Web to the Rescue: Free business resource for start-ups

What’s better than a masked marvel?

Web to the Rescue! And if you’re a job seeker frustrated by the endless search, this website is for you.

Web to the Rescue is a  free, online resource designed to help YOU launch and build a business or non-profit, and it’s the brainchild of business pro Nillie Goldman.

“Three years ago, when the Great Recession of 2008 began, I decided I wanted to use my drive and creativity to launch a venture that would make the world a better place by trying to alleviate a problem that is affecting millions,” she explains. “Web to the Rescue is a free, comprehensive, easy-to-use website.”

The site is streamlined simplicity: “I don’t assume that visitors have prior experience in business or knowledge of entrepreneurship. My goal is for this site to become the ‘go to’ resource,” whether you already have a business or plan on starting one soon, she says.

Not only is the site free — and most of the resources included are free as well — the site asks nothing of its users: You don’t need to share any personal information, not even your email address. You won’t be bothered by a salesperson or spam.  There is no paywall, no hidden fees, and no Google ads, either.

Go visit this masked marvel and Like it on Facebook. Help spread the word – Nillie’s philanthropic efforts here deserve a big shout-out!

Nillie Goldman and Michael Neuendorff were on Susan Rich’s internet radio show: Get Noticed Now. This is the show where we tell you how to grab attention and drive sales — how to maximize your marketing efforts or use technology to become more productive.

Join us next week:
11 am ET every Thursday morning on w4wn.com

Want to be a guest on the show? How about a show sponsor?
Check it out and get a little extra marketing love.

~sr~

Self-doubt: Is it hurting your business?

Is self-doubt keeping you from building your business?

It might be — and that’s what Kaya Singer and I talked about on today’s internet radio show, Get Noticed Now.

Self-doubt is that nagging fear that makes us question ourselves: Are we doing the right thing by being self-employed, are our offerings any good? Who would buy from us anyway? Who would pay us what we are worth?

Get tangled up in these internal thoughts and your external efforts – namely, building your business – will stall, Kaya says.

“If you thinking in terms of self-doubt, you are not focusing on your customer, and what their needs are, what they need from you,” she says.

Beat the self-doubt by doing your homework: When you have an idea for a product or service, figure out if there’s a burning need for it. Who is your potential market? What will make them buy? Talk to your customers and listen to them. Focus on them — and you’ll see the negative thoughts fade away.

This doesn’t mean, Kaya reminds us, that you won’t have them. Some self-doubt is good if it helps us make wise choices.  But if we’re being paralyzed by fear, confusion, and doubt, it’s time to get some perspective. And Kaya has a wealth of ideas on how to do just that in her book: Clear your focus, grow your business.

Marketing Plan

Yes, you need one. But if you’re a solo-pro, you might not need the full-bore plan offered by small business administration centers. Those detailed road-maps are generally designed for people who need a bank loan to launch their business or keep it going. When most solo-pros get started, it’s on a limited cash basis. We’re using savings and maybe some family funds to get off the ground, Kaya says. In that case, you still need a plan, but it can be far more streamlined.

Another point: Don’t worry about the pennies you don’t have today. Think at least 30 days down the road. If you are planning, plan. Don’t allow self-doubt to cloud your focus. BELIEVE you will have the money you need in 30, 60, 90 days and then plan on how to make it happen. You can’t fix immediate cash flow woes, unless you have an immediate project that will pay you well. If that’s the case, no surprise here, work on that first. But don’t forget your marketing plan — being self-employed means you are always building your “rainy day fund” — it’s only a matter of time before work slows down and you need the next project.

This was a great call and the hour flew by. If you’ve read this far and would like a transcript of today’s show, please contact me.

And – hey, don’t miss next week’s internet radio show:
Get Noticed Now!
8 am PST every Thursday morning on w4wn.com

What’s your biggest business challenge?

Get Noticed Now!
Let’s talk on internet radio w4wn.com

Join get-you-noticed marketing expert Susan Rich as she chats with Kaya Singer, owner of Awakening Business Solutions. They’ll be talking about the biggest challenge most women business owners face – and it’s not getting more clients!

Listen and learn – 8 am PST / 11 am EST on Thursday November 3.

http://w4wn.com
Call in: 561-422-4365

Are you an innovator? Or a creator?

You should be both.

So says Julie Austin, an award-winning author, inventor, and multiple business owner. Julie joined me on today’s internet radio show: Get Noticed Now! and she explained why it is important to continually look at ways to create products/services while innovating opportunities to generate revenue.

It’s also vital that you — small business owner — differentiate yourself to yourself before you ever seek publicity. Sure you can (and should) hire experts to take your business forward. But if you can’t explain to yourself why you are different, better, faster, more unique than the competition, your PR staff can’t do it, either. Which means you’ll be wasting time, money, and opportunity.

Don’t do that! Take a class from Julie — or from me — we both offer training that helps get you noticed so you can grab attention and drive sales.

Of course Julie’s own, never-fails get-noticed approach works just as well: She makes upwards of 30 COLD CALLS every day.
How does that help you define your business benefit? Because the more calls you make, the more you get a chance to listen in on what you’re saying. If you think your sales message is long-winded, unclear, or confusing, so  will your potential customer. And nothing uncovers the problem, or points you to a faster solution, than repetition (more calls) and adjustments (trying a new way of saying it).

And, rest assured: Julie says 99% of the people you call are nice to you. They might not buy, but rudeness is rare.

Julie’s own big success came when she invented, patented, and launched Swiggies. She was flying high until the economy nose-dived and that’s when she learned the value of having multiple businesses. She even wrote a book, The Money Garden, about how to make it happen. While it sounds like crazy hard work to have multiple businesses, the advantage is clear: If one slows down, you still make money at the others.

The hour just flew by, and we’re sorry if you missed the show. But that doesn’t have to happen next week!

Get Noticed Now!
8 am PST/11 am EST  Every Thursday morning on Women for Women Radio.

Would you like to be a guest on my show?

If you’d like some extra marketing love, please sponsor the show. Find out why it’s good for your business, just contact me.

~sr~

All aboard! It’s time to leave the Procrastination Station!

Is there something in your business that you’ve been struggling with?

Do you feel like you’re not…

…Building your business?

…Nabbing clients?

…Generating sales?

Are you spinning your wheels, working TOO hard but not earning enough money?

There’s help for that, and I hope you’ll join me November 12, 2011 at Leaving Procrastination Station.

This will NOT be your average workshop where you leave with an overwhelming list of marketing tasks and business ideas that you never get around to using!

At Leaving Procrastination Station you bring your most critical roadblock and we help you tailor your day to get PAST it. You’ll get personal support and real solutions that help you move ahead. AND you’ll leave with a MANAGEABLE action plan, plus a list of experts you can call on after the event: We’re here to help you get unstuck, moving forward, out of the station and onto the fast track.

If you’re ready to move on to the next phase of your solo-pro career, if you’re ready to get un-stuck, then it’s time to buy your ticket to a better 2012.

Get Noticed Now! Let’s talk on internet radio w4wn.com

Join get-you-noticed marketing expert Susan Rich and innovator/inventor Julie Austin as they talk about marketing ideas and strategies that help you grab attention and drives sales.

Julie Austin is an award-winning writer, inventor, and multiple business owner. Her patented product, swiggies, wrist water bottles, have been a NASDAQ product of the year semi finalist and are currently sold in 24 countries. She’s appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX News, and the Wall Street Journal, along with dozens of TV shows, magazines and radio shows around the world. She’s a “go-to” media expert in the fields of innovation & creativity.

With a journalism degree and 20+ years of experience, Susan Rich is the Get-YOU-Noticed-Now marketing/writing expert. Tune in for a lively, informative show.

Listen and learn – 11 am ET Thursday, October 27.
http://w4wn.com
Call in: 561-422-4365

Oh Merle! Of Makeovers and Customer Service

Once upon a time, about 25 years ago, my soon-to-be best friend Kris and I went to the mall.

Credit: Roland Darby

We were 15 and in search of ourselves…or at least the perfect shade of lipstick.

We went to Merle Norman, the only place at the time willing to give free, no-holds-barred makeovers to anyone, including teenaged girls too broke to do more than lie about coming back with mom’s credit card.

I don’t remember what color palate I chose – my favorite color at the time was blue – so it’s possible I came away with blue-lined eyes and aquamarine lips, but I will never forget that Kris asked for red. A gorgeous, bold color in itself, but totally unsuited to her honey-toned skin.

Red-faced and on the run

When the makeup artist was done with us, it was clear we had not found ourselves, or the perfect shade of lipstick. Our combined reaction was shock, then fear, then the unspoken desire to find a bathroom – fast – and wash our faces before her mom came to pick us up.

We tried walking through the mall at a decorous pace, hoping no one would notice that our two lovely (we hoped) selves were made up like clowns: Our faces were lathered in foundation, with pressed powder dusted halfway down our necks. Our cheeks were bronzed and blushed, and our eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows were weighted with thick powder, mascara and brow liner.

OMG! Yes, they’re staring at us!

Teenaged girls want to be noticed, but only for the right reasons. After the second or third incredulous stare, we abandoned all pretense and made for the bathroom at a dead run. Under the harsh fluorescent lights, our faces looked gaudy – my mother’s phrase would have been “two-bit hookers.” Mindless of the sore pimples on our foreheads, we smacked harsh soap on our faces and scrubbed our eyes and cheeks raw with coarse paper towels.

At the end, Kris and I were red-faced in more ways than one.

Business lesson?

Never make your customer look like a fool.

Needless to say Kris and I never returned to Merle Norman, even when we, as business professionals, had the resources and the desire to look polished. To this day, the mention of Merle Norman leaves us in giggles. We remember the botched makeover as a bonding moment, but not the company as a place to shop.

By contrast, our next foray was Contempo Casuals, where we deliberately tried on ugly dresses, just to see which one of us could outdo the other.
That store didn’t throw us out; in fact they invited us to return.

Don’t judge your customers by age or assumed resources.

It might be tempting to make snap decisions when someone arrives in your store, but don’t. Sometimes I like to get dressed up to go shopping, other times I present myself in baggy sweats, a baseball hat, and worn shoes. I expect the same treatment no matter what I’m wearing.

Customers have long memories. People remember where they went, how they were treated, and if they will shop there again. A bad experience not only means you’ve lost a customer – it means they will likely tell at least three other people about what happened…like I just did.

Good customer service starts with being polite, helpful, and truthful – no matter what we are buying: We all want that perfect shade of lipstick.

~sr~

The barrier method: Stop talking to me NOW.

Unless of course, that’s your intention…

In today’s electronic world, as wired as we are,  it is easy to avoid communicating with people.

The barrier method is in place at every talk-to-me portal:
Call a number? Leave a message.
Send an email? It might get marked as spam, or simply ignored.
Thumb a text? Prepare for an emoticon – not a real answer – in response.

It’s communication, not contraception. Please stop using the barrier method.

Photostock/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Even if you need to share bad news, don’t be evasive. Just be up-front.
Say yes. Say no. Say please, thank you, and maybe in the future.
Throw in a little white lie to make the medicine sweet – remember, you might be on the receiving end of that person’s to-talk-to list someday.

~sr~

Did you get what you want? The consequences of success.

What happens when you get what you want?

My mantra is, “I want that ham” — old family story. Door prize at a Girl Scout event was a huge baked ham. I love ham, no one else did. I decided I would win it, stood in the back of the hall, rocking, chanting:

I want that ham!
I want that ham!

My mom kept trying to explain that it was a door prize and I wasn’t likely to get it — afraid of my intensity, no doubt, and that my 6-year-old heart would be broken. And of course having to serve a ham that only I would eat.

Natch, I won.

I turned to my mom and said, “I GOT that ham.” (or warthog, if you’re wondering about the photo.)

Photo Credit: Michael Elliott

To this day, if something is within my grasp, I’ll talk about wanting it, and then I’ll go ahead and say those four magic words — I want that ham.

Time has proven my mom was mostly right – I don’t get that ham nearly as often as the little girl in me thinks I should.

But it’s learning how to manage the hunger that has been the lesson for me.

If I want something, I go all out for it. If I get it, great. If I don’t, well, not-so-great. Success and failure, praise and rejection, are all part of life.

The real education comes from getting something I thought I wanted, and having it turn out to be awful – not what I desired at all.

Managing my way through the unexpected has taught me that not all opportunities – or baked hams – are created equal.

More than that, those hard-won, bad decisions have helped me understand my motivations: I’ve learned to think about what it is I want, why I think I must have it, and what will happen if I DO get it.

Identifying the consequences of success has helped me avoid taking the wrong job, moving to the wrong city, staying with the wrong man.

Experience has shown the consequences of NOT getting are acceptable: My life goes on, much as it did before I caught the scent of ham.

Learning the difference between feast or famine has helped me find the necessary middle ground. It’s where I always manage to find a snack.

~sr~

Writing words: Does listening to music help or hinder?

It’s a debate that goes no further than you and your headphones: Do you need to crank up the volume before you can bang out the words? Or is silence truly golden when you’re hammering out a sentence?

Back in his early career, famed author Stephen King listened to hard rock – cranked to ear-splitting decibels – to accompany the creative process. Today he composes in silence, and rewrites to music.

Personally I find it hard to listen to lyrics when I’m trying to write. I get wrapped up in what the singers are saying and it effectively silences my writing voice.

Instrumentals — from symphonies to flamenco guitar solos — don’t interrupt my muse. But more often than not, if a project needs my total concentration, I need total silence.

I recently invested in a small fountain. The trickle of water, the low hum of the pump, creates a white noise I find a soothing compromise. It’s not total silence, and it’s not the heartbreak wail of someone lamenting lost love.

If you are having trouble writing, your favorite music might be the culprit. Try a different kind of rhythm – swap hard rock for jazz, for example – or try writing in total silence for 30 minutes.

The results might surprise you: It is exhilarating when you start hearing the words in your head, and not the bass thump of your stereo.

Talk to me: What works best for you?