Small Business Blog

Looking at networking as a chore or a strict business activity may blind you to some of the perks out there.

Last night I attended a Biznik workshop in Seattle on pitches and networking. As usual at a Biznik event, I met a few people who were interested in my business as well as some of the people I have come to call friends. Not only that, I got some valuable feedback on my “elevator pitch.”

But perhaps the most interesting development of the night was meeting JR, a singer-songwriter and film composer. On the surface, she may not seem to be my ideal client - she is in an industry I know little about and offers a product, whereas most of my clients are service-based.

Instead of networking with blinders on, however, I spoke to her and learned a little bit about her music. This morning I went to her website to learn more about her and then checked iTunes to see if I could find samples of her music before writing her a “nice to meet you” email.

I love her music! I promptly bought the entire album, and I want to encourage you to check it out as well. It is a folksy soul (is that a real combination?) type of music that really appeals to me, and I’m so happy to have met her last night. Her album Afriqueen Stare is inspired by the life her late sister, Susan, and includes a great version of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide.

So, keep your eyes (and ears) open when networking for more than just your business. You never know who you might meet or how your life might be enriched.

UpstartSmart has a great series of posts going about Law of Attraction and business success. Amber is a smart cookie - she knows that giving not only makes her feel good, it increases her bottom line. And she has a great followup post on the practical side of giving to others in business that you should check out.

The thing I like best about UpstartSmart (and Amber) is that she can take an abstract idea/need/desire and boil it down into reasonable steps so you can actually envision achieving it.

I’m inspired to send a few cards today after reading this!

Respect your business by giving it the protection it deserves.

As you know, I am a huge believer in delegating and outsourcing to get your business where it needs to be. After all, you can’t be an expert at everything, and there are only so many hours in the day.

BUT…you have to maintain control of your business.

Just today I spoke to a potential customer who let her web designer/developer go at the end of their contract. She did not like the website, and after viewing it I can see why. The developer inserted pages of affiliate links to benefit himself as well as some totally unrelated pages linking back to his hobbies.

When she did not renew the service contract with him, he put up a semi-pornographic picture on the front page and told her the site “must have been hacked” and he could fix it for $5000. Not only is her website content unavailable to her right now, she has potential customers coming to the website and being greeted by the image of a scantily-dressed teenage girl smoking a cigarette. There are other details that make this an absolutely heartbreaking small business story, but you get the general idea.

Yes, she has legal options she can pursue, and yes she will eventually gain access to her domain name and probably get damages from this vendor. But it doesn’t do her any good to know this in the meantime while her business is at a complete standstill.

Remember that you have the ultimate say-so in your business…that’s why you are the boss. So keep track of your usernames, passwords, accounts, important documents, and backups. You can certainly have help managing them, but the ultimate ownership should always be yours and never turned over completely to another person. Read your contracts closely, make sure full payment equals full ownership and that you can take your property with you if you no longer want to do business with that person or company.

A quality vendor will never try to hold you hostage to keep you as a customer after your transaction is complete.

The Internet has made the world a much smaller place, but it can still seem overwhelming to monitor what is being said about you and your business. No matter what industry you are in, you will eventually have a disgruntled customer. Many will also have to contend with competitors who try to boost their own reputations by attacking others.

To monitor your name, I recommend Googling yourself. This will remind you of what people see when they look for you. If you have pictures of a racy Cancun vacation on your MySpace page, this might be the time to set that to private if you are developing an online business reputation. Then when you make a great contact you can be confident they will find the professional image you are cultivating when they Google you to find out more information (because they will!).

If you have a somewhat common name, odds are that people will have to determine which information belongs to you. There are a couple of strategies around this:

• Use your picture in profiles, articles and websites to clarify your identity
• Buy your name domain (www.betsytalbot.com) even if you do not choose to do anything with it now. For a mere $10/year you can make sure that a porn star or sleazy politician with the same name as you doesn’t steal your online thunder, or even insure that a competitor can’t buy your name and redirect it to their site.

Setting Up Alerts

Often when something is said about you it may not end up on page 1, which means you won’t see it until it has gained enough traction to make it to page 1. If you have a lot of time and a great memory you could Google your name and keywords every single day and scroll through all the pages (I hope your name isn’t Jane Smith!), but I am sure this is not the best use of your time. Whether you are monitoring who is talking about you or want to know how many times your product or service is mentioned online, Google Alerts is the easiest, cheapest solution for you.

How do you set up a Google alert?

• Go to www.google.com and sign in (if you don’t have an account, set one up take advantage of all of Google’s services - it is free!)
• Click “More” at the top left side of the screen and then “even More” from the dropdown list.
• Click on “Alerts”
• Type in the word or phrase you want to search for
  Use quotes around phrases to be more specific (i.e., “betsy talbot” instead of betsy talbot - without quotes always returns results on any mention of “betsy” or “talbot” on the internet - too many alerts!)
• Select Comprehensive as the type and choose how often you want the report
• Confirm the email address.

It is really that simple! On the time schedule you choose, you will receive an alert every time your word or phrase is used. You can use this to monitor your name, company name, suite of products or services, or even to keep up with the news on industry terms important to you. You can even follow news on your favorite author or business guru.

Monitoring your online reputation is a wise business move, and one that takes little effort and zero dollars.

This is a great post on the etiquette of social networking - don’t miss it!  I especially like the advice about being a giver, respecting the other person’s time, and making sure you have an online presence for your new contact to check out.  Good stuff!

The Simply Effective Guide to Reaching Anyone Online

Editor’s Note: As many of you know, I have been working with an accountability partner for over a year now. She has made a huge impact on my business and personal life, and she has now systemized that approach as part of her coaching services at Upstart Smart. Below is a guest post from the most important person in my business life - Amber Riviere - as well as special deal for Small Business Blog readers for her accountability partner program.

10 Ways an Accountability Partner Can Improve Your Life and Business

1. An accountability partner is objective. S/he doesn’t have a vested interest in the decisions you make, so the advice you receive is not biased or slanted. The goal of your accountability partner is to help you achieve your goals - period.
2. An accountability partner can help you identify the most probable road to success.
3. An accountability partner serves as a sounding board for your ideas. S/he will help you resolve problems and formulate solutions in your life and business.
4. An accountability partner can help you achieve balance in your life by keeping you aligned with your priorities and life’s purpose.
5. An accountability partner can help you achieve greater focus and clarity. S/he can help you stay on track by concentrating on what’s important and by eliminating the clutter and distractions that get in the way of your success.
6. An accountability partner can help you fine-tune your ideas, plans, and strategies.
7. An accountability partner can help you identify your life’s purpose and align your life and business goals to help you achieve it.
8. An accountability partner can help you create a road map for accomplishing your goals.
9. An accountability partner can inspire and motivate you to go after your dreams.
10. An accountability partner can help you find the people, systems, and tools needed to reach your goals quickly and effectively.

If you are starting or running a small business, you need someone who can help keep you on track to achieve your business goals.

Sign up today for the UpstartSmart Accountability Partner Program and receive 2 BONUS WEEKS FREE!*

*This offer expires March 31, 2008. To take advantage of this offer, you must sign up through the link below.

Sign up for the UpstartSmart Accountability Partner Program and receive 2 BONUS WEEKS FREE!

After March 31, 2008, you can sign up here.

There is a reason the flight attendants tell you to put your air mask on before helping the person in the seat next to you. You have to help yourself first if you want to survive in business.

Making sure your company is profitable gives you the means to perform charity/pro bono work long-term and from a position of abundance. Helping everyone else and disrespecting your own needs is an almost sure path to failure.

Many of my friends with service-based businesses have told me their battles with the “coffee date.” They meet someone at a networking event, the person expresses interest in getting to know them, and a date is set up. When my friends arrive, however, they find the date is really not about networking and helping each other succeed; it is about getting free advice.

Coaches, healers, organizers, computer technicians, etc., – they all have a great deal of knowledge as their “product.” No one would ask a widget maker to give away free widgets over coffee, so I’m not sure why it is expected that service professionals would give away free advice. The reason their information is so valuable is that it took them a long time to learn and master it.

If you are a service provider who regularly gets asked to coffee dates that turn into free consulting sessions, here are some tips to get your time back:

• Set up your coffee date via phone rather than email. You can usually find out quickly if the person truly wants to get to know you or just wants the benefit of your expertise.  Even better, make it 3- or 4-some coffee date with a few others you want to get to know.
• While on the phone, ask them the top 3 things you will learn about their business and referral needs and tell them the top 3 things they will learn about yours. This sets the expectation for the give-and-take of a true networking meeting.
• There is nothing wrong with giving away occasional free consulting – if you are doing so by your choice. Make sure you do this deliberately and let your audience know the market value of your services. This helps them appreciate it as well as making sure they don’t tell other people to come to you for similar free sessions.
• Devise a playbook for these situations. I have a mental checklist for new contacts who want to “get to know me better” and you can do the same (this also works well with people who only want to sell to you and are not interested in a true referral relationship).

Some of my entrepreneur friends have come up with terrific ideas for warding off the takers and sussing out true customer leads and networking relationships.

The best by far?

Offer an introductory consulting package with a price that goes toward any of your services. For example, a phone/in-person consultation could go for $150, and if future services are booked that money goes toward the package. If not, the customer got $150 worth out of the first meeting and you both walk away satisfied. Pitch this package for every “iffy” coffee date request and check the response. If you do have a free networking coffee date that goes off track, you can always refer back to this package and let your date know you are happy to help them at that rate.

Remember that as a service professional your store’s inventory is in your head. Treat it as well as you would a product, and in no time you will have the means to offer pro bono work by choice and on a grander scale than you can as a new business owner.

Never underestimate the value staying in touch with your existing customers has on your business. Not only is it easier to sell to an existing customer, they can also refer new business to you or provide testimonials to help you draw in new customers.

Did you send out a holiday card or gift last month along with every other business owner? If so, yours might have gotten lost in the shuffle. A great way to have more of an impact is to choose an alternate holiday to express your appreciation of their business.

Some of my clients like to send Valentine’s Day cards/gifts in a “we love our customers!” campaign. Others choose offbeat holidays like Groundhog Day or April Fool’s.

Since Valentine’s Day is upon us, here are some suggestions for memorable customer appreciation gifts on February 14:

• One of my favorite companies, Affirmagy, is offering their “Love” fleece blankets for $19.99 for the holiday. This is a great gift for your best spa or beauty salon clients, or if you work with newlyweds or brides. Affirmagy is a woman-owned company.
• M&Ms now offers a customizable choice. Buy dozens of packages imprinted with your favorite message or even your logo and give to your customers. If you have an office, keep them in the candy dish in your lobby.
• Show your love for your favorite charity or cause while advertising your business. At Specialty Roast Coffee you can design your own label (with your logo) for a freshly roasted bag of coffee, choose the charity for your donation, and have it sent directly to your customer - all online! One of my customers sent this to me recently, and I love that her gift also benefited one of my favorite charities. Let your customers appreciate your company and a worthwhile charity while enjoying many cups of great coffee.

Do you have a great idea for a memorable and affordable client appreciation gift? Please share it in the comments below. Start planning now - Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it!

Editor’s Note: This post is one of a series of guest blogger articles.

“Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble.”

People ask me - “how to you build so many great relationships?” I am always amazed by this as I find relationships both personal and professional one of the best parts of life. It’s easy to have good relationships if you follow a couple of key pieces of advice.

Listen. There is nothing that people want more than to know someone will truly listen to them. We have 2 ears and one mouth for a reason. Pay attention to what people say. Instead of worrying about catching a bus, paying bills, or letting the dog out- pay attention to who you are with!

People “sense” when you aren’t listening to them - they will allow you to stray perhaps once, maybe twice. After that, you won’t be given another chance. Open up your ears and listen - you just might learn something!

Don’t judge. Being a mortgage professional, I have had the opportunity to see all walks of life, and all types of people. I learned early on not to judge others for surprises await you when you open up your mind and start accepting people. There are challenges we all face in life at all ages.

Accept that we all make mistakes - no one is perfect. Once people know they know you accept them even when they make mistakes or say the wrong thing for example, they will be more likely to trust you. That is the beginning of a long term relationship - trust.

Lastly, enjoy your moments with others. We are all here to be with people - we are not on a deserted island. We belong with others. Enjoy your times with people - they make life interesting!

Janelle Taylor Steinberg is a mortgage banker/broker in Seattle with Cobalt Mortgage (formerly Homestone). Besides having an incredible network of friends and associates, Janelle is an expert at staying in touch in creative and memorable ways. You can reach Janelle at www.janellesteinberg.com or call her at 206.274.2870.

Developing a sounding board is an excellent way to vet your ideas and get valuable feedback on your business plans. Think of it as a board of directors for your small business.

In my circle, I have an accountability partner for weekly check-ins. She has a similar but different business from mine, and we both benefit from the other’s input. Sometimes I like to get input from others in my network, so I have a group of about 10 people I can call on for various things, whether it is a bookkeeping question, a website design opinion, or a marketing strategy.

The important thing to remember is that we are all in business to make money and time is valuable. Don’t monopolize the time of your peers or let them do the same to you (sometimes we get addicted to helping others or getting instant feedback).

How do you develop a sounding board?

• Ask people you admire if they would be willing to give you occasional feedback on ideas.
• Create a few sounding boards - one for marketing ideas, one for customer service plans, one for project management, etc.
• When you need advice, make it easy for your sounding board to help you with concise emails and phone calls. Respect your network.
• Offer the same service to your sounding board. Many times this will give you insight into your own business ideas.

One last bit of advice: Don’t expect your sounding board to make decisions for you. Their input is valuable in helping you see the forest instead of the trees sometimes, but ultimately the decisions are up to you.