time. I’ve got things to do! Do I have to?”

No, you don’t. You are free to keep spending your valuable time engaging in “random acts of marketing” that don’t work or result in sales.

Or you can spend 12 months with me to build a strong brand strategy and marketing foundation, brick by brick, step by step – all while still taking action each week – so that your precious time (and money) GETS RESULTS.

I’m in a one-year course with this format right now and I LOVE IT. When I’m busy, I just skip the week’s assignment and file it for another time. You can do the same with MOMENTUM. But always, the focus and support keep me moving forward.

You know. It helps me keep MOMENTUM!

We all need to get things done.  But if you want those efforts to be more effective, if you want to engage your audience, end your overwhelm and do more with less, please don’t skip this crucial step.

Make the time, even if it’s not with me.

But, c’mon how much fun will this be?! I invite you to join us in MOMENTUM for a year and see what happens.

I dare you!

 

Image Credit via Flickr

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

How Do You Learn Best? (Free Sample!)

Posted on by Maria Ross

How do you learn best?

Do any of these situations sound familiar?

You bought a digital course for $79. Once you downloaded the files, you never looked at them again.

You went through a week-long, self-guided course and devoted yourself to completing the lessons. And you never did anything with the advice.

You signed up for a four-week workshop and attended every class religiously. You still have your intended actions lying in a notebook somewhere. Actions that you never took.

Yep. All happened to me.

Look, we’re all busy. And I’ve been seduced by the quick-fix promises just like everyone else.

But let’s be real: How many times have your learnings and good intentions simply ended up in a file on your laptop, never to be referenced again?

Finding the right training format to master your marketing and build your business just depends on what you’re trying to learn and which needs you’re trying to meet.

How to set up your Facebook brand page? Maybe a video tutorial is fine.

How to consistently prioritize and build your self-confidence? Maybe you need months of live coaching sessions before you can get there and make real, lasting change.

Before you invest, ask yourself: What is it that I really need in order to achieve my goals, to have an impact? And what format would work best?

Do you need a quick answer, for someone to share all the information with you at once so you can run with it by yourself? Good for you, DIY-er.

Or do you need ongoing accountability and motivation? If you’re busy or easily distracted, do you need to focus your actions so you won’t lose steam?

When I designed my year-long MOMENTUM coaching program, it was to avoid the “quick-hit” syndrome. Right now, I’m in a program with this same format and LOVE IT. Some weeks, the assignments are exactly what I need to move forward and – bam – they get done. Plus I get feedback. If I’m too busy, I keep the lesson for later. Always, the work is at the forefront of my mind so it gets DONE. Oh, and did I mention it’s fun?!

Guidance. Focus. Motivation. Consistent Action.. Ahhhhhhhh!

But….if you’re still on the fence about MOMENTUM, here’s a tempting little gift:

Enjoy a FREE sample of one of the MOMENTUM lessons: It’s a taste of what you can expect each week. But in the real course, each lesson comes served with your own private Facebook group, constructive feedback, Connection Calls, goodies, incentives…and more.

Oooohhh, it’s gonna be good!

Figure out how you learn best, and what you really need–practically and psychologically–to achieve your goals. Maybe the quick-hits that haven’t been working mean you need to shake things up?

Like this? There’s more where that came from! Check out MOMENTUM right here.

Image Credit via Flickr
Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

7 tips on how to create powerful joint ventures

Posted on by Red Slice

Today’s guest post comes from Nancy Juetten, PR strategist, speaker and creator of Bye Bye Boring Business Bio – a great resource if you want to get known and be seen as an expert in your field. She’s built a successful business by creating lucrative partnerships and affiliate relationships. Today she shares her tips on how to foster these joint ventures so that you are exponentially seen, heard and celebrated – by clients and media alike.

Having worked as a publicist for experts and entrepreneurs for many years, advocating for others is a well-honed skill. Earning publicity is all about positioning experts and information in a timely, newsworthy and relevant way so even more people can learn about the top priority that is trend-worthy and useful at the moment.

Getting seen, heard, and celebrated via the media that matter for your message can make big noise and invite more of the right opportunities to connect with ideal clients and others who need to know about whatever it is that is YOUR priority. Media coverage gets people talking, sharing, and taking action. That is powerful for building brand, reputation, and buzz. And, when more people know about what you have to offer, you are more easily found, referred, and hired, and those are outcomes that give business owners everywhere reasons to cheer.

When I first learned about the value of joint ventures for expert positioning and getting the word out, the parallels to the power of publicity were clear to me and also aligned with my skill set. During a joint venture with a strategic partner, colleagues share information that is timely, newsworthy and relevant with their carefully nurtured tribes of fans to build know-like-trust and inspire action. Sometimes, the communication is about sharing a useful report that solves a specific problem. Other times, the communication is about inviting a specific buying action. Either way, the common thread is that the information or offer being extended is relevant, of service, and intended to make a positive impact. The audience for the message is well served, and everyone wins.

So, when I got started with joint venture partnerships in 2006, I started by doing my homework. What steps did I take?

And more to the point, what steps might you take now that your desire to make joint ventures part of your get known to get paid strategy has become crystal clear to you?  Here are suggestions, based on my path so far.

  1. Identify a product or service that your tribe needs, wants, and is likely to invest into to get the benefit or the relief.
  2. Investigate the best-of-breed service providers who offer that solution and start a relationship.  Not a transaction. A relationship.
  3. Learn about and use the product or service to know that it truly is the best available so as to be in a solid position to provide meaningful and credible advocacy.
  4. Invite opportunities to promote the work of high quality partners in the spirit of service to your own tribe.
  5. Deliver on every promise  made, and go the extra mile to deliver results as measured by opt ins and referred sales.
  6. Invite conversations with partners for reciprocal promotions or other creative ways to collaborate for great results, once and all.
  7. Nurture the relationships over time.  By making powerful introductions to other people of influence, being available to mastermind or brainstorm to solve problems, going the extra mile whenever possible, and showing up as a great colleague, co-collaborator, and friend, you can develop lasting and rewarding relationships with your partners.  In doing so, everyone is in great position to serve more of the perfect clients we are here to serve and make a bigger impact through our work.

If you are new to the world of publicity or joint ventures, consider today a NEW day to approach both arenas as students who are serious about learning best practices.  Take action on what you learn.  Keep track of your results.  And keep advancing along the path to mastery.

We all bloom where we are planted and grow from there. In the spirit of authentic visibility, it  gets a bit intimidating at times to see how big some partners play, how well they use technology to their advantage, and how elaborate some of their promotions are.

As much as I’ve learned since starting down this path, there is still so much more to learn and do, and I’ll keep moving forward in a step by step and sometimes leaps and bounds kind of way.

I will also say that it is a privilege to learn from those who are playing big and take the best of what they do and apply it in my own best way to make my own impact with clients and the marketplace.

What I know based on my own experience is that when your advocacy puts your name on the top of a leader board for a joint venture in which many of your industry’s most influential players are participating, that means that people with names you likely recognize will soon be calling your name. And that just might be the most intoxicating benefit of all.

You can listen to a webinar replay I gave about Joint Ventures and gain access to two relevant gifts to guide you forward,

About Guest Blogger Nancy Juetten:

Since 2009, Business Bio Expert and Get Known to Get Paid Mentor Nancy Juetten has earned a reputation as the “go to” expert for helping aspiring experts transform their boring business bios from wallpaper to wow to attract clients now. Access your “Heal Your Boring Business Bio to Attract Clients and Cash Now” gift booklet today, and invite your friends to do the same.

Are joint ventures and affiliate programs part of your business and marketing model? What have you achieved and which people are doing cool things in this area? Please share in the Comments below and get the conversation going!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

3 ways to teach your old ebook some new tricks

Posted on by Red Slice

Today’s guest post is from Dina Eisenberg, AKA the Info Product Doctor.  Dina is all about turning your expertise into a passive income stream that will help you scale and promote your brand far and wide – how much do we love that?! Follow her @DinaEisenberg.

There’s a problem that no solo business owner or coach ever mentions: Excess ebooks.  These are the ebooks that you began but didn’t finish.  The ebooks that represent your last digital product or your work before your business pivot.  Right now, they are sitting on your hard drive waiting to be used.

Kinda like that amazingly beautiful dress you bought because, well,  it was gorgeous and you’ll need it someday (natch). I still have an adorable fuschia silk waiting in the back of my closet for my next cruise.  Never mind that I’ll look like a pink round tennis ball. It’s there to inspire me to get in better shape and dream of new travel adventures.

This post will, hopefully, be your inspiration to repurpose your under-utilized ebook content.  After all, you already spent the time creating it.  Why not put that energy to good use and make some cash from the content?

Recycle your ebook into a new online offering & gain a new income stream (Tweet this!)

What can you do with an aging ebook?  Here are three ideas How about you share your ideas in the Comments, ok?

3 Ways to Repurpose Your Old Ebook

1.Turn your ebook into social media content

Finding more valuable content to share on social media can seem like a job, can’t it?  Even using all the great curation tools like Scoop.it or Google Alerts which bring news to you, it still takes a lot of time to sort, compose, create an image and share.  Gosh, I’m tired just writing that.

Upcycle your ebook by using excerpts as social media posts.  Boost engagement on Google Plus.  Dab a little on your Facebook status.  Pick out a provocative question to ask in your G+ community. Quote an excerpt on Twitter with a link back to your blog.  Share a graph or chart as an infographic.

Hello. I can almost hear your eyes rolling back in your head.  No, this isn’t more work.  Quite the opposite.  Recycling saves you time, provides content and gives you a second shot at brushing up your writing.  By the way, you can find help to get all of this done for you.

2. Give your ebook a makeover

I love to get a few new clothes for spring to refresh my wardrobe and get ready for summer (yeah summer!!!)  Your ebook might do well with a makeover, too.  How about changing your ebook cover?  Their styles go in and out of fashion, too.

Upcycle your ebooks’ looks, inside and out. Most ebooks are created simply without a lot of book design, which is fine. But sometimes the wrong title or cover can impact sales.  An older book with less than stellar sales could be a blockbuster with a new look. One place I see well-intentioned authors go wrong is with  book interiors that are poorly formatted and look amateurish.

Interiors are tough, for sure, if you’re not an inDesign expert.  I’m not. I found two solutions for this.  Joel Friendlander is the book designer who created Book Design Templates  and he’s a genius!  He took what I consider the hardest part of being an independent publisher- book design- and made it dead simple.

You simply select a template.  I’m partial to Focus for non-fiction business books. Nice and clean. Purchase it.  Templates are very reasonably priced for one print-on-demand or one ebook template.  Check the Tool Time here. Try a single license and if you like it you can get a multi-license to use more templates.  You’re not limited to business.  I have my eye on a children’s book template to capture the stories my kids and I made up at bedtime when they were kids.

As for the cover, no worries.  I’ve gotten very good ebook covers on Fiverr.com, the online work marketplace. It’s all about understanding how Fiverr works, setting your expectations correctly and being precise.  I talk more about that in my course Outsource Easier (new release soon)

3. Transform your ebook into an online course

Online learning is very hot right now and it will be for a while.  Smashwords reports that indie publishers will represent 50% of the ebook market by 2020.  As an authority, you can be part of that.  You can teach your online course on a variety of online platforms like Udemy, Lynda.com and Ruzuku.  Don’t have a course?  No worries.

Upcycle your ebook into a new online course offering and gain a new income stream. Your ebook was written to solve a problem or help your tribe achieve a goal. Well, that book can be turned into a self-paced  learning experience. Each chapter could become a module that you further develop to include exercises and tools.  By the way, you don’t have to be a geek.  I made my first course last year with simple tools like Powerpoint, Screenflow and Vimeo.  And whatever technical piece I couldn’t do myself, I outsourced affordably.

To be sure your course is effective and students actually learn I recommend using the ebook, Bottle your Wisdom by Dr. Kelly Edmonds.  Her book solves the problem of crafting your course.  She helps you determine what to include, how to avoid content-crammin, and ways to really engage your students for learning.

What are some other ways you’ve reused ebook ideas? Would your ebook make a good course or webinar? Please share in the Comments!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Beneath the bling: Can you back up your “brand goods?”

Posted on by Red Slice

We all know bling when we see it, right? It’s shiny, sparkly and distracts the eye from a person’s face, outfit or arrogant scowl (talking to you, Tabloid Divas). Crafters love the Bedazzler because it turns ordinary white t-shirts into dizzying love fests of color and light, temporarily blinding people as they walk past you on the street.

We can also use a little sparkle and fairy dust now and then. Hey, I love diamonds, too.

But sometimes brands get a little crazy with the Bedazzler. Instead of fixing their product or service flaws, they hide behind new bright shiny logos, cool websites, clever packaging or slick ads. Or their sales landing pages scream with neon arrows, BUY NOW! blinking icons and 80-feet of testimony and schmooze.

Why?

Maybe they think we’ll just tire out and click Purchase. Maybe they hope to distract us from their horrible customer service or cheaply made goods. Maybe they don’t really know the “10 Secrets to Creating a 6-Figure Business” and feel that with some shouting, sparkle and spitshine, they can fool us.

I don’t know. What I do know is articulating your brand strategy helps you make smarter design, messaging and yes, even packaging choices that promise to the right people what you can authentically deliver. I’m a HUGE fan of clever design and cool concepts. But as Jay Baer states in my upcoming 2nd edition of Branding Basics for Small Business: How to Create an Irresistible Brand on Any Budget (coming Apr 1, by the way – don’t forgot your Launch Week Goodies!) “Polish is the enemy of scale.”

If you have real value to offer and know how it needs to look and who really needs it, you can get away with filming useful and entertaining social media tip videos in your office like Amy Schmittauer (another expert in this new edition). You can publish a neat, well-written Word document turned PDF rather than an overly designed, fancy 90 page interactive worksheet if you can deliver the goods. You can skip the expensive Herman Miller conference room chairs if your tech start-up team is focused on building the best damn product under the sun.

Don’t write a brand check your business can’t cash. (Tweet this!) Instead, focus on continually delivering the right stuff to the right people with the right message and the rest will take care of itself. Bling or no bling.

Photo credit: Brandon Baunach, Flickr

Are you signed up?

My FREE teleseminar 5 Clever Ways to Boost Your Brand Online has limited lines so hurry and snag your spot for Wed, April 2 at 10 am PT/1 pm ET. By attending, you’ll be eligible to win a free signed book, or one of three FREE Brand Bootcamp digitial courses. It’s all part of the Launch Week Frivolity for Branding Basics for Small Business, 2nd Edition, coming next week. And don’t forget all the Digital Swag Bag launch bonuses you can get to boost your business if you purchase the book before April 7. Can’t even tally what it’s all worth!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

3 reasons why you should care about your brand strategy

Posted on by Red Slice

I was so proud to see that a past Red Slice client, Talent Technology, recently officially rebranded the entire company as Talemetry, which was the brand we created initially for their successful flagship software product.

This project was a textbook case for why methodically working on the brand strategy first leads to super successful outcomes. Instead of simply coming in to slap a name and logo on a new product, the first step was a brand strategy session to articulate the company’s overall vision, target customers, and messaging before we brought this down to what that meant for the flagship product. This careful thinking made the product launch and company rebrand so successful that they finally pulled the trigger on adopting Talemetry as their overall corporate identity.

When we embarked on that project, the client knew that “re-branding” was not merely about the visual. It was about how they walked and talked as well: messaging, product development, customer experience. The whole kit and caboodle. And their savvy paid off in a big way.

So I thought this week, we’d all take a step back. Enjoy this video I did for MySourceTV – it’s a refresher course on what “brand” really means and the 3 big reasons (or the 3 C’s as I like to call them) why thinking through and articulating your brand strategy absolutely matters to your success.

What is Brand and Why Should You Care?

When you think about brand in this way, you realize there are many different ways to refresh and reboot your brand that have nothing to do with overhauling a website or spending thousands on new logos and materials. (Tweet!)

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

How to spring clean your brand, business (& life)

Posted on by Red Slice

It’s that time of year again, when the trees bud, the air warms (at least if you’re not in Seattle) and we start to shed our winter cloaks in lieu of open-toed shoes and lighter fabrics. Freeing ourselves from the unwanted weight of heavy parkas and wool mittens feels pretty darn good.
And with that, we also crave shedding some of the crap in our lives with a healthy dose of spring cleaning.

Removing the clutter and streamlining our lives applies equally to our businesses and brands. When we’re lighter and unencumbered, we can better focus and stop clogging our time, brains and business with the things that don’t matter. So here’s a handy guide to how to perform such much needed spring cleaning on your business – but these can equally apply to your life:

Conduct an Audit
What really needs to stay or go? Has your menu of offerings turned into an endless buffet that only serves to confuse customers and distract your focus? Review your current business offerings and keep the ones making you money, while removing the deadwood of those that don’t. Why waste your time and your prospects’ attention on products or offerings that just take up space?

This audit can also apply to your brand. Which messages no longer serve your or your customer’s purpose? Does your website look stale and dated? Has your brand evolved beyond what your materials are currently saying about it? Set aside time and review everything your customers see with a keen eye, and get objective advice on how to clarify, update or tighten up your brand look, feel, message and differentiation.

Review your Partnerships
Sometimes we form business partnerships when it makes perfect sense but things change. Review your best referral sources, from where website traffic comes and perhaps even your affiliate partners. Run the numbers and the time spent and see if you’re getting the most out of these relationships. If there are relationships worth keeping, spend more attention making them really work for you. If they are not fruitful, release the deadwood and clear your mind, budget and schedule. You want to focus on fewer, more meaningful and higher quality partnerships that build you up, instead of sap your strength. PS: This exercise applies to networking groups and social media networks as well.

Clear the Clutter
Is your file system a disaster? Does your inbox overflow? Do you still have digital files from years ago that serve no purpose but to eat up storage space? Take a day to streamline and organize your systems to help make you more efficient in running your business. Consult with a personal organizer if you have trouble letting go. And speaking of systems, take a look at your business procedures and see where you can increase efficiency. Does billing clients take way too long? Do you spend too much time creating that monthly newsletter or managing your calendar? Document the tasks that are not a good use of your time and hire a virtual assistant or consult with an operations expert on how to manage your business better so you can spend more time being brilliant.

What “deadwood” is your business carrying around? What one thing will you do this spring to make your brand clearer, your load lighter and your business more efficient? Please share in the Comments.