Tag Archives: career development

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

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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

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

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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?

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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

Who to make friends with at work

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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:

 

Who to make friends with at work

Who are the people who are important to your career? Who are the people who can help you be happy at work? Who are the ones who can help you or be someone you can rely on? We are looking for tips on how to identify these people as well as how to know what level of friendship you should have with your co-workers.

 

Best advice is to clearly know where you want to be, do and have.  If you can clearly articulate your career goals and professional path – then it’s easy to understand “who to make friends with at work”.   Statistics show that we typically hang-out with people in our same social-economical standing.  If we want to advance, get promoted, make more money, be more affluent – we need to start meeting and networking with those people that have already achieved what we want to achieve.  This means that we need to define our own career goals and take full ownership of our own professional growth.  Once you have that clearly defined, you can start networking (making friends) with the right people at work (i.e. the people who can help you achieve your goals).

Have an INS

I have a workbook called the Individual Network System or INS.   This workbook outlines the who, what, where, when and how of corporate and business networking. It helps you identify the right people to meet and how to keep you on their radar. If you would like a complimentary copy of that workbook, please setup an appointment.

The intent of creating a business networking is to build relationships with the right people that will help you find the positions and roles that you really want. If that is what you really want, then take the 20 minutes to chat about it with me.

Find a mentor

 

Consider finding mentors in various areas of your professional development:

1) How to better market yourself within your professions

2) Help you with promoting your ideas and innovations.

3) How to write and publish your articles, presentations, and white papers

4) How to present to the exec

5) How to get other managers from sibling departments recognize your value to your company (If your manager is the only person that knows your value – you are doing yourself a disservice).

 

 

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

 

 

Tips for working with Contractors, Consultants and Remote Workers

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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

  1. 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.
  2.  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)?

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.

How do you deal with the pains of customer service?

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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

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.

 

 

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

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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 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). 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.

 

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.

 

 

Should I focus on just one niche customer group initially?

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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.

Why Your Personal Brand Matters

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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.

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

 

Summer Sizzles with Business Lessons Learned from TV’s Scandal

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Hello – all you Olivia Pope and Scandal fans out there. I know Scandal is on summer hiatus. But what better time for us to review some “business Lessons Learned” from Scandal and more specifically from Olivia Pope?

This summer, we will be hosting a Lessons Learned Summer Series based on the characters of one of the best rated TV series “Scandal”. If you are interested in joining this video series – please register to receive telecast dates and times.

Today’s episode is a quick overview of “How Olivia Pope Got to be Olivia Pope”. We’ll walk through the business strategies that you can also use to build your empire, while avoiding some of the pitfalls.


If you found these tips helpful, then signup for the summer series. REGISTER HERE