Tuesday 12 November 2013

…The Rest of the Story… The Learning Curve


Your EI has run out, and you have taken out early retirement.  So, now you at least are earning $300 a month…woopee!  (They take 30% off for early retirement.)
However, that is not going to pay the bills, Right?  You do have some savings, but that will not take long to burn through, so that is why you have started your own business…Right!
Remember, “Nobody wants you”.  You have sent out tons of resume’s and when you finally got a response, they offered you a little above minimum wage?
Hence, begins the largest learning-curve of your entire life!
You have come all this way in life and have all the wonderful expertise, experience, wisdom and knowledge only to find that it is not enough!  What do you mean!!!?…It’s not enough?!!!
Here are the “goods”.
You now live in a different age… the internet age.  Everything is high-tec.  You need to be engaged with things like email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn.   Oh yes!  You will also need a website/blog site.
No, I don’t mean you need to “get married” to them, however, you will, at times feel like you are.   Tee-Hee!
“How much is this all going to cost me?” you ask.
Probably your house and your first born…J  Not really!  There is light at the end of the tunnel!
Now that your brain feels like it is going to explode because of hyper-expansion, take a deep breath.  Relax and take it all in a step at a time.
Breathe…   Breathe…
Most of establishing your online presence can be FREE!  That’s right…absolutely FREE!  It will cost you some time, however.  Here are some simple steps that you might want to take in order to get started.
  1. Start with one thing at a time.  Have you ever tried to eat an elephant?  Well it seems insurmountable when you look at the huge monster of the whole animal, but if you were to eat it one bite at a time, it would be easily consumed.  (It might take you a few years.  Just the same, I think I’d like my well done, thank you very much!)   …I digress…
  2. Ask yourself  some key questions about your product or service that you intend to offer in the marketplace.  Who are your potential customers? Would it be businesses or private individuals who would purchase from you?  Where are your potential customers located?  For example:  If it would be businesses that purchase from you, then you need to concentrate your efforts through those social media forms that cater more to B2B (Business to Business).  The social media that would apply first would be LinkedIn, then Twitter, then a Facebook Page, and a website.  Oh, yes…and email…we must have email…Oh!  You do have email.  Great!  You are off to a good start.
  3. Pick which of the media you want to engage with first, and work on it until you can understand it and use it with ease before adding something new.   All too often I see people frantically getting all their social media profiles set up at the same time, and they end up confused, or taking even longer to get themselves established with their online presence.  Hence, more customer absenteeism.
You thought you were busy before, eh?  Wait until you hear “the rest of the story.”
The Marketing Mentress
www.marketingmentress.com

Wednesday 16 October 2013

The Call to Action

So there you are, living your life the way you have always been taught . . . living the “Rut-race”. . . travelling the same path day in and day out, and now you are 55+.  The work is familiar to you and you really do enjoy it, even though you are getting a little tired, but you tell yourself you only have a few more years and you can RETIRE!  So that is what you motivate yourself with every day as you get up and go to work.
Until one day when you walk into work and are handed … a “pink slip”, voila, you are magically out of work!  The cushy job you had and thought would continue working at until your official retirement at age 65 has now de-materialized!
Now what?
You check your bank accounts and investments, and realize that you just don’t have the savings and investments you need to live the rest of your life with any kind of lifestyle close to what you have become accustomed.  You are 10, or so, years short of your financial goals.  The Employment Insurance will only last you about 5 or 6 months.
Then what do you do?
You are still vibrant and full of life!  You are intelligent!  You have no signs of dementia . . . perhaps a few aches and pains showing up slightly, but nothing serious.  You are active and exercise regularly.  You still look and feel great!  Why don’t they want you?
Oh yes, you shed more than a few tears!
Even though you feel dejected and rejected, you go out and search for another job and send out hundreds of resume’s . . . only to find that nobody wants you!   “Are they discriminating against me?” you ask,  ”-Or is it my age group?”
But wait!  You receive a job offer!  Whoopee!  Someone really wants you!  The excitement wells up in you and your heart pounds as you open the email!  Everything is just what you were looking for, until you read the last line.  Sadly, they are only offering you a little above minimum wage.
What do you do?
If you accept this offer, you know that you will not even have enough to pay your essential bills, let alone food.  The offer isn’t much above the amount of your EI cheque.  Do you swallow your pride and accept this “new offer” or do you dig your heels in and start your own business?
News Flash!  You are not necessarily being discriminated against!
Businesses are only making a business decision.  If they can hire two people who are half your age and pay them both what you were receiving, it is only economics.  The businesses know that they will be sacrificing some wisdom and experience by hiring someone younger, but they will only be paying them ½ of what they were paying you.  To the businesses, it is worth the sacrifice.  It’s simply business economics.
Here you have all this wisdom, experience, knowledge, great health and energy.  How can you use all this to be of service in the world?
So, you decide to start your own business while you are on EI.  Don’t tell anyone, because you might just be making an income!  Sadly, you don’t, however, and your EI runs out.
How do you get your little business to start paying you?
Read the next post for “The Rest of the Story”.

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The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress
www.marketingmentress.com

Monday 16 September 2013

"I Quit!"

Have you seen someone post on Facebook or Linkedin something like, "I quit!"?

Personally, I have witnessed this many times over the years. They may not state it in so many words, but it is stated through their actions.

The last time I saw a post something like this, I decided to do some research on the person who was "quitting". It did not take long to discover that there was nothing on their Facebook to show what their business was. They didn't even have a "business page"! All I ever saw them post was silly stuff about friends and fluff. I had no idea what they did for a living!

So I took it to the next level. I checked Twitter. That was even worse, so I made a final attempt by checking LinkedIn. Guess what I found? I discovered what their business was! I could not help but reflect on all the times I have read their posts and all this time never knew what they did to "bring home the bacon". No wonder they were going out of business! They never asked for any! You know what? You get what you ask for, pure and simple.

Here are the 3 Massive Mistakes even smart business owners make that prevent them from reaching 6 figure incomes.

Number 3
Using Social Media without a plan.
They use social media without any rhyme or reason and hope someone will see them there and ask what they do. After a few months of non-focused sharing, and getting no business, they give up on social media.

Number 2
Failure to focus on one area and specialize to be different from their competition.
Many new business owners start with an idea that they think will make money for them, and they find out that they are not making the kind of money they need as fast as they need it to come in, so they give up, or add another thing to the mix. Remember that 70% of your potential clients in the marketplace need and want your product or service. Only the top 3% already are looking. The rest need to be educated. 

Number 1
Failure to ask for help.
Asking for help can be asking your connections and associates to help you spread the word about what you do, or collaborating with a business coach on some ideas to get you moving with your business. There are many ways we can ask for help. Know what? People want to help, all we need to do is ask.

Have you found yourself caught here in the treadmill of trying to build your business "flying by the seat of your plans"?  

Here's a secret that I have learned:
The best platform to use for your social media marketing is LinkedIn. Most people in small business do not know how valuable LinkedIn is to them and the prosperity of their business.

I decided to make a difference with my workshops and webinars. When you attend my LinkedIn events, you "get your hands dirty" by bringing your computer to class and working on the spot. We work together to help you get the very most out of your time spent in class. You make connections with the people you want to know and do business with in class, so you are not having to spend more of your valuable time outside class making your LinkedIn work for you. Then you can maintain your LinkedIn on 15-30 minutes, once or twice a day.  That’s it.

Book your seat: MM 101 Doing It Right the First Time, Up Close and Personal

Christine Till
The Marketing Mentress
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