Tag Archives: transition

What type of digital marketing strategies should we implement for a startup?

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This question came from a busy professional.

What type of digital marketing strategies should we implement for a startup?

What type of digital marketing strategies should we implement for a startup? We are in the primary stage and do not have much money. 

Congratulations on starting your business. The amazing thing regarding digital marketing is that it doesn’t cost much money to get started.  But you do need to invest time, energy and creativity.   You need to be committed to a consistent and frequent investment of time.   But that’s what startups are all about!

We will go into a general marketing strategy and then focus on digital marketing solutions.

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5 Biggest Mistakes People Make in Presentations

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This question came from a busy professional.

I’m searching for career experts who can tell me the biggest mistakes people make
when making a presentation at work.
Most everyone has heard of the more common mistakes of not making eye contact with the audience and relying too heavily on note cards.  But here are some of the bigger mistakes that you may not be aware you are making.

  • Covering too much
  • Not properly tying the topics together
  • Not having a CTA
  • Not closing the deal
  • Not having someone else edit

 

We will go through each in detail, explain why it’s such a big
mistake and then give advice on how a presenter can avoid making the mistake.

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Career path options in the digital marketing industry

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This question came from a busy professional.

What are career path options in the digital marketing industry?

There are several career options in digital marketing because there are several outlets within digital marketing.

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5 Ways to Make Yourself Stand Out at Work

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A busy professional asks a question regarding working relationships.

I’m looking for meaningful, effective ways that employees in nearly any scenario can make themselves stand out in a good way.

It goes without saying that above all, you must continue to produce high-quality work, make the most of your time at the office. We don’t want any of the below to affect the quality of your regular duties or responsibilities.
In other words, if you are not already doing the below – you are already standing out (but in a bad way).

Once you have accomplished the below, you can focus on the next 5 ways to make yourself stand out.

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When do you need a new career vs. just a new job?

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A busy professional asks a question regarding career advancement.

When do you need a new career vs. just a new job?


When you’re burned out in your current job, how do you know if it’s time for a new career vs. just a new job? What questions should you ask yourself? What criteria should you be thinking about?

This is a question that everyone should ask – even before “burn out”.  But, as you pointed out, many don’t consider it until they are “done” with their current job.

Avoid Burn-Out

To avoid burn – have a career development plan (3, 5, 10-year plan) and regularly do a career assessment against that plan.

Some steps to get you on that path:

  • Work with a success coach, mentor or business coach to assist you in your career and professional development plan.
  • Include your professional development task in your professional yearly review discussions
  • Share your career goals and professional development plans with your manager
  • Schedule various tasks to accomplish throughout the calendar year to achieve those year-end, 3, 5 and 10-year plans.

Never too late

If you don’t have a career development plan, create one now.  Decide where you want to be, do and have in 3, 5, and 10 years.  Consider a 360-degree view of your life in 3, 5 and 10 years.  To assist you in this, feel free to download this Dream Sculpting Worksheet.

New Career or New Job

Once you have your career development plan, it is critical that you regularly evaluate it.  As you gain new experiences, skills and interests, you are changing.  The career path that you defined 3 years ago may not fit the person that you are today.  Take the time to reassess your professional and personal desires.  Make sure you are not only staying on target – but that this target is still what you want.

The Next Career Step Challenge Worksheet may also help you with deciding if you need a new career or just the next logical step in your current career development path.

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 complimentary 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.

 

Can I start a business without money?

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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 question comes from a busy entrepreneur and small business owner:

      I’ve been unemployed for a few months now. Could I still start a business without money?

      I’m curious because I’ve read about it but never made a decision. So I do believe that the answer would help me.

Without knowing your talents, work experience and skills, this answer will be very general.
Starting a business without money is possible, but difficult.

Business Plan

The first step would be to create your business plan, which outlined your business goals, start-up fiscal needs, revenue expectations, resource needs, and general business strategy.

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Things to avoid saying during a salary negotiation

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Today’s question comes from a busy professional:

What are some things to avoid saying during a salary negotiation? Please respond with any top tips
for mid-career people looking to negotiate a higher salary.

It’s time to ask for a raise, what are some things to avoid saying during a salary negotiation?

How to prepare

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Marketing with Customer Satisfaction in Mind

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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 question comes from a busy professional:

When does marketing meet customer service?

If your marketing and customer service strategies do not meet somewhere, your customers will fall through the gap. Having an understanding of how these two departments come together for the customer experience is critical to delighting your customer throughout their relationship with your company. After all, the customer will look at these functions as coming from the company as a whole, and as independent departments.

With marketing’s job being the first contact with a customer and customer service happening much further down the customer life cycle, these two departments seemingly have no overlapping strategy. But, we know this is simply not true based on research which indicates that the customer expectations set by marketing in the beginning have a significant impact on customer service’s ability to please a customer later on.

 

Thank you so much for your well-thought out question.  Although the answer may be slightly different depending upon the specific market or industry, a good market plan normally starts with two pieces:

  • Marketing with the client in mind
  • Marketing with the product/service in mind

 

Marketing with the client in mind

The market plan begins with the target customer in mind.

  • Define your product/service/company’s differential or niche.
  • Define your target market or specific customer that needs or wants your product and service.
  • Imagine what will attract your target customer base and then create effective campaigns that will attract that customer base.

So – in essence, the entire market campaign is centered on attracting that perfect client.

Marketing with the product or service in mind

You also need to keep your product or service in mind while marketing.   You very well cannot market an automobile when you are selling a cat.  At the same time, some marketing campaigns over sell the product to get that signature on that dotted line.

This is the situation that sets the improper customer expectations. This is the situations that will impact your over customer satisfaction ratings and increase your customer service calls.

Money is in the balance

Customer and Company satisfaction occurs when customer and marketing expectations match.

  • The company makes money when the purchase price of the product outweighs the cost of making the product.
  • The company makes money when the client returns and refers other customers.
  • The client returns (and refers) when their expectations of value have been met or exceeded.

If marketing consistently over-promises to make a “sell”, they run the risk of eventually:

  • Overrunning the budget of time, materials, and resources to complete the task (costing the company more money than they would receive for the project)
  • Missing over-promised deadlines and product features to the client (costing the company the client’s return visits and referrals)

Even if the sales and marketing teams do succeed in this client contract, it’s unlikely that the client will return.

Ensuring Balance

To ensure balance, the marketing sales account manager work together with their production or creating services teams, from the start.

  • Both teams review the client contract or Statement of Work (which the production team is expected to fulfill).
  • Both teams are required to approve and sign-off on the features and delivery commitments.
  • The account manager then meets with the client to explain any changes to the feature list or delivery schedule.
  • The production team can also be available to answer any technical questions regarding the changes.

Once the contract or SOW is signed by the client, the product team can get started on the product or service.

It is also important to note that the account manager owns that customer relationship.  Therefore, once the product or service is completed, the account manager meets with the client to deliver the product, review the changes, explain its usage, review the original contract to illustrate all commitments have been met and get a feel for the client’s satisfaction.

the Main Event isn’t the Sell

Keeping both the company and client expectations in mind – upfront – can lead you to a successful conclusion.  A sell isn’t the main event.  The company is in the business of making money.  Therefore, you must always consider the cost of making that sell.

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.

Building an all-star team of employees at a small business

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What do you look for when you’re building an all-star team of employees?

Do you seek out those who fit into your company culture, focus on skill sets, or look for enthusiasm? (Or maybe all of the above!) We’re a small business and entrepreneurs looking for tips when hiring team players.

Executives discussing documents at meeting

What makes this a difficult situation is that you are a small business.  You don’t have the time to invest in training someone green.  At the same time, you may not have the money to match the salary requirements of the more experienced candidates.

I’ve met with several entrepreneurs that focused on enthusiasm and personalities, with the hope that the new hire would grow into the position.  The problem is that as busy entrepreneurs and small business owners – you don’t have the time to train the new hire.  What eventually happens is that the new hire never meets expectations, because they are never given the training that they were expecting.

  • The small business owners still does many of the jobs that the new person was hired to do AND pay the new hire her salary.
  • The new hire is frustrated because she can’t get the proper training AND gets reprimanded because she isn’t doing the job correctly.

Breaking the Cycle

There are a few ways to break this cycle.

  • Contract those duties or tasks to freelance talent
  • Hire a training consultant for the new employee
  • Hire an experienced, older employee on a sliding scale

 

Contract or freelance talent

The advantage of hiring contract or freelance talent is that you only hire when you need that particular talent or task completed.  It depends on the task that is required, of course.

For simple administration and executive assistant duties, you can call upon Virtual Assistants services.  This is great if your needs are a few hours or days a week.

There are also several freelance services for graphics, audio, video, copy-writing, social media and marketing.

The assumption with these contract services is that there is little training required, and if you are not satisfied with their work, you can change resources at the end of the short-term contract.

 

Training consultant

If you need full-time, in-house staff consider hiring a training consultant to create your orientation materials, your employee handbooks, document your desired procedures and then train your new hires.

This allows you to hire younger, less experienced staff (at lower rates), give them the training and orientation attention they deserve, without adding to your already overflowing plate.

 

Hiring experience, older employees

 

The last possibility is to look at experienced but older candidates.  Often times, older candidates have less expenses.  Their children are grown; they own their own home with no mortgage; and they have little debt.  They may even understand the difficult situation of the small business owner.

Therefore; they may be open to sliding salary scale (a lower starting salary with regular review for increases based on the success of the company).

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 to best leave your current job

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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 question comes from a busy professional:

I’m searching for career expert that will answer this question: “When someone has accepted another position and preparing to leave their current job, what is the best advice you’d give them?”

There are several ways or reasons to leave your current job:

  • New job at same company but different department or location
  • New job at a different company
  • Starting your own business
  • Retiring

Remain Professional

In all cases, my best advice is to always remain professional.  This means:

  • Document all your projects and make all your notes available – so that others can pick up exactly where you left off.
  • Leave your number in case they need to consult with you on some things after you leave.  (People rarely will take you up on that offer – but it’s really the thought/offer that counts)
  • OFFER to contact your clients and introduce them to the person taking over for you  This provides your clients a smooth continuity to the new person as well as lets them know what’s going on.
  • OFFER to meet with the person taking over for you – to review all your documents, notes and answer questions about clients, etc
  • Give 2 weeks’ notice – so that you can do the above transition

The Handoff

Regardless of why you leave, you want to be seen as a valuable contributor – even as you walk out the door.  One way to illustrate your value is the handoff.   This is where you outline all your tasks, procedures and assets used to do your role.

Unfortunately, more times than not, you will not have an actually “person” to train or prepare for your departure.  Many employers fail to identify a replacement until you are long gone.  This means you need to be document everything of significance.  I recommend you document all the time, while you are in the current job.  There may be times when you are on vacation, out sick, or considered for a larger position.  Having your hand-off documentation always available allows you to either temporarily or permanently walk away with the confidence that everything will still run smoothly because of your preparedness.

Client Handoff

Contacting your clients and introducing them to the “new person” is another hand-off item.  Make sure to check with your supervisors before contacting your clients because some employees prefer to handle that piece differently.  But you should always offer because it:

  • Illustrates your commitment to your clients
  • Put the client notification on the employee’s radar as an important aspect of the hand-off

Giving Notice

Giving 2 weeks’ notice is not as common as in the past.  Depending upon the reason for your departure, your employer may choose to release you sooner.  But I still recommend it.  A 2-week’s notice gives you the time to execute a professional hand-off to co-workers, clients and other assets.

Life is full of twists and turns. You will never know when your paths are going to cross again.  Therefore, you want to be professional at all times.

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.