Tag Archives: business process

How to set the right priorities?

Posted on by

A busy professional has this question regarding time management:

How to set the right priorities?

I have a lot on my to-do list and I tend to focus on the day to day tasks I have. I am finding it hard to find time to focus on some of my strategic goals because the rest of my to-do items take up all of my time. I am thinking I need to do a better job at setting priorities. How do others tackle their strategic goals while getting all of their pressing daily tasks done?

Every successful person will have their own system.  And I believe that the best system is the one that works best for you. Having said that upfront, here is what I recommend.

Start with the end in mind

I applaud you for having your strategic goals clearly defined.  Often people go through life without a strategic plan for their personal, professional, social and career lives.  It is these same folks that wonder where time has gone and why they haven’t accomplished more with the time they were given.

Outlining a simple mission statement for your personal, professional, social and career purpose will help keep you on track.  After all, how can you stay on course if you haven’t plotted a destination?  If you don’t know where you are going, you deserve anywhere you end up.

So – get a 360° mission statement which includes all significant aspects of your life.

Outline your imperatives

Once you have your 360° mission statement, carve out the imperative things that need to be accomplished to support those statements. Imperatives are those things that – if everything else were to disappear from your live – your life would still be happy and fulfilled.

For instance, perhaps one of your personal mission statements/desires is to be closer to your family and increase quality time with them.  You then realize that your family is an imperative.  That’s something that – if everything else were to disappear – you would still be very happy.

So you now have prioritized your family as one of your imperatives.

Some other imperatives might be your health, working on things that you are passionate about, getting great satisfaction by helping others or the community, be recognized and accomplished in your career – whatever creates joy in you.  Nothing is wrong – it’s just your individual imperative list.

Create supportive tasks

Once you have your imperative list, create realistic actions/activities to accomplish those goals. Create them in the form of SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).

For example: To accomplish getting closer to your family, commit to a block of time each week for quality time with family members (sans electronics and distractions).

To be recognized and accomplished in your career, commit to working with a mentor or business coach to identify your career road-map and subsequent skill gaps.

To give back, commit to volunteer your talents to a non-profit organization.  I would also recommend volunteer to a position that also supports and enhances your career.  For instance, if you wanted to improve your skill set in web-design, offer to design the website for a non-profit.  Combining the two imperatives will be of greater benefit to you.

Schedule the time

Once you have your SMART goals identified, take out your calendar and block the time out in your calendar.  Treat these assignments as imperative, and allow the day-to-day activities fill the gaps around them (instead of the other way around).

Bottom line:

Every day activities will always fill in the gaps.  So, if you don’t deliberately and mindfully create the space (schedule it in your calendar with a “DO NOT DISTURB”), you will never have the time to accomplish your most important activities.

How do you craft a polite email to customers who haven’t responded to your previous emails?

Posted on by

A busy professional asks a question regarding customer sales.

How do you craft a polite email to customers who haven’t responded to your previous emails?

I’m an international trading clerk, I have some customers who used to talk to me smoothly, but once I give them the price, they don’t reply me or even a comment on the price. So how should I contact them in a polite and comfortable way as a follow up?

Well, email isn’t the only tool in your toolbox.  Also email isn’t actually “talking to you smoothly”.  My recommendation is to use email:

  • as a “record” of your more intimate phone conversations
  • as a summary of your last phone conversation
  • to remind the client of the next step in the buyer’s journey (which may be another phone or in-person meeting)

One recommendation is don’t craft a polite email, call them. Calling them shows that you’re serious about winning their business, as you actually took time out of your day to follow up in a more personal manner. Attempting to speak with them directly shows initiative on your part, and a desire to do what is necessary to not only wins their business, but to retain it.

With an actual phone conversation, you can provide additional information, demonstrations, and charm them with your personality and sense of humor.  You can also discuss next steps and get verbal agreements throughout the conversation.  Verbal agreements lead to sales.

As far as price: price is never the biggest sticking point in the prospect decision making process.  It’s usually that

  • they have questions you have not answered (you need to know what those questions are, they are not going to tell you),
  • you have not asked the RIGHT questions (to find their pain) or
  • they don’t like/trust you

Bantering through email doesn’t really resolve any of these things.

Consider a more personal approach:

  • Visit the at their site
  • Invite them to your site
  • Make personal phone calls

Bottom line:  If one method of communication isn’t working, do not continue with that method.  Switch it up and make your next method more personal with a sense of urgency.

See what you think about those ideas.

At what staff number is it worth to provide daily “free” lunch or dinner for your employees?

Posted on by

A busy professional asks a question regarding Company Culture:

At what staff number is it worth to provide daily “free” lunch or dinner for your employees?

I am the Recreation and Events Golf Manager for a course in Orlando. Part of my responsibility is overseeing the Clubhouse’s food and beverage team. We have always offered our staff 50% off a meal if they are working that day, and 20% off a meal if they come in to eat on their own time. We only staff about 20 people (including both back of the house and front of the house) in the clubhouse. With the spotlight on “company culture”, should we be providing additional benefits like free meals to our employees?

 

I think it’s very generous that you offer your staff discounts on meals.  In regards to “what staff number”, I think it should be directly proportional with your revenue/income.  You are still in the business to make money.  My recommendation is to continue your current method as long as it feels good to you and is still profitable to do so.

Additional benefits

As for “additional benefits” – consider rewarding performance versus just being “present”.

Some ideas are:

  • When salaried employees work “over-time” (evenings during the week, or weekend hours over lunch) – the company provides free meals to the employees during those “over and above” hours. This was in recognition for helping out in a moment of crisis or in a critical client situation.
  • Thank you card and restaurant gift certificates (or meal gift certificates to their entire family) can also be given as a performance award to celebrate outstanding accomplishments or outstanding performances. This provides a nice thank-you to their entire family. We often need to acknowledge that there’s an entire family involved that allows the employee to work those extra hours and/or provide that excellent performance. Thanking their entire family is also a nice show of overall appreciation.
  • Providing additional vacation days to compensate for extra/long hours is another option.
  • Some companies provide continuing education reimbursement to support their employee’s career growth and development.
  • Some companies reimburse for professional organizations or professional association fees. These are professional groups associated with the company’s industry.  When employees business network in these group, it’s a Win/Win for both the employee and the company.
  • Some companies reimburse for attendance to industry conferences, seminars and tradeshows. It’s another Win/Win for both the employee and the company.

 

Whatever you decide, keep in mind your employee’s advancement and career goals.  Then continue to provide additional assistance to help your employees develop and advance in their chosen career.

See what you think about those ideas.

How do I define my role in my daughter’s business that I will be funding?

Posted on by

This question came from a loving parent and business owner.

How do I define my role in my daughter’s business that I will be funding?

 My daughter wants to start her own business in a field in which she is not only certified, with 5 yrs. experience, a solid client list, but has some excellent ideas in which to grow the clientele. She has no credit, so my husband and I would be taking out the loan on her behalf. How do we ensure that we get our ROI? She has already asked me to help her with bill paying and such. I have read the posts about silent partners, but I’m unsure that is what I’ll be.

Don’t go in blind

Starting a new business is not an easy endeavor and many businesses fail within the first 3-5 years. If they do succeed, it may not be until the 5th year until they see any profits.

Add to this the complication of loaning a child or family member and you are in very, very risky territory.

A new business is a gamble

It is very difficult to “loan” a children money, because even though they may initially recognize it as a “loan”, they often it do not pay it back.  Other expenses take precedence and they are predisposed to accepting your help.  This is doubly risky if you introduce the idea of “investing” or becoming a silent partner.  You are now “investing” in a new business that may not succeed or may take several years to see any profits.  Therefore if you have to take out a loan that you need to be paying back in a timely fashion, I do not recommend “investing” as a silent partner.   Investments are not guaranteed to be paid back.  A new business is a gamble.  And if you do not have the money to lose, do not do it.

Recommendation:

Instead – treat this as a strict business loan with payback expectations (along with any interest you agree as your ROI – as well as timelines for payback).

Have a signed contract with well-defined payment schedule AND consequences for defaulting on the loan. Avoid a payment schedule that states “payment due when business starts to make money” (or anything similar). Don’t tie the payment schedule to her business success…. BUT consider her Business Plans and income forecasts when defining a tangible schedule with actual dates. (Even silent partners do their homework to verify that the Business Plan is solid and there is actually a reasonable expectation of ROI)
For instance – Require her to show you her Business Plan with income forecasts, budgets, expenses, and forecast revenues. Help her with coming up a realistic Business plan. DO NOT TAKE OUT THE LOAN IN YOUR NAME until you see and approve of her detail business plan. Demand that the loan payment become a regular expense in their business plan (just like any other business expense).

Then create a calendar of payments based on her actual revenue forecasts. Review her company expense schedule to verify that the load payment is included as a regular fee of doing business.

.
Also include consequences for not meeting those payment schedules (late fees, payment in other forms, payment extension with increased interest rates, etc).

For instance, if her business folds or she abandons the business – she still needs to meet the payment schedule BECAUSE you still need to pay back the loan (regardless). Iron out all the scenarios and exit strategies if things do not go as plan. Do you expect late-payment fees, etc. How many months of non-payment determines an abandonment – and what would the next step in that scenario. Do you want to hold any collateral for payment, etc.

Do your homework

You will want to iron all these scenarios out and make the expectations clear up front. Do your homework to make sure this even makes sense. Or hire a business coach to help you with these decisions and help her with a realistic business plan. Understand the start-up costs, the recurring costs, the target revenue goals, what steps will be taken if the revenue goals are off-target, the resources and equipment needs, and everything else a realistic business plan covers.

If you don’t want to approach this as a business loan – then just agree to “gift” her money (with ZERO expectations of ROI or repayment). And only give her money you can afford to lose (not get paid back).

I know your situation is different.  If you would like additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally.  It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

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

 

Best way to break bad news to employees

Posted on by

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the business and time management books TimePeace: Making peace with time – the The Book of Answers:  105 Career Critical Situations – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.

 

Today’s discussion is regarding how to break bad news to employees.

 

A busy professional asks:

How do I break bad news to employees?  It might be staffing changes, a lost contract or even the death of someone close to the business.  When should I:

  • Break the news?
  • To whom (or everyone at once)?
  • Appropriate ways to communicate?
  • Tips for doing it right?

 

 

Giving bad news is never comfortable, but necessary.  The way you do it can influence the way people accept the news.

Some tips:

  • For those that are directly affected with the news, you talk to them directly (one-on-one).  Those that are not directly affected, it can be a group discussion.
  • Depending upon the type of news, be prepared with answers and follow-up counseling (grief counseling, further training, next steps life coaching, etc.)
  • Focus on them versus yourself.
    1. Avoid the temptation to fill in awkward pauses with “This is the most difficult thing I have had to report.”  or “I’m really broken up about telling you this”.  “This is a shock to me as well.”
    2. You might think you are helping by showing them how badly you feel — but — in actuality – they don’t really care how it’s affecting you (especially if you are not really affected by the layoff, structure change, etc).
    3. Silence is okay.  It gives them the space needed to absorb the information.  Continued talking doesn’t help them.  Wait patiently for them to end the silence, after the initial reveal.
  • Realize that they might want to immediately leave your presence after the news. But don’t assume that your job is done when they leave the room.
  • Schedule a follow-up meeting.  Recognize that people might need time to absorb the information.  Acknowledge that they will have more questions later and need to time to process what has been said.  Actually schedule a follow-up meeting before they leave.  That next meeting will have answers to the questions they asked today, as well as an opportunity for any more questions.
  • Know your audience.  If it’s a particular tough topic and you suspect your employee will be emotional or even volatile – have security (or muscles) ready (but out of sight).  You don’t want to show that you expect trouble (because then you will get it).  But you want to be prepared for it – just in case.

 
See what you think about those ideas.
I know your situation is different.  If you would like additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally.  It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

 

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

How are you handling hundreds of emails a day?

Posted on by

Today’s comment came from a busy professional and an entrepreneur:

How are you handling hundreds of emails a day?

inboxAs a business owner, I am constantly getting emails from either customers, employees, cc alerts, etc. If I am out of the office for part of the day or in meetings, I come back to dozens of emails that I spend the rest of the day responding too. Any tips for managing and keeping your inbox organized? I think one of my company’s value points is that we get back to our customers and partners almost right away.

There are a few things you can do:

1) Make use of the auto-responders to answer the frequently asked questions. Responding to your clients “right away” doesn’t always mean that you need to give them the final answer right away. Responding that you have received their request and will have a response before the day’s end – is also good. In the meantime, recommend that they review your FAQ for additional information. Your FAQs are published on your website and newsletters as well – to help eliminate those level of calls.

2) Use the your emailer’s Message Rules to automatically file the newsletters, status reports, employee’s questions and important-but-non-urgent mail into properly labeled folders (and out of inbox). Then schedule/block a separate time to review those folders. This leaves your inbox with the emails that you want to be responding to on a more immediate basis. Those folder-based emails can be reviewed at a later time.

3) Put in a Help-desk priority system such that all customer emails go to a different email address which are handled by a Level 1 support or help desk.   If the help desk cannot answer those questions they respond to the client with an update; then the email is passed to the next Level of support.

4) Decide what your SLA (Service Level Agreement) will be. Should “free-mium” clients (clients that only participate in your free offers) get the same level of support that a premium client (someone truly supporting your products and company)? If not, limit the “free-mium” support to online FAQ and 2-day response times. Use the more immediate response times for the higher-paying clients. Give the higher-paying clients your “private email addresses” – and your “free-mium” clients your general “info level” email addresses. Have someone else handle the “info-level” client email. You handle the “high-profile” clients.

5) Short-daily meetings (15 minutes) with your employees to recap the day’s goals and status. Then have weekly one-on-one meetings with each individually. Setting these meetings in place will eliminate much of the employee’s email correspondence BECAUSE a) they know they will talk to you in person daily, b) you will have answered their questions in person.

Have someone document those meetings so you will have the minutes as reference.   Have that person send out (or post on internal website) the minutes to everyone that was supposed to be at those meetings.

6) Ask yourself if you should actually be the one responding to this type of email. Just because you “can” doesn’t mean you “should” be answering that type of email. Setup of procedure to off-load some of the typical emails and requests that you receive.   Delegate team leaders to handle various types of employee requests and emails. Hand-off employee administration issues to HR or your office admin person.

Anything that repeats can be managed – but it doesn’t mean that you have to be the one that actually answers it. Once you take the time to categorize and label the types of email that you are receiving, then you can create a systematic approach or process to start off-loading those tasks.

Conclusion:

If your “response time” to customers is your undeniable benefit and differential – make that a value-add service. All your customers and employees deserve a response. But not everyone needs the same level of service.

 

For help on how to process your email, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

 

Or sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

How can I show off my personality more through my work?

Posted on by
Today’s comment came from a busy entrepreneur:

How can I show off my personality more through my work?

Whether you are a staff member in a corporate environment or a small business owner, you will need to make yourself visible to your employers, employees and potential customers.  One thing that is unique to you is your personality.  Therefore, that is one differential factor that everyone can make use of – but how? We will answer this question for both environments.

How can I show off my personality more through my work in the corporate environment?

In today’s global workplace, more and more of our employers and employees are working remotely. Given the fact that fewer of us are actually working physically side-by-side our co-workers and executives, it is critical to differentiate ourselves from our peers in a positive light. One thing that will continue to build a positive reputation is to take advantage of your unique personality, talents and strengths.  You can make these things more visible by doing the following:

1)Add more of the personal touch.  Pick up the phone instead of emailing or texting.  A personal phone call or visit brings your personality to the forefront.  Effective communication is conveyed by 7% words, 55% body language,  and 38% tone.  By limiting yourself to email and text (just words), you have eliminated 93% of your arsenal.

2) Be proactive in illustrating your strengths, talents and knowledge base.  Speaking engagements are great ways to illustrate your personality, while demonstrating your experience, knowledge, and talent.  You can also more easily interact and affect a larger audience of your peers, supervisors and clients.  You can also get immediate feedback.  Consider giving Lesson Learned presentations, Technical Tip Presentation, and Solution-based Proposals.

3) Promote other experts.  Much like the MC of a television program or interview, the host of the regularly scheduled program is seen every week.  Their intelligence and personality is regularly demonstrated while they intelligently and professionally interact with the expert.   You can do this by hosting presentations and Brown Bag Lunch sessions on high-profile topics in your company’s interest by various experts.  This releases your need to “be the expert on everything”, while at the same time providing your company with the much needed training on the next generation focus.

4) Think globally.  Not everyone that you work and correspond with has met you in person.  Add your professional photo to your email-signature; include your individual career mission and vision statement in your internal email correspondence.  Check with your company’s policy regarding external email signatures.  They may have a specific template that you need to follow. 5)Add video.  Consider adding a video status report from time to time.  This will add a face to your weekly status report, as well as your personality. A final recommendation is to think like the owner.  What would the owner of the company like to see from you?  How would he/she like you to be seen by the customer?

How can I show off my personality more through my work as an entrepreneur?

I am working on launching my own photography business on the side. I want my photos to be known for being fun and natural, and have my customers trust me to capture a great moment. How can I showcase all of this in my work? I know this will come with time as I build brand recognition, but where to start?

You can easily translate the above corporate 5 suggestions for the small business owner.
Some additional suggestions are:

1)Publish.  Having a regular blog about your business area tips, your favorite type of clients, your lessons learned how and why you got into your business, etc. If you start a blog or even a video blog (video yourself talking about these things), is a natural way to bring your personality through your work.

2)Teach.  Setup speaking engagement is a great way to show off your personality, your knowledge and your skill. Getting in front of your clients are good ways to elicit customer feedback.  Make use of inviting or regularly interviewing guest speakers (see above suggestions in the corporate section).

3)Ask Questions.  Ask for your client’s opinions and feedback.  Personal interaction with your clients is the best way to show off your personality.

Conclusion:

Keep the end in mind.  Whether you like it or not, you are on stage most of your professional day.  Make the best use of that time.

For more information or help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Or sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Should I focus on just one niche customer group initially?

Posted on by

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. 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 taking big ideas and converting them into smart, sound, and actionable ideas.

 

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 entrepreneur:

Should I focus on just one niche customer group initially?

I have been trying to get feedback from my ideal target audience 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 target audience. 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 audience you go after. Maybe it’s not 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 group.
My recommendation would be to study up on the most effective methods to reach your target market. 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.

Periodically re-evaluate your target niche

Be watchful on who is attracted to your products and services. There may be other groups interested in your products or services. For example, Chris owned a Curves Club for women.   She wanted to have her club hours during the day (9am-1:30pm and 3:30pm-7:00pm). This makes it difficult for younger, working women use her club. She didn’t want to extend the hour, so she mostly marketed it toward retired women.

But if Chris takes a second look at her niche, she could expand it to include:

  • Mothers with school-age children
  • Women who owned their own business
  • Women who worked from home

Conclusion:

Keep the end in mind that your products and services will evolve. Therefore, your target clients will also evolve and change. Review your product funnel strategy to see if different product levels will attract different clients.

 

For more information or help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

 

Or sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

 

With a business that is not quite working, is it better to start new or to pivot?

Posted on by

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. Steve Wynkoop and I talk a lot about designing and managing our professional careers on a weekly interview on SSWUG TV.

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 entrepreneur:

With a business that is not quite working, is it better to start new or to pivot?

ultimatumIf your business is not working well enough, should you change directions or start a new business? I have been reading up on pivoting your business in a new direction, but how is this different than just starting over? Is starting over with a new brand better? How do I figure out which option is better?

 

The phrase “working well enough” – is a very abstract and vague. I had a client that “felt” her business wasn’t growing “fast enough”. “Fast enough” and “working well enough” are not business owner terms.

When I asked her what her growth goals were, how many clients or products she needed to sell to accomplish her yearly income, or how many leads does she need to convert to sales to make those numbers – she admitted that she didn’t have those types of plans in place.

Know Your Numbers

My recommendation is to know your numbers:

  1. How much money/income do you want to make yearly?
  2. How much income do you want to make quarterly? ( A/4)
  3. How many products/services do you need to sell to make your quarterly numbers? (B/Price of products)
  4. What is your lead to sales ratio? (How many people do you need to talk to or network with to make one sale?)
  5. How many people do you need to network with to sell the right number of products to make your quarterly goals? (D*C)

Once you understand the numbers you need to accomplish your goals, you can start tracking your progress and make the necessarily adjustments.

Pivoting doesn’t have to be a big thing

After you understand your numbers and have a better idea of where you are falling short, you can pivot or change directions in only the areas that need tweaking. You may find that your lead to sales ratio is 25 to 1 (meaning that you need to network with 25 people to sale 1 product or service). To meet your goals, you need to sale 5 products/services a month. This means that you need to get in front of 100 people monthly. Some things you may consider doing are:

 

  • You may decide to add monthly speaking engagements to your marketing strategy to increase the number of people you meet in a month
  • You may decide to increase the price of your products and services to lower the number of monthly sales needed
  • You may decide to improve your salesmanship to reduce your lead to sale ratio

Conclusion:

Without understanding where you want to be and where you are today, it’s going to be difficult to decide whether you need to start new, pivot or tweak. Knowing your numbers is the first step in deciding your next step.

 

For more information or help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

 

 

 

Or sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

How can I grow my business with more services?

Posted on by

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. 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 taking big ideas and converting them into smart, sound, and actionable ideas.

 

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 entrepreneur:

How can I grow my business with more services?

My recommendation is to take the time to design your Product Funnel Strategy.

product funnel2Product 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). You may offer a complimentary discovery diagnostic sessions, newsletters, articles, short audios/video for your services.

 

Then you create some low, mid, high end offers that align with your brand and message. For example, you can create group workshops, subscriptions based programs, one-on-one service programs, and then high-end product bundles with some affiliated partners.

 

The idea is to design your road-map of how to start attracting people down that funnel. People may be first attracted to you and your message via some free offers, blog articles, free how-to videos. Then you will want to introduce those people (already taking advantage of your free services) to your lower or mid-range products like a subscription based program, a group consulting/mastermind program, a group workshop series, etc. Then you use your mid-range products to lead some clients to the higher range programs (which can be bundling of several products and services together)
If you take the time to create and design your product funnel upfront, you can better market and up-sale your business.

How do find the time to create these products/services?

Keep the end in mind. Whenever you are working with a current client, find ways to productize that effort. Build these programs as you go along. Reuse and recycle your intellectual property.

Some examples:

  • When someone asks you a question – convert your answer to a blog, an audio, an article, a webinar, a video
  • When you are working one-on-one with a client – create a worksheet, workbook, template or checklist
  • When you create a webinar, convert it to an online course with your webinars videos, audios, worksheets, etc
  • Then start bundling these different products and programs together for the higher priced programs.

Conclusion:

Keep the end in mind. Reuse and recycle your intellectual property and keep it in line with your brand and message.

 

For more information or help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

 

Or sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ