Dream Catcher

I know, I know I talk about knowing your competition and being better than they are by offering more value…but do you listen? Do you take action?

Business Growth 101: Know Your Competition!

Recently several business owners were in my car and we were talking about competition. Competition is a good thing. But, when you get so full of yourself and think you have NO competition sooner or later you will be knocked off your pedestal. Don’t let this happen to you.

We all have competition. Competition is healthy and it helps us grow. My tips below will help you stay on top of your game so you do not get knocked off your pedestal.

1. Know your competition. This means staying aware of new businesses that are similar to yours in your area. There are many home based businesses that offer great products and services. Do not dismiss that people will hire them. You can learn what new businesses are opening in your area by paying attention to announcements for ribbon cuttings and watch who joins your local Chamber of Commerce. Advertisements in newspapers and newsletters can also alert you to new business in your area.

2. Review the value you provide. Reviewing the value you provide your customers or clients. Is what you provide still needed or relevant? Do you need to add more value? This does not mean cutting your fees or giving away more pencils, pens, or magnets. It means really listening to what your clients need or want. Do you deliver a product or service that is above and beyond what is expected? There are many free tools you can use to survey or poll your current customers and clients to see what they want or need from you. The extra value may be something as simple as a rack card that provides the care or cleaning instructions for the product they just purchased. No one wants to ruin their new purchase by not taking care of it properly. Maybe the value you provide is following up to see if they understand how to use the service or product they purchased or are happy with it. We all have closets full of stuff we bought that we never could figure out how to assemble or use. Business owners review what your competitors are providing and provide more value.

3. Invest. As a small business owner you must continually invest in personal growth so that you can grow your business. Investing in improving your skills will help you stay ahead of your competition because you will know the latest industry trends. Investing in your business owner skills is important too. When you invest in learning new ways to grow your business while remaining debt free you will help your business grow. You will be able to focus on providing value to your clients because you will not focused on making money to pay debts.

Business owners don’t get knocked off your pedestal because you failed to invest in you and your business. Don’t lose customers or clients because they are off chasing after the latest shiny new business in town. There are many low cost ways to promote your business, evaluate your competition and provide value to your customers and clients. Using my three tips you will not be knocked off your pedestal by your competition; you will be the competition.

*the tips in this article can also be applied to employees, independent contractors and anyone wanting to grow personally.

Jaynine Howard is the Debt Free Business Coach. She teaches business owners the systems and strategies needed to grow their business while remaining debt free.

She is a retired United States Marine, psychologist, and small business owner. She is the host of The Dynamic Business Owners Coaching Club and provides one on one coaching and array of other services that will help your business bloom.

Remember, spring is in the air…is your business blooming?

Take a look at your shirt right now. Does it have a logo or advertisement for your favorite brand? Are you walking around advertising your favorite brand of running shoes? Your favorite sports team? I’m not talking about just men here. Women do it too. Women walk around advertising handbags made by name brand companies. They wear shirts, belts and shoes with the name of a business on them.  If you are a small business owner I want to you stop right now walking around advertising other business owners products, services, or business.

Promoting your business does not have to be expensive. Every day people are looking at you and your employees. It only takes 15 seconds for someone to look at you and form an opinion. So, while they are looking at you and forming an opinion why not let them see your business name, your name, and your logo.

Starting today I want you to use my five tips to develop your presence and promote your business.

1. Wear a name tag. Name tags are a very inexpensive way to market your business. You can purchase a name tags for you and your employees in various colors and sizes. They typically cost less than $10 each.

2. Ball cap. If your industry takes you and your employees outside a ball cap may serve a dual purpose. It can protect your face from the harmful rays of the sun while promoting your business. You will want to choose a color that is in your business color scheme. Your logo or business name can be prominently displayed on the cap so that everyone can see where employees work for or what you do.

3. Polo shirt. I am not a fan of t-shirts because I think they promote a sloppy appearance and you do not want potential customers to think you are sloppy or perform sloppy work. Polo shirts can be used to adopt a professional appearance. They can be dressed up or down. Polo shirts come in an array of colors and fabrics. The person that designs your name tag can probably embroidery your logo and/or business name on to a polo or dress shirt.

4. Tote bag. Tote bags come in various sizes and styles. If you are going to be carrying a backpack or purse you can switch to a tote bag in your business colors and be a walking billboard for your business. Many times a brief case is not large enough to carry client files or your portfolio. A tote bag with your business logo on the side will promote a polished image while being an affordable option when carrying items that are too large for a brief case. It could even serve as your laptop case.

5. Jacket. I often see people wearing jackets with their favorite university or sports team on them. I suggest you invest in a nice seasonal jacket with your logo on it.

Investing in clothing, name tags, caps, or tote bags are very inexpensive. Many times you are already purchasing similar items to complete your seasonal wardrobe. I challenge you to pick up a uniform catalog and look at the prices of the items. I did not realize how inexpensive they were until I received several of these catalogs and noticed the quality of the items and how they come in many different styles. There is no need for a woman business owner to wear a man’s sloppy t-shirt. These catalogs have scarves, short sleeve, long sleeve, sleeveless, silk, and various fabric blends of tops and blouses. It does not matter what your industry these catalogs have great items that will help you promote your business as you conduct your day to day activities.

I encourage you to stop wearing clothing that promotes the great big name brand companies and start promoting your own business. Investing in self promotion is a great way to help your business grow while remaining debt free.

Jaynine Howard is the Debt Free Business Coach. She teaches business owners how to grow their business while remaining debt free.

Jaynine is a retired United States Marine, psychologist, and business owner residing in Eastern North Carolina. She is the host of The Coach is in which is broadcast each Monday on Talkshoe and re-broadcast on Military Network.

She is also the author of Write the Right Resume, Attract Love Keep Love, and Mom’s Recipes for the Broke and Starving. You can learn more about Coach Jaynine my visiting her website  http://coachjaynine.com/

Now that it is spring it is time to ask yourself if your business is blooming. Three months ago you probably made New Year’s Resolutions. So how are you doing on those? Are you meeting your short term goals? What about your long term goals?

Spring is the time for spring cleaning, flowers blooming and income tax refunds. So what do these things have to do with you and your business?

Let’s take a few minutes to self reflect. Is your business blooming? Is it growing? How was your first quarter? If you are a bit disappointed with what has been happening so far don’t fret. Spring is the time for your business to bloom. So let’s get started.

Three Steps to Help Your Business Bloom:

1. Spring Cleaning – get out a dust rag, broom, and put on your cleaning clothes. Now is the time to give your business a thorough spring cleaning. Your customers and clients will appreciate it. When your business is free of cobwebs, dust, and clutter your mind will be less cluttered too. You will be able to see your business in a fresh new perspective and plan new and exciting promotions for spring and summer. When people see a dirty dusty business or dusty products they automatically assume that the business is old and out dated.

2. Take Inventory – replace any pieces of furniture, fixtures or marketing materials that look drab, faded, worn, or torn. While you are at it – take a peek at your work wardrobe too. Remember, it only takes 15 seconds for someone to form an opinion about you and your business. I know, not fair, but that is human nature.  Business owners, remember to keep receipts for office purchases. You will want to consult with your enrolled agent or tax preparer on how to deduct office expenses such as furniture and equipment. When you look on top of your game your business will bloom.

3. Invest – now is the time to invest in your business growth. Just as a flower or plant needs nurturing your business needs water and fertilizer in order to grow. When you open your mind to new ideas on how to grow your business you and your business will bloom.  This could be through online workshops, coaching, conferences and retreats. Before you spend your income tax refund take a few minutes and schedule your upcoming business growth educational opportunities so that you and your business can bloom.

Business owners when you implement my three steps to help your business bloom you will see your bank account grow. You will have excited customers and clients coming through your door and calling your phone. They will feed off your spring fever and be ready to spend money on your products and services. So go right now and implement my three business blooming strategies so you can make your business bloom.

Jaynine Howard is The Debt Free Business Coach. She is the owner of Dream Catcher - Business and Life Coaching. She teaches business owners the systems and strategies needed to develop their presence in the community while remaining debt free.

She is a retired United States Marine, psychologist and doctoral candidate. She is presently conducting research for her PhD in Psychology.  Jaynine is also the author of Write the Right Resume and Attract Love Keep Love. Her radio show The Coach is in is broadcast live on Talkshoe each Monday at 12pmEST and rebroadcast on Military Network to an audience of over 125,000 listeners.

Jaynine looks forward to helping you turn your dreams into reality while remaining debt free. You can learn more about her by visiting her website at http://www.coachjaynine.com/

I decided to take out a Facebook Ad to help grow my list. You often hear me say that you need a list before you start marketing a product or service. My target niche was business owners, pet owners, and specifically pit bull owners. I used the keywords feature to help find my target audience. I also made sure the advertisement did not go to anyone already associated with my fan page. I created the ad as if Miss Savanna had hacked into my laptop and was soliciting fans for me. I did not use my logo but a paw print instead.

I noticed the day with the highest click rate was on the Friday when Dog Town and The Dog Whisperer are on television. I am curisous if all dog owners were watching tv and typing on their laptops.

My intent was to get quality fans for my business based on people who have similar interests i.e. business owners, pet owners, pit bull owners.  I increased my fans by 86 during the experiment. I ran the advertisement for one week.  My ad was shown over 111,000 times. Next time I will use my logo to help brand my business.

I will now make time to establish rapport with my fans before offering them the opportunity to sign up for my free ecourse or a free teleclass. I will NOT attempt to sell them anything. I have one fan that comments almost daily. I always reply to her comments. I have also started directly friending and messaging a few new fans each day. I want to see what I have in common with them. Of course as was my intent many are dog owners and are fans of Dog Town and The Dog Whisperer.

The insights are also helpful in identifying my fans by age and gender. However, I do know that my typical 1 on 1 clients are men and do not use the internet.

I foresee running an ad again using my logo. I like that I control my daily budget and click rate. Facebook ads are affordable for any budget. You can pause your advertisement at any time or end the advertisement. Pausing the ad will make it readily available if you want to run it again.

Things to remember:

• Know your purpose for running a Facebook Ad.

• Know your niche and keep it very narrow so as not to waste your money.

• Know your daily budget and overall budget.

• Monitor your ads progress.  Don’t forget about it.

• Monitor your insights to see who is becoming a fan.

• Establish rapport with your fans.

• Don’t SPAM!

Remember, people are buying differently. They are buying what is in front of them. Many are no longer searching on Google for an item or service. They are buying what a friend recommends on social networking sites or from who they see often on social networking sites. If you are selling golf clubs, wedding cakes, drapes, salon services, event planning services etc. be the one that is using Facebook Ads in your area. BE SEEN! As you can see from my experiment the number of impressions was very impressive. It was very affordable. You can pause your advertisement at any time. Maybe you only want to run it on Tuesdays and Thursdays or weekends. You can control when your advertisement is seen. I suggest starting out like I did by using Facebook Ads to build your Fan Page. Then you can introduce your Fans to who you are and build the rapport and employ the know, like, trust, and see as the expert factor.

When people know, like, trust and see you as the expert in your niche they will automatically think of you when they want to do business with your industry or niche.

Coach Jaynine is the Debt Free Business Coach. She teaches business owners the strategies needed to grow their business while remaining debt free.

Jaynine Howard is a retired United States Marine, psychologist, and doctoral candidate. She resides in Jacksonville, North Carolina with her husband and her blue pit-bull Miss Savanna.

You can learn more strategies for growing your business while remaining debt free by signing up for her free ecourse Networking Detox: My 5 Secrets to Networking Success http://networkingdetox.com/

The Richmond, Virginia SPCA is out of cat food.

Please help

https://www.richmondspca.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=234

Thanks!

How many trade magazines do you read each week? Have you ever stopped to wonder what makes the authors of the articles any different from you? Do they still work in your industry? Do they know the needs of your particular niche? Do you see the authors as the experts in your field or business arena?

People are buying differently right now. They are only buying what they need or what truly inspires them. This buying trend will probably continue for quite some time. Article writing is a free tool that will help you build a relationship with your readers so that they will buy from you when they are ready to make a purchase.

Article writing or article marketing has six key benefits for the business owner.

1.  Develop your expertise. When you sit down to write an article you want it to be factual. No sales pitch. Article writing is a great way to show your readers what you know and what makes you the expert in your niche. As you develop loyal readers they will see you as the expert and you will be the expert in your industry that they call when they need your services.

2. Establish your credibility. As you write your articles and share your knowledge you will develop your credibility. Your readers will resonate with you because you are factual and you are sharing with them. You are not selling them anything. You are sharing and building trust. Just as your readers see you as the expert they will see the information you share as credible. They will see you as someone they trust and believe in.

3.  Increase your visibility. Article writing allows you to speak directing to your niche. If you were to put an advertisement in a newspaper you would not be able to guarantee that the readers are in your niche. When you get your articles published in magazines or journals that are industry specific you have an audience that wants to read what you are writing. As you increase your visibility and credibility in the community you will become known as the expert. This will increase traffic to your blog, website and business.

4.  Focused on your niche. Your niche is very important to keep in mind when writing. Your niche will resonate with what you write. Think about what they want to know. Do they want to know the latest trends, how to save money, or why to do something? I cannot stress enough that you must know your niche. When you know your intended reading audience you will also know where to submit your articles for publication.

5.  It is FREE. Article writing is free. It does take a few minutes of your time but because you are writing about topics that are near and dear to your heart it will only take about 20 minutes to write an article. This is less time than it takes to design an advertisement.

6. Grow your business. When you implement steps one thru five above your business will grow while remaining debt free.

Article writing/article marketing has been the number one resource I have used to grow my business while remaining debt free. It is free. But the greatest benefit to article writing is that it truly aids in establishing you as the expert in your community. It provides you a means to establish your credibility while increasing your visibility. When you are visible and seen as credible you will be the expert in your niche. Article writing is a great free resource to use to drive traffic to your blog, website, or store.

Business owners now is the time to add article writing to your list of skills so that you can increase your visibility and credibility be seen as the expert and grow your business while remaining debt free.

Jaynine Howard is the Debt Free Business Coach. She teaches business owners the strategies needed to grow their business while remaining debt free.

Jaynine is a retired United States Marine, psychologist and business owner residing in Jacksonville, North Carolina. She is the host of the Dynamic Business Owners Coaching Club and the upcoming Writers Bootcamp.

You can receive her free ecourse Networking Detox by visiting http://networkingdetox.com/

Have you noticed you are getting less emails today than you were a year ago? This is because business owners have begun using social networking to promote their business. However, they are forgetting that Social networking is about being social or they were never taught the correct way to use social networking for growing and promoting their business.

As the Debt Free Business Coach one of the many tools I teach business owners to use correctly to promote their business for free is social networking. Facebook allows you to have a personal page, group and a fan page. Many business owners use the personal page for personal use and the fan page to promote their business by SPAMMING their fans. This is a very big NO NO. Facebook will shut you down for spamming as will other social networking sites.

I even see people SPAMMING offering to teach social media or do it for your business.

So, let’s review the basics so that you can begin to grow your business by using your Facebook Fan Page correctly.

What is SPAM?

SPAM is the repeated unwanted message that promotes a product or an event. If all you are doing with your fan page is sending promotional announcements that is SPAM. If all you is posting status updates with links to your website that is SPAM.

What is Social Networking?

Social networking is about being social. You must take time to engage in real conversation with your followers.  Social networking sites are also not the place to post negative comments or engage in rude behavior.  Think of it as one big expo or cocktail party where you do not know many of the people. You want to be on your best behavior. As Coach Jaynine always says “If you can’t type something nice don’t type anything at all”.

How to use your fan page to promote your business without SPAMMING your fans:

1.  Engage in real conversation.

2.  Share tips related to your industry or business that will provide value to your fans.

3.  Post photos of business events or activities.

4.  Share web links that will provide value to your fans.

5.  Answer frequently asked questions.

6.  Conduct a poll or survey.

7.  Ask questions to find out what your customers are thinking or what they want from your business.

8.  Conduct a contest. But be sure you are following the new rules for conducting a contest on Facebook.

9.   Share YouTube videos related to your industry or YouTube testimonials from your customers or clients.

10. Use it to promote your upcoming events only after completing at least three non promotional posts.

Remember, social networking is about being social. You will increase your fan page followers by compound friending.  Just as word of mouth referrals can help your business or hurt your business in the online world compound friending can help your business grow. SPAM will hurt your business.  You run the risk of not only losing fans but losing the opportunity to grow your business and promote your business using the free of the internet.

Jaynine Howard, is the owner of Dream Catcher Business & Life Coaching. She is a retired United States Marine, psychologist, and business owner.

She has been using social networking for over two years to grow her business without SPAMMING. As the Debt Free Business Coach she is a firm believer that you can grow a profitable business when you have  employing the necessary systems and strategies in place so that you are scene as the expert.

She invites to sign up for her free ecourse Networking Detox at http://networkingdetox.com/

Expo and tradeshow season is upon us. However, many business owners do not know what to do after the expo is over. So, before you pack up your display items and wait for the phone to ring with new orders you need to do five things.

1.  Review photos of your booth. Make time to self reflect. Look at photos of your booth with a fresh eye or ask a friend to provide you feedback. Where people able to see your business name? Was your business name viewable from various directions? Was your business name too small? Sign displayed  to low? Did people know and understand what you were selling or what service you provide? What was your purpose of being at the expo? Did your table display work for you? Did you get the traffic you wanted to your booth? If no, why do you think you didn’t? Did you sit behind your table or were you standing and out front of your table display? Did you actively engage the crowd or were you shy?

2.  Inventory your supplies. Business owners will want to take an inventory of what marketing materials they need to reorder. Did you run out of business cards or brochures? What promotional or marketing item was untouched? Do not place an order in such a large quantity that you may not give the items away before they become obsolete i.e. calendars or candy. Don’t wait until the day before your next event to order new marketing or expo supplies. You will save money by doing it now and not needing to pay for rush shipping.

3.  Follow up with your leads. If your mission was to capture leads you will want to take time to follow up. It is highly recommended that you do so immediately after the event before your competitors get to the lead first. Also, follow up with the same theme as the event. If it was a pirate theme use a pirate them in your follow up email or written correspondence so that the lead remembers where and when they provided you their information.  Next time you may want to already have your follow up letter prepared so when you get home exhausted the task is less daunting.

4. Evaluate your Return on Investment (ROI). Tradeshows and expos are not a good return on investment (ROI) for everyone. When you are reviewing what worked or didn’t you will want to also consider your personality. If you are shy or timid maybe this is not the place to spend your money. Business expos and tradeshows are not for the timid. They require stepping out and talking with the attendees. Also, take time to focus on the ROI of your marketing materials. Where they worth the expense? Did they bring you paying leads? Or where they just free goodies for the adults that used the expo as a grown up trick or treat event?

5. Celebrate. Celebrate that you survived another Business Expo.

Business expos and tradeshows are a part of many business owners’ grassroots marketing efforts. When you follow my five tips by reviewing photos of your booth, inventorying your supplies, follow up with your leads, reviewing your ROI, and making time to celebrate surviving the expo you will be guaranteed business expo success.

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Jaynine Howard is a retired United States Marine, PhD Candidate, and business owner. She resides in Jacksonville, North Carolina and enjoys working with clients nationally and internationally. She teaches business owners how to grow their business while remaining debt free.  

 Would you like a review of your booth? Please visit http://www.dreamcatcher.camp8.org/Default.aspx?pageId=288912