How to Warm Up Cold Networking Contacts

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Laura Lee Rose

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose. I am a speaker and author. I am an expert in time and project management.

Today’s comment came from a busy professional:

How to Warm Up Cold Networking Contacts

When you’ve let your relationships with some of the people in your professional network go cold – no contact for several months or more — how do you get back in touch and rebuild those relationships.

Whether you are in the corporate environment or own your own business, you know how important business networking is to your advancement and growth. But often times, life gets in the way and we lose contact with some potentially important people in our careers. So – what’s the best way to re-connect?

-What’s the best way to get back in touch after a long period of no contact?

One of the best ways is to show interest in what they are currently doing and needing. Just reach out with no other agenda or motive than to catch-up with them. Don’t spend any time trying to sell them anything – just find out what’s going on with them.

-How can you avoid looking like you’re just getting back in touch because you need something?

Best way to warm up cold networking contacts is BEFORE you need something. Take them out to lunch or introduce them to possible new client for their business or send them an article or tool that they could use.

-Should you only focus on old contacts or set out to make new ones?

Of course the answer is “all of the above”. Sometimes you can combine and state – “I ran into a mutual friend of ours other day. This reminded me that you and I haven’t spoken in quite some time. I would like to get the three of us together for a catch-up gathering on Saturday.”

If you accept the blame for the lack of contact – most people will not be annoyed because they usually understand that communication is a 2-way street. If they have been good at contacting you and you have been ignoring them — then that’s going to be harder to repair.

How to keep your network revved up.

Of course the best way is to not let your relationship go cold. The best way to avoid this is to actually schedule and block time on your calendar to keep your leads, mentors and contacts. I have an Individual Network System (INS). This workbook outlines the what, who, why, when and how to keep these critical relationships thriving. If you are interested in a copy of this workbook, just schedule a quick appointment with me to discuss your particular environment.

I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a presentation on “3 Keys to saying YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes

How do I know when I’m ready to make my first hire?

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Laura Lee Rose

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose. I am a speaker and author. I am an expert in time and project management.

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run.

Today’s comment came from a busy professional:

How do I know when I’m ready to make my first hire?

My business is growing and I know I will need to hire help soon. People have suggested interns, or office support – but my business relies a lot on my own skills. I have thought about partnering or hiring someone who does essentially what I do, so I can expand based on this expertise. What skills should an individual have to compliment / correct my own? I am not sure what is best. Thoughts? Thanks!

Without knowing exactly what your business is and why type of services you provide, my recommendation is to hire someone that can make your life easier.

Some ideas would be to automate, optimize and clone some of the things you are doing. If your business truly relies a lot of your own skills – then hiring someone who does essentially what you do is problematic. It’s not only an expensive way to “clone” you, but they may actually walk away with your client list and start their own expansion.
Instead – have a business solutions expert (such as I) to review how you are currently running your business. They will be able to identify areas to streamline, automate, and create effective systems that allow you to better delegate (such as hire interns and office support), releasing cycles of your time to allow you to expand. Sometimes it just a matter of documenting your FAQ’s to reduce support-level and enable you to hand-off those calls to someone else, add auto-responders to your email help-desk, provide some How-To videos for the lower-priced services, etc.
I suspect there are lots of areas that you create systems around that will both allow you to “hand-off” and even delete tasks. Having someone to take a look at how you are currently running your business will uncover some things that you may not be seeing.

Starting Steps

First step is to write down everything that you are doing right now.
If you want to chat more about your particular situation to get a more individualized recommendation – just holler at me.
Write down everything that is currently falling in the cracks.
For each item, rate each from 1-10 (1 not important, 10-critical) on the importance of this activity to your business growth. (ROI)
Then list what needs to be put into place for someone else (new hire, an intern, a business partner) to do that task. Initially focus on the items that you rate 8 and above.

NOTE: Because you may not know some of the important tasks that you should be doing, having someone take a look at how you are currently running your business can help identify the critical tasks that are currently falling through the cracks.

Example Worksheet:

Items currently falling through the cracks.	Item I am currently doing	From 1-10; how important is this activity to my business?	What it needs to be put into place for someone else to do this.
Attending networking events to see if there is any potential business there		8	Someone else can do this – if supplied with training and marketing scripts
Making cold calls		8	Someone else can do this – if supplied with training and marketing scripts
	Updating facebook postings	8	Someone else can do this – if supplied with the blog or materials
	Writing blogs	8	Someone else can take the audios and webcam video and create blogs, update website, and facebook postings
Creating a Certification and Training program		8	me
	Creating audios and videos	8	I can do the audios and webcam video
	Some Speaking Engagements		Assistant can search for additional speaking engagements for me
Follow-up calls from speaking engagements		10	An assistant can do the follow-up calls from the speaking engagements to setup one-on-one discovery calls for me.
Looking for additional speaking engagements		8
Continuously marketing the business		8	Can get a marketing intern or part-time help to cover this.
	Chatting with leads that are not interested in my products and services	5
	One-on-one Discovery session calls	10	me
	Sell my products and services through one-on-one discovery calls	10	me
Continually look for additional client leads and referrals		10	Sales person on commission – can be combined with the marketing tasks.
Create a FAQ and place on website		8	Make an audio of the questions that I am getting, and have assistant transcribe and update website

If you take the time to outline the tasks in this way, it’s simple to see what type of person you should be looking for in a new-hire.

If you need more help, this is what I do. I help busy entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have more time to work on the things they really love to do.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a presentation on “3 Keys to saying YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes

Tips for working with Contractors, Consultants and Remote Workers

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Laura Lee Rose

Today’s question came from a busy professional regarding working with contractors.

What are your best tips for collaborating with team members who are available only on a part-time basis or who work remotely? Please share concrete tactics instead of tools.

One of the best tips is to explicitly state your expectations with any contractor, consultant and remote workers. This can be in the form of a contract, an understanding of service, and even your employee Personal Business Commitment (PBC) in which your performance is evaluated against.

Simple Transparency

Understanding how your contractor or consultant works best will alleviate lots of problems and miscommunications.

Examples

You have hired Kelley as a part-time contractor. You are frustrated with Kelley because he hasn’t responded to any of your Monday emails. Unbeknownst to you, Kelley has scheduled his hours on Tuesday and Thursday for your company; and Monday, Wednesday and Friday with his other contract. If you had taken the time to understand which hours/days Kelley was devoting to your company, you would have avoided this problem.
On Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays, Kelley works from a different computer and with different email addresses. Kelley’s preferred method of communication is via mobile-text. This way he can easily communicate with you, even if he is on the other job. If you had known this upfront, you could have easily mobile-text Kelley that you just sent him some information via email.

Quick Checklist

These are some of the things you need to discuss with your contractor, consultant or remote employees:

Hours they are working
How much work (and what type of work) will be completed in those time periods (i.e. their project schedule)
How best to reach them in an urgent situation; in a normal situation; or just for status
What staff/status meetings they will be attending
How they are going to report their status
What is going to be included in their status report
What their delivery deadlines and quality requirements upon delivery
How quickly do you expect them to respond to your requests
What happens when they do not meet these expectations

The bottom line is to outline everything that you feel is important to you, and understand (up front) how your team is going to accomplish those items. Get it in writing AND include the consequences of not meeting the agreement.

For example – if they do not meet the agreed upon schedule:

Do you intend to dock their pay?
Do they complete the assignment without additional pay?
Are they placed on a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan or probation period)?

How do you deal with the pains of customer service?

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Laura Lee Rose

Today’s question came from a busy entrepreneur about his customer service plan.

How do you deal with the pains of customer service?

I work in the hospitality industry, and I spend a lot of money on what I call “guest investments” where I give some sort of discount, free merchandise, etc. in order to win back customers when something goes wrong. I can’t tell if it’s working or if I’m throwing money away. How does your business deal with the challenges of customer service and keeping people happy?

This question came up at a very appropriate time. I had recently discovered that my bank offered a “Private Bank Level” for clients that have 1 million dollars invested with the bank. At that level, they receive premiere customer series and 24 hour concierge service.

Consider doing this with your own customer service strategy. In an earlier article (Should I have specific segmented brands or one brand that does all at different price levels?) we discussed the Product Funnel.

Product Funnel Strategy for Customer Service

Give low-interaction help instructions for clients that are taking advantage of your free products and services. Low-interaction help instructions can be in the form of (but not limited to):

FAQ articles and cheat sheets
Community Discussion Groups
Email response within 2 days

As the client invests more in your products and services, they get more access to support.

Structure your customer service as a product line of service. Give premium service to the people that are actually doing the most business with you. This will transform the “pain of customer service” into a product or business of customer service.

Customer Referral and Loyalty Programs

Also, don’t wait until there is a problem to implement your customer service program. Be proactive with customer referral and loyalty programs. Visualize your product funnel in there area and incorporate rewards programs based on the amount of business your client is currently doing with you. Use your rewards program to entice your customers to do more business or move into the next price-point of programs and service.

Creating a great referral/loyalty/retention program not only elevates your customer service focus and energy – it automatically solves the “pains of customer service” as well. Take time to clarify what your Mission Statement and vision is regarding Premiere Client Service. Start dealing with clients instead of “customers”. Start building raving fans that will ultimately market your products/services for you – and simply release the customers that do not fit in your plan.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

When you clearly identify your niche or target market, some people will not fit. When someone doesn’t fit, there is only one thing that will make them happy. That one thing is to release them and direct them elsewhere. This is where affiliated partners and business referrals come in.

You are still providing customer satisfactory solution – it’s just not with YOU. You are still making the client happy.

Quick summary:

Clarify your Vision of your target or ideal client
Create affiliated partnerships with those clients that are not ideal
Design a referral partnership agreement with those partners
Design a referral/loyalty/retention program for your target/ideal clients

Should I have specific segmented brands or one brand that does all at different price levels?

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Laura Lee Rose

Today’s question came from a busy entrepreneur about his marketing plan.

Should I have specific segmented brands or one brand that does all at different price levels?

All markets have different performance and cost needs. Should we have multiple product brands – i.e. low cost/low performance and mid/high or have one brand that can stretch across multiple performance levels and price according to options? It makes sense to economize the product manufacturing chain but, what is everyone’s experience when consolidating a full portfolio into a single brand lineup?

Your Brand should solve a specific problem for a specific niche or class of people. If you have multiple visions/missions you should have separate branding and marketing strategies. For example: Sarah has her Health Coach business and she also sells her own brand of peanut butter. Sarah should have separate branding and marketing strategies for those very different product and businesses.

Product Funnel Strategy

Within each separate brand – you should have a product funnel strategy that leads your target client up your product/service pricing structure. Normally people start off with free samples – to allow the target client to get to know you (like a first date). In Sarah’s example, she may offer a complimentary discovery health sessions, newsletters, articles, short audios/video for her coaching; and free samples of your peanut butter for her other brand.

Then you create some low, mid, high end offers for each separate brand. In Sarah’s example, she can create group workshops, subscriptions based programs, one-on-one coaching programs, and then high-end product bundles with personal trainers, personal chef, image consultant, and a high-end shopping spree when your health goals are met.
If you only want to sell your coaching and peanut butter to High-Profile, Affluent clients (that’s your target client) — then you advertize, market and visit only the places where the High-Profile, Affluent people are. Your price points are selected to match the budgets of your target niche/clients.

Do you have an umbrella Brand that covers all your products?

You will have an Umbrella Company that owns the Health Coach and Peanut Butter business. But the branding will be different. For instance, Kraft owns Kool-Aid, Velveeta, Miracle Whip and Maxwell House. But each of these products have their separate branding, target market and product Funnels.

Should I focus on just one niche customer group initially?

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Laura Lee Rose

I have been trying to get feedback from my ideal target audience or nice but I am finding the group hard to reach. There is another target audience that could benefit from my service. I am not as passionate about that group but I think they may be easier to get feedback as I build out my business. Should I focus on both or only one?

I recommend that you focus on one niche. But I also want to caution on your method of reaching those people. If your method of reaching “people” is ineffective or flawed – then it doesn’t matter how many target audiences you go after. Maybe it’s not the that the group is hard to reach. Maybe it’s the way you are going about it. If the ladder is true – then you will have the same difficulties with the second niche or group.
My recommendation would be to study up on the most effective methods to reach your target market or niche. Find other business owners that are successfully marketing to that same target – and find out how they are doing it. Start partnering with complimentary business that shares the same target audience. Business network with those who are already successful in marketing to your target audience. Learn from those that have achieved what you want to achieve.

If you would like to chat more about this, please setup an appointment.

How do I deal with a 50% business partner who can’t hold up his promises?

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Laura Lee Rose

How do I deal with a 50% business partner who can’t hold up his promises?

Today’s question came from a busy entrepreneur – but this issue occurs for both small business owners and corporate employees.

Right now I own 50% of a technology startup aimed at real estate agents. I am responsible for developing and maintaining the upkeep of all the software associated with our business. The other partner is in charge of selling the product, however, he gets way too distracted with other life things such as his real estate work. Although he makes promises and tries to motivate me to keep working on our business because he will “sell the crap out of it”, I still don’t feel a solid effort on his part. Should I try to find a way to kick him out or continue to engage him to sell our product? Thanks.

Whether you are a small business owner or an employee of a large company, you probably have had experience working with partners or co-workers that you feel are not pulling their weight.

Business Owners with partners:

If you have not done this already – take up the time to document a business plan with roles and responsibilities for each partners. The business plan should include some SMART goals for each partner (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant to your business, and timely/time-bound). Your business plan needs to include consequences (what happens when the SMART goals are not met or delivered).

Including SMART goals (milestones on when you both agree that the goals will be met) – you will have a better footing on whether he is making a solid effort. If/when those milestones or deadlines are not met – then you follow-through on your “consequences” –or next steps that you both agreed to upfront.

Taking the time upfront to map this out – saves you a lot of anxiety in the future.

Employee with project partner:

This may seem like a totally different situation, but it’s not. As an employee, (if you haven’t done this already) write out your Personal Business Commitment (PBC) plan. This document has YOUR business commitments, roles and responsibilities. It outlines what you expect from your manager as well as what they can expect from you. It also includes “consequences” such as rewards for making quotas, etc.

After you have these plan outlines and approved by your manager – you have frequent one-on-one meetings with your manager to continually review your performance against your PBC.

Taking the time upfront to map this out – saves you a lot of anxiety in the future.

If you need help with your next steps on this – feel free to contact me and let me know what you decide to do.

Why Your Personal Brand Matters

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Laura Lee Rose

Why Your Personal Brand Matters

If you are an Olivia Pope or TV’s Scandal fan, then you already know why your personal brand matters.

Olivia Pope and Associates mission is clear and concise:

fixing problems and crises;
protecting and guarding public images and reputations
solving certain crimes in her clients’ interest

Her personal brand is wearing the white hat and suit. The white hat and suit is synonymous with “the good guy” and “saving the day”. This personal brand is so aligned with her company missions that you know instinctively what she can do for you.

So the critical business lesson learned from this high-rating TV series is:

Have a crisp and simple brand message. And it doesn’t hurt if your personal brand carries over some additional subconscious messages.

Just like Olivia Pope, you have characteristics that define you; ways that you think of yourself and ways that others think of you. Effective personal branding isn’t about putting on a show or figuring out how to get the most financial reward. You have a brand just as much as you have a reputation.

How people see you matters.

“Personal branding is how we market ourselves to others,” says Donna DeBerry, a marketing and branding expert.

DeBerry’s has four tips to reach current and potential customers through personal branding:

Be seen online and off: Your customers have many choices, and you need to go to where they are. Whether that’s on Facebook or on a panel at a speaking engagement, it’s important you be seen and easily identified.

First and last impressions last 14 seconds: Condense and personalize your elevator pitch. How can you turn a greeting into communication that evangelizes your business to your customers?

Give people reasons to connect you with your company: Position yourself as a leader and your company as a pioneering endeavor. It could help you earn media attention and build your customer base.

Become known for something: What you say and do need to dovetail with what your company is known for.

Just like Olivia Pope, you want people to know exactly what you stand for, immediately upon seeing you.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a presentation on “3 Keys to saying YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes

Where Do I begin to Market My Business

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Laura Lee Rose

Where Do I begin to Market My Business

As a business solutions consultant, I constantly get the question: “Where do I begin to market my business?“

Regardless of the type of business, the first step is to create a marketing plan. Your marketing plan will outline your business goals, your marketing goals, and your marketing budget. It will also include how you are going to measure your progress against those goals as well as your time-line or schedule for success.

Simple Marketing Plan:

Below is the minimum that you need in your marketing plan.

Identify a target market.
Develop a strong marketing message and hook.
Create one piece of marketing collateral that will attract prospects and set you apart
Get visible in your target market.
Keep following up to build relationships and credibility.

Marketing Next Steps:

Become an Expert. Start exposing your expertise, tips, techniques and skill through various media. It’s easy to create videos, audios, articles, eBooks, and speaking engagements to get your name out there.

Cultivate Raving Fans. Start collecting fans that are interested in what you have to offer. Create your social media pages such as a Business Facebook page. Use your Facebook pages to collect your fans’ contact information such as name, email addresses, and phone numbers.

Determine your niche. What are you selling and to whom? Start by using skills that you already have, such as writing, web design and graphic arts. Seek out familiar industries. Cleary define your target client and demographic.

Make a list of your potential market. Reach out to friends, local groups and places where you do business. Most professions have associated professional organizations. Start attending your professional association meetings, conferences and expos aligned with your field, as well as various local business networking events.

Go where your clients meet. Once you have clearly identified your niche, visualize where those people meet, do and have. For example, if your target client and niche is affluent men over 40 years of age, take up golf.

Advertise your marketing business online. Start out with a Business Facebook page. Eventually, you need a web site with your own domain name. However, you can get started by using a free Facebook sites. Make sure to use a professional business template.

Link all of your personal social media. Ask your friends to “share” or forward the news about your new marketing business. Your new business must show clients that you know how to use the latest resources effectively.

Market your business constantly. Every email you send should have information about your new marketing business in the form of a web address, slogan, or similar at the bottom. Holidays are opportunities to share a greeting from your business Facebook page. Social gatherings present an opportunity to mention your new business.

Get referrals. Once you have a client or a lead, ask them to tell others about you. Consider offering a discount on their next project when they bring you new clients. Don’t be shy about asking for written or video testimonials.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a presentation on “3 Keys to saying YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes

How can I get clients for my business?

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Laura Lee Rose

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose. I am a speaker and author. I am an expert in time and project management.

I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff. I have a knack for turning big ideas into on time and profitable projects.

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run.

This question came from a busy entrepreneur:

I am building my health coach business and trying to get clients. I am using social media outlets, emailing other holistic businesses to connect with, and offering workshops to local natural grocers. Getting individual clients is something I really want right now to bring in income and I’m having trouble. Any suggestions?

Defining your target clients:

“Health coach business” is pretty broad. My recommendation is to narrow your niche. You need to be able to clearly identify your target client. For instance;

What are the demographics of your target client?
What specific problems do they face and want to overcome (be as specific as possible)?
Where do they normally live and shop?
What kinds of foods do they normally eat?
What are their hobbies?
What kind of lifestyle do they current have?
What kind of lifestyle do they want to have?
What income do they make or want to make?

Once you have clearly described your target client – go to places where your target clients are.

For example: if your target client is affluent women, above the age of 40, interested in health – then check out the country clubs to see if you can give talks and workshops there. Narrowing your target market or creating a niche will actually help you attract more clients and better market yourself.

Next Steps:

Once you have a clear picture of your target client and niche, then market to your Power Team. Your Power Team is small businesses that share your same target market and provide complimentary services.

For example: Small businesses that wish to locate ‘affluent women above the age of 40, who are interested in health’ would include:

Gyms, Personal Trainers, Aerobics Instructors
Personal Shoppers and Image Consultants
Health Spas/Day Spas
Beauty Supply consultants
Hair Stylist

My recommendation would be to find and collaborate with an affiliated partner in your Power Team group. Create package deals which include services from one or more of your affiliated partners.

Example:

Total Mind and Body Makeover Introductory Package Includes:

3 months Health Coaching (weekly one-on-one coaching)
3 months of Gym Membership
2 celebratory Spa Days (you can take both days yourself, or go once with a friend)
1 Image Makeover with an image consultant, personal shopper and make-up expert

This introductory package offer would go out to your affiliated partner’s contacts, be on their websites, and be equally promoted by them. The promotional package price will be appropriately divided by the participants.

Another sample package could include the “free” offers that the affiliated partners already provide. For example:

1 Health Coach one-on-one session
7 days membership at the gym
1 free 30 minute massage
1 session to match clothing color to skin tone, and body type.

The idea is to package what the affiliated partners already freely provide, into a more attractive starter package. Providing a more end-to-end solution or 360° program can differentiate your programs from competitors.

Where do you go from here?

Once you have the right programs in place, co-market with your affiliated partners. Create catalyst events that encourage the clients from each business to mingle and visit each shop. Offer to host a party for the Image Consultant and Make-up Artist at your establishment. Have them invite their clients into your shop for a free Make-Over.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a presentation on “3 Keys to saying YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes