Archives for Jan 2010
Don't Let Price Be An Issue
With the economy in the state it's in, everyone running a business or managing their personal finances, are starting to tighten the purse strings. Inevitably that means that many of my clients are either not buying as much or not buying at all. One of the reason that I've heard lately, is that the price is just too much. The funds used for the products I usually provide, are being used in other places.
In order to combat the issue of price, I have developed the following steps to move past pricing objection:
Cloning Isn't So Bad
There never seems to be a shortage of cloning news, either on TV or on the Internet, and as I write this post (late at night), I'm starting to wonder if it's really that bad after all. Today was one of those exciting days, one of the days that I enjoy the most. Today I got to meet a new client, and the best part about it was that this new client came to me as from a reference. That's right, good work has finally paid off and now other clients are passing my name along to their friends and associates.
Getting new jobs by way of referral is great, but remember, there is added pressure when taking one of these opportunities. The person that referred you has put their reputation on the line for you, and you surely don't want to disappoint them either. However the real point of this wasn't about making sure you do a good job for each client, the point was how I felt as I was driving away from this client.
Expect the Unexpected
How many time have you heard expect the unexpected? I thought today was going to be one of those lazy Sundays where I would watch some football and play with the kids. Well that is what happened until I went to turn on my computer, and then BEEP BEEP..... BANG! Nothing. Yeah my computer crashed and I hadn't backed it up for a while. Which means, I lost EVERYTHING. All those contacts I was keeping, and all the detail information about customer and potentials is now gone.
The Little Things Count
Remember when you were a child and your mom use to tell you that it isn't the amount you spent on the present, it's the thought that counts? We've all heard that, whether it's from a family member or a Disney movie, we all know what that means. When it comes to business it's absolutely the same way. The little things that you do for a customer can be the difference between getting the sale and not.
Being a small business means I have some advantages over the bigger guys, and one of those advantages is being able to offer very personal service.
Don't Give Up That Latte
When I started my business, I did what everybody else seems to do, tell your friends and family about your new idea. After thinking about that a bit, that was probably one of my larger mistakes. Your idea is exciting to you, primarily because it's your idea, and not someone else's. Don't be surprised when someone eventually tells you that "you can't make money from that" or "there is no money in this". I don't know about you, but I'm rather lucky because all of my friends and family are business experts, yet only a handful of them run their own business.
One of the pieces of advice that I was told over and over again, was that if I was going to start my own business, then I needed to start saving every last cent and use it to fund this adventure. They all told me how much I was going to have to "sacrifice" in order to get this off the ground and running.
Did that mean I was going to have to give up my morning latte? Was I going to have to start walking to the grocery store instead of using my car? Did I need to shut off the heat in the winter and buy everyone an extra blanket to stay warm?
When Customers Go Away
Today I had the unfortunate event of saying goodbye to a customer. Nobody likes to see a customer go away, but sometimes saying goodbye is the right thing to do. As we all work really hard to get customers, there are those customers that make us work even harder. There is nothing wrong with that, but one must always be careful and to make sure they aren't just "Working You".
That was the case with this customer. I started to wonder why I never got any follow up work, and it was because they were basically using me to figure out how to do the same work and then resell it. There is nothing wrong with that, we should all be in the game of teaching others, it's just how you go about it that makes all the difference in the world.
You Know More Than You Think
Is there something in your life that you absolutely love doing? Do you have a passion for something, like a hobby that you would love to make some money from? Have you ever told someone you would like to go into business doing one of your hobbies, only to have them say: "You can't make money doing that"? If your like me, then you have answered yes to almost all of those questions.
I'm a firm believer that you can make money doing the things that your passionate about. Usually the things you are the most passionate about are the areas where you know a lot about the subject. To enjoy something typically means that you immerse yourself in it. Naturally that means you'd likely have a lot of knowledge on this subject.
What you may not know, is that others most likely desire the information that you already know, and you probably know more than you think.
Let People Know What You Do
I know this sounds simple doesn't it? However, how many people besides the ones you communicate with on a daily basis, actually know what you do for a living? Do you have a business card that you hand out whenever you meet someone new? Do you have a little book that you carry around jotting down notes as you speak to new clients?
If you don't have any of those, then you should get them. Keeping track of your contacts is utterly important, and you should utilize any and all ideas for keeping them up to date. My weapon of choice is the cheap and easy business card.
More Bookings More Leads
The best part about Monday is that we have Friday to look forward too. Although this year, I've decided to take a different approach to Monday, and use it as a catapult my sales for the week. Apparently that's been a good thing, as today I was able to book two more orders.
The reason i say book orders, is because all I did was sell something. I didn't actually create anything, nor did I expend any energy beyond picking up the phone, making a call, and then sending out an email. Really that's all I did, but it was well worth the effort.
Following Up
A lot of times business deals are made and lost on doing something as simple as following up on an action. Yesterday I spent a fair amount of time following up with customers or potential customers on questions that they had about products and services. Take for example my eBay auctions, of which I had 3 questions all with different questions. One was about shipping, another was about the product and a third was about combining orders. Each of these questions had the answers right in the auction, however for one reason or another the customer couldn't find the answer they were looking for.
No matter how hard you try to cover all of your bases, there are always going to be questions. The great thing about getting questions, is that you've already got an a buyer that is willing to purchase from you. This makes the timeliness of your answer even more important. A courteous and speedy reply often times sends a message to the potential client that you are well run organization no matter what your size.
Motivational Videos
I thought I'd add a little fun here for this post. In the previous post I mentioned a movie that I found rather enlightening, especially when it comes to closing the deal. After doing so, I received a few emails asking exactly what the movie was, and how it motivated me. I'll do one better, here I will post some of the very best motivational speeches from movies that I like. I'll start with Glenn Gary Glenn Ross and go from there.
The ABC of Business
Ok, so I missed a day. Guess that means I’ll either need to double up today, or put something up really profound. I’ll go with doubling up; it seems to be the safest route to success and less embarrassment. Yesterday, I didn’t actually make a sale, or should I say I didn’t cash a check or receive any money. Instead I concentrated on generating a bigger pay off and lining up some work so that I would receive a check. There are two aspects to running a business and the juggling act between the two can be tricky. The majority of my time, while not at my day job or spending time with my family, is focused on money making activities. These activities can be broken down into two categories:
- Creating finished goods
- Lining up potentially new business
Your Mother Was Right
Remember all those little sayings that our moms had for us every time we left the house? If you haven't heard a joke or two about wearing clean underwear, then you really need to get out more. Every comedian has used that once or twice in their career. Of all the anecdotes my mother had, my favorite was "Remember your please and thank yous". I still remember my mom saying that, and I'm sure I've even used it with my own children. But you know what? Mom was giving us not only great social advice, but good business advice too.
There is one thing that I want to do for all of my customers that seems a lot of other businesses don't do. I want to show the customer how much I really do appreciate them allowing me to gain their trust and business.
Two for One
Yesterday was an exciting day, although I didn't actually make money on one of my own websites, my products were still selling. That's right, it's like having two websites for the price of one. I figured that if I could other people to sell my things, then it wouldn't be so hard to make my daily goals.
I've always believed in multiple streams of income, and I also believe that nobody is successful by themselves. My goal is to make others wealthy, and if I'm helping make someone else wealthy, then I too must be wealthy. There is truly enough to go around, so why not help someone else along the way.
This is where my friend Russ comes in.
More Sales - We Have Momentum
Another day, another sale! Yes it's true, I'm very excited that two days into this eBay experiment and we continue to get sales. The sales aren't huge, but they are sales, and they prove that an online marketplace like eBay is a great way to get your name out there and generate a little extra cash.
One thing that I'll be interested in tracking, is how many people actually do cross sale purchases. Meaning, if I'm selling a hat or t-shirt, how many people are going to buy something in my store that isn't totally related. Here is an example of what I mean: Say I'm selling my Star Face shirt, and in my eBay store, you also see that I'm selling custom decals for your car. Are these two markets compatible? Will the person buying the shirt also see a need for decals?
I'm very interested to see how the "view this sellers other items" actually works. I know it works on other websites, but their usually specific to a particular product line.
We Are Off To A Great Start
Yestday 1/1/2010 started out better than expected. Yes, we actually had a sale the first day of the year. This is great news for a couple of reasons.
- I have validated that eBay works and people actually buy things from there.
- We made money, it's getting us closer to that six figure amount we want by the end of the year.
- Momentum is huge, and this definitely gives us something to look forward too.
So it's great to start off with such a positive begging to the new year. But we can't stop there.
Happy New Year
The new year has finally made it here and its time to hit the ground running. For me that means starting to exhaust every possible avenue into making more money.
Yesterday I put things on eBay, and today I'll continue to add more, but there is also another area of expertise that I have, and that's creating and maintaining websites for companies. Just about anyone can create a website, that part isn't hard, what I offer is not only the creation of the website, but also creating a custom CMS that goes along with it.
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