Solo Entrepreneur: Risk, Values & SohoBlog Resources

One of the books I shared with you in my last post, Take The Risk
has a chapter titled, "Living Your Faith In An Uncertain
World".

Maybe it's the economy or the time of the year however I've
noticed many entrepreneurs giving more thought to their business
in regards to what they actually set out to create.

Some of you may take offense with this post, oh well. I do write
my opinion here and you always have a choice.

When I think of faith, for me it has nothing to do with religion.
It's more what you believe, what values you live your life by
and whether you will compromise your values when it's expedient
to do so.

In Take The Risk, there are 3 questions you may want to ask
yourself and give serious thought when it comes to your own Solo
Entrepreneurial Journey. I've listed them here, and you'll
have to get the book for help in answering them.

What is the worst that could result from trying to integrate my
faith with my work?

What is the best that could happen if I integrate my faith with
my work?

What is the worst that could happen if I don't try to integrate
my faith with my work?

I'm not going to tell you answering these questions for yourself
will be easy, for some of you it will be easy and for others not.

Whatever your religious leanings or lack thereof is not the
issue here - it's what are you bringing into your business by
what you value.

As promised here's a selection of 10 SOHOBLOGS links from my
personal bookmarks. Click a few links, read a few posts and see
if any of these can help you get further along your own Solo
Entrepreneur Journey.

Blog Talk Radio
This is one of the tools that got misplaced but worth it! Start
your own radio program to showcase your expertise and get new
subscribers to your list. Great for local marketing too!

Biznik
Grow your business faster and more profitably with Biznik, the
local, independent business networking community where
collaboration beats competition.

Ge Entrepreneurial
Small business resources and advice about entrepreneurial info,
home based business, business franchises and startup
opportunities for entrepreneurs.

Here's another misplaced tool link but it's worth it if you've
noticed sites you've left your email on tracking you by your IP
address.
Go Trusted
"Free 7-Day Trial Offer!" Hide your IP and bypass firewalls,
proxy servers and content filters. Instant Internet anonymity,
security and privacy for Windows.

Digital Journal
"News, photos, video and debates from citizen journalists and
bloggers around the world."

Iblog Business
Offering the webs best blogging news headlines & business blogs
straight from the business blogosphere.

American Small Business
Our site is an information portal designed to link you to the
best business related stories and content on the web, brought to
you by the Wizard of Ads Partners.

On Startups
This blog is for working entrepreneurs and doesn't focus on
topics just for the internet business owner.

Get Clients Now
Free resources on sales and marketing for consultants, coaches,
professionals and salespeople

Small Biz Technology
Technology insights and news for small businesses, home offices
and all things in between.

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

There are only two words that will always lead you to success.
Those words are yes and no. Undoubtedly, you've mastered saying yes. So start practicing saying no. Your goals depend on it! ~ Jack Canfield

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Glad you liked the list!

Hello MktLvgRebecca,
I'm in the process of finishing The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments and started 2 you might like:

Take The Risk. Ben Carson, MD - "Learning to Identify, Choose and Live with Acceptable Risk."

The Private I. Molly Peacock - "Privacy In A Public World."

Enjoy:)

For the rest of you, I'll be back tomorrow with a few resources
from my SOHOBlogs list. Some you may find useful in your Solo
Entrepreneur Journey.

Until then, I'll leave you with this -

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my
education.~ Mark Twain

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Solo Entrepreneur: Relaxing Sunday

Today is going to be a little different post because I'm taking
a relaxing Sunday to finish up some reading. Most weeks it's
at least 2 books, the real "hold in your hand hard-cover"
variety.

So, I'll share my reading list and you can go back to enjoying
your weekend (for my Aussie and New Zealand readers, ooops!
You're back to work, peace!). My current reading list for this past week:

How To Be Invisible. J.J. Luna - The Essential Guide to
Protecting Your Personal Privacy, Your Assets, and Your Life.

Right Risk. Bill Treasurer aka Captain Inferno - 10 Powerful Principles for Taking Giant Leaps With Your Life

Living Your Unlived Life. Robert A Johnson and Jerry M Ruhl - Coping With Unrealized Dreams and Fulfilling Your Purpose in the Second Half of Life

No Time To Lose. Pema Chodron - A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva

Mall. Eric Bogosian - (fiction) A series of fast paced psychological sketches of characters who happen to be at the wrong mall at the wrong time

The Brain Trust. Larry McCleary, MD - A leading neurosurgeon reveals secrets for increasing brain function at any age

Counter Knowledge. Damian Thompson - How we surrendered to conspiracy theories, quack medicine, bogus science and fake history

The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments. George Johnson - Interesting book on the ten most fascinating experiments in the history of science

All books can be found on Amazon or your local library.
When you read for the pleasure of reading, sometimes the
information you learn may give you insights for your business
that business books or reports miss.

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

"Perhaps where you are is not on any map."~Winnie the Pooh

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Solo Entrepreneurs: Paid Article Writing & Wordpress 2.7

Writing articles has become one of the best ways to get targeted
traffic to your business blog or websites because it works. But
have you considered submitting some of your best articles for
pay?

No, it's not going to make you a millionaire either but you
might want to give some thought to adding this as another income
stream. According to PR Newswire, Associated Content received
over 8.2 million visitors in October and they were reading
articles!

Does that make your ears perk up?! It should because the articles
are short how-to information that you're already submitting to
places like Ezine Articles and Article Snatch.

As a result of their incredible growth, AC paid out roughly $1
million to registered users this year and they are making offers
to contributors daily. Why not you?

My suggestion: Take a look, see if it's something you can add to
both your income and marketing mix.

2. Wordpress Morphing Again
Many of you have switched your blogging to the Wordpress platform
and this is coming as old news, but for those of you still
looking....Wordpress “just” changed to version 2.7 and you
might want to wait before jumping onboard because very soon it
will be changing again.

Some of you aren't seeing the videos I embed in the posts, so
here's the link from the Wordpress team to quickly give you an
idea what the newest features of this upgrade entails.

From watching the video, it appears that many of these features
were available using plugins and some of them, in my humble
opinion is just more eye candy.

Here's what Mark Ghosh, a Wordpress programmer had to say about
the new features:

"Professional designers and web developers who help
small businesses and individuals with their custom WordPress
needs have been telling me that some of their clients are worried
about the new WordPress 2.7 and the hype surrounding it....

I have tried to allay the fears in my replies with examples of
how blogging tasks will get easier in 2.7 with screenshots and
writeups on various blogs and review sites."

One of the things that bothers me as a solo entrepreneur is the
reference to 'professional designers and web developers'
because I don't see myself as either one. It's beginning to
feel like a Microsoft patch clone move to me.

Every time you look around, Wordpress is 'upgrading to make it
better for users', but it seems the average user isn't who
these upgrades are actually for.

I should talk right when I couldn't get the free version to work
the way I wanted, but think about it this way: Do you want to
hire someone each time one of these 'upgrading to make it
better' changes happen?

Or do you want to make a quick few changes yourself and get on to
the next thing?! Don't get me started on all the 'free help'
that's offered online.

Quite a few of you are chomping at the bit to upgrade. Some of
you are of the same mind: Holding your breath until this gets to
be too much damn trouble!

If you've been online a while, doesn't this smell a bit like
the 90's.....when everybody was building 'interactive' websites
and small business people were being taken to the cleaners with
each 'new and better' site upgrade? Think about who is really
benefiting from all these 'upgrades'.

Before I go, Quickbooks now has the official 2009 Federal W-2's
and 1099 forms available. So if you did any contract hiring this
year, get over there and get your forms downloaded.

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

The more things change, the more they remain...insane. ~Michael Fry and T. Lewis, Over the Hedge, 05-09-04

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Fear of Failing & Four W's of Consulting

1. Liked the Fight Club movie. How much of it 'hit you' about
operating your business? Whether the movie was exciting, funny
(my opinion, except for the pathetic guy who was always scared)
and made a point that I've tacked up on my white board: Go all
out! Playing it safe isn't going to get you anywhere and you
might still end up with your nose bloody.

Here's someone else that took something away from the movie
that might help you when it seems you've pulled a real
bone-head mistake in your business: Enjoy


2. Four W's of Business Coaching Consultants
Have you ever encountered a sales person you'd like to just put
Super Glue on their mouth? This is the guy or gal who instead
of listening to your question, jumps in with what they 'think'
you might say?

Would you go to a doctor who doesn't want to touch a patient,
but peers from the waiting room doorway while diagnosing each
person sitting there?!

Sound silly reading it but many of you are doing this in your
business, and the worse offenders are business consultants and
coaches.

It doesn't matter who your prospective client may be, if you are
not asking "what and why" questions to determine their
particular pain points, you are no better than our good 'Doorway
Doctor'.

Pining down what they are having a problem with is easy, but it
may not be the cause of the problem which is where your
expertise lies - solving the right problem and not taking
anything at face value.

Your client isn't stupid, they know they have a problem or they
would not have contacted you. Where most consultants and
coaches "misdiagnose" is taking what the client thinks is the
problem.

Asking 'why' puts your client on the same side in resolving the
problem with you. For example, a client comes to you and says
"My sales are way down from last quarter and that's my
problem". Is it really?

The normal step is to ask what has happened since last quarter?
This is also where many consultants and coaches stop. You may
hear competition, people aren't buying, and so forth. But is
that the real reason?

Unless you look beyond the obvious and ask 'Why aren't sales
increasing?', you can miss the change in suppliers, failure to correct
a product flaw or any number of other reasons.

You are the business coach consultant and don't have the luxury
of taking your clients assumptions at face value.

What you want are facts you can work with in suggesting possible
solutions. The best way to do this is ask for supporting proof,
especially if your client base is other businesses.

Old school journalists were found of talking about the 4 W's and
they are transferable to most business problems:
1. Who. Who are the principles, those with the most information
about the problem. How do you know?

2. What. What are the top three ways this problem is impacting the
client. Where's your proof?

3. When. When was the effect of this problem validated? Don't
show surprise when your client can't tell you!

4. Why. Why is it critical to solve this problem now? Dumb, not if
your client has decided to expand operations, accept larger
clients and there is a deadline to meet.

With this information in hand, you are in a better position to
know which solutions to recommend.

If you submit proposals after making a bid for client work, you
also are in a stronger position to know what price to bid or if
it will require adding staff to implement the solutions.

It's important to consider all opinions your client and their
people may offer, but eventually you'll need verifiable facts
in order to summarize your proposed solution.

Consider using some form of these four questions as your
'secret recipe' to pre-qualify and win more consulting and
coaching clients.

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

This is your life and it's ending one minute at a
time.”~Narrator, Fight Club

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Solo Entrepreneurs: Heads Up & Come Uppance

This Heads Up is for all Solo Entrepreneurs, novice or
experienced Wink & Reunion members: By now you know these two
have worked out a deal to merge. It had been in 'negotiations'
since 2005, but they've announced the new site will launch some
time in February 2009.

To increase the launch numbers, WinkUnion (or whatever they
decide to call it) will pull personal information from sites like
Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, as well as other public records
online according to the article on Gigaom.

From what I understand from the article, the new company will
retain Reunion's social networking and friend-finding features
and make it dramatically easier to find people on the Web. Wink
CEO Michael Tanne had this to say about the merger

"We're aiming to create an entirely new online
experience that simplifies people's lives by making it easy to
find and keep up with everyone they know".

My 2009 prediction: We're going to see right at the first of the
year no less, inbox mayhem and spammers having major wet dreams!
Pulling personal information from other social sites and public
records??? Isn't that what spam bots are designed to do?!

Maybe I'm being paranoid but I'm wondering: Do I really want
the information I have on Linked In handed over to a site I
haven't given permission to contact me?

And public records...uhm, that really bothers me because that
means actual home address, phone number, any family members
living with you, mortgage, vehicle registrations or bankruptcy
information through public records are also part of this 'Weird
Al' loop.

Cheer up, maybe my paranoia is the rant of someone too old to
appreciate the 'network' thing. But in case my paranoia walks
up to your front door wearing nothing more than a smile and a
hat, now might be as good a time as any to go review some of your
information on Linked In, Facebook and Twitter.

Public records is a lost cause but that's why as a Solo
Entrepreneur you should be thinking...Llc, SCorp and Trusts.
Right??

This is on a personal note, so if you're treating your vendors,
customer, readers of your blog and visitors to your sites with
empathetic courtesy during these trying times, then you can read
the quote and go have a nice day.

If you are one of those who have lately been jumping on the 'bad
economy' fear bandwagon and acting like Lenny the Snake to sell
your products and services, this is for you.

The internet community has a very, very long memory. What this
means is fear may sell - for a little while.

People will remember when they were looking for someone who
would answer their simple question about a product, you didn't.

They will remember, when they asked a newbie question on a forum
and you were the one who blasted them with a 'shoot from the
hip' comment.

They will also feel insulted, extremely embarrassed and the next
time you send them an email - they will report you as spamming them.

If they're really feeling the power, they will go to Epinions and
Consumer Democracy type sites to 'get you back'.

It doesn't matter which blogger or guru you follow, your actions
are the only ones your customers, readers and visitors to your
site remember.

Many of you are using reviews because they are proven as one of
the best techniques for getting more traffic, but when you bash
another marketers product to make yours look good - you lose.

Not preaching at you, maybe a little but understand that your
readers and visitors are looking to you as someone they can
trust. More importantly, they want to feel connected to you by
your products or services, definitely by how they are treated.

When you start stabbing other marketers in the back, flipping off
those who may not be as internet savvy as you are or treat
people badly, it will take them less than a NY Minute to find a
way to retaliate.

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

"Your customers and employees and investors will remember how you treated them when times were tough, when they needed a break, when a little support meant everything. No one in particular will remember how you acted during the boom times. ~ Seth Godin

Unique Selling Points.. Got Yours?

This week I spent most of my time looking for new outlets whether
they be magazines or search engines that reach my target market,
and ran right into something I've been dancing around for some
time that's finally being tested - my own unique selling point.

What is a unique selling point or positioning statement?
From what I understand about a unique selling point, it's what
customers can clearly understand that separates your business
from the rest and is actually what they are buying.

What gets me ticked off about marketing online is every wannabe
marketer (clueless about their own marketing message) attempting
to tell the rest of us they have the 'secret sauce' to our
marketing problems.

Hey, Scooter let me give you a tip, for free: Unless you've
bought my product or used my service, your opinion has no value!

Customers who pulled out a credit card and actually bought what
you are selling are the ones you want to get an opinion from.
Not some Bucket Head you don't know from a can of paint trying
to convince you business is going to dry up and die just because
you didn't buy their 'secret sauce'.

One recent article I was reading stated this way of finding your
unique selling proposition: Move beyond the basics common to all
suppliers in the industry, and look at the criteria customers use
to decide which product or service to buy.

Just because it's common to the industry, doesn't mean your
customer know about it. Did you know most all coffee is grown
in mountain regions? Sure, those in the coffee industry know it
but no one thought of using it to market their coffee - Folgers
used that industry knowledge and it still stands today!

Jay Abraham has this to say about having a unique selling point
in your business:

"If you decide your USP is that your company offers the broadest
selection of products or services "instantly available" or
"always in stock," but in reality you only stock six out of 25
items and only a few of each item, then you're falling down on
the essence of your USP promise, and your marketing will probably
fail. It is critical to always fulfill the "big promise" of
your USP."

Here are the questions I try to answer about my own business under
Just The Facts:

What is the product made of (paper, water, ink, electrons, etc.)

Where did the product or service come from (UK, India, what's the history
behind it)

What does it do for the customer (knowledge, confidence, health, nothing)

What does it not do for the customer (opposite of what it does do)

How does it do this (makes noise, automated, rings a bell,)

Once you have Facts start at the top of your list and work
on Features. I find overlaps when comparing my Facts
with Features. What I do is put a check mark on the overlaps
because they are likely the very ones others in my market are
focusing on.

Finally, I turn the questions around based on those facts.
Here's how this works:

Would I pay $500 for this (paper, water, ink, electrons, etc.)?
Don't add anything more. 'Yeah, if it would save my life'
is not part of the question!

Would I pay $500 because this came from (UK, India, used to be made from cow spit?)

Would I pay $500 to have (knowledge, confidence, health, nothing)

Would I pay $500 if it doesn't give me (knowledge, confidence, health, nothing)

Would I pay $500 because it does (increase mobility, limits fats, rings a bell)

Now you are beginning to look at what you offer that has real benefits
from your customers perspective and how to get that across in your marketing.

Before you go, understand this: your unique selling point may
come from your Fact list or your Benefits list. It is the
"selling point" that has to be "unique" not necessarily your
product or service.

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

Do what you do so well that they will want to see
it again and bring their friends.~ Walt Disney

Solo Entrepreneur: Plan B

Found this Stephen Pierce video to share with you. It's a bit short but some of you
need to watch this. My goal is for everybody to have a Plan B. It doesn't matter
if you grow earth worms, pluck chicken feathers for pillows, whatever!

Work your job like you love it until you can walk away with a source of
income that you control. Don't have a job? Find one, even part-time
because your financial wealth is your responsibility. Not the company
you work for, not the government, not your parents, not your spouse..
It's your responsibility!

I'll be back with a resource or two and the regular marketing post
for those of you already in motion.

The work will teach you how to do it. ~ Estonian Proverb

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