Tuesday, Aug 31, 2010 Send Your Invoice To AOL, Juno…All Of Them By Martha Hanlon Tuesday, Aug 31, 2010 10:29 The other day I got an email from a very successful dentist.  He's built quite a practice.  You'd be proud of him.  While I'm reading his email, my eye is drawn like lint to a blue suit to this flashing "thing" at the bottom of his message.  It's an ad for life insurance placed within his email by his service provider! An ad! In a professional dentist's email!! That's just wrong.  Distasteful, too.  And it should bother you, not just me.  (click to website) First, the service provider is selling advertisements, making money and delivering them for free on my client's email message.  How much money is the client getting paid to be their billboard?  Nothing.  It's worse than that--he's actually paying his service provider to be their advertising Sherpa.  Who wins in that deal?  Certainly not my client. Second, what is a professional with a thriving practice doing with an email address that doesn't reflect the name of his business?  What looks more professional to you-DrSmith@DrSmithDental.com or DrSmith@aol.com?  A real business has a real email address, simple as that.  If you want to be taken seriously and respected for what you do, you've got your own email address. Enough already.  My client isn't the only one advertising unwittingly. Check out the emails you receive, maybe even your own email.  I'm betting that more than 60% of the messages you receive have a service provider address rather than a business address.  And the odds are with me that your email is guilty of the same sin.  Why do so many continue to let AOL, Juno, Gmail, Yahoo and all the other service providers co-opt your email with their identity and be an unwitting pawn in their little advertising game?  It takes just a few simple steps to change your email address to that of your business.  How about we agree that all of you will make this change right now? While the steps to change your email address to your business name are simple, they do differ just a little from provider to provider.  My goal is to simply point you in the right direction. If you don't have your company name purchased as a domain name, go buy it now from www.directnic.com, www.godaddy.com or a similar service.  Next you want to create your customized email address using your registered business name. If you're using a service like Yahoo, they offer a feature that enables you to create your customized business email address right on their site.  Then when you send messages from their service, your messages automatically go out under DrSmith@DrSmithDental.com, not Yahoo.com.  Same is true for Google and most of the service providers. If you'd prefer to have your emails delivered to an email client like Outlook, then you have to take a few other steps to get your new email address to operate with your software.  You need to get a bit of information from your service provider, including the address of the incoming and outgoing email servers that you'll use. Then open your email client...let's say it's Outlook...click on Tools, Account Settings and New.  Answer the questions you're asked and then click "Test Account Setting" to make sure your setup is correct. That's just about all it takes to make your business look professional.  No more advertising for life insurance companies, cooking schools or massage therapy programs.  Now the only business that is represented in your emails is yours. Let's make this a crusade.  Go change your email address right now.  Tell your business associates to do the same thing.  Rise up and put down your accidental participation in one of the biggest free advertising programs the Earth has ever seen. Permalink Monday, Aug 30, 2010 The Path To More Business Goes Through A Credit Card By Martha Hanlon Monday, Aug 30, 2010 03:13 The Path To More Business Goes Through A Credit Card For just a few paragraphs I want you to get into your own customer mindset. Forget for just a bit that you own a business and think about your needs as a consumer. Okay, are you in that consumer spot? Good, let's proceed. How many of you charge almost everything to your credit card? Show of hands…that's a bunch of you. A huge bunch of you. How many of you would be put off if the company you frequented didn't take credit cards? Hands up…tons of you. Last question. How many of you would think it's insane to not take credit cards on a website shopping cart? Right…every sane 21st Century modern punter. Alright, you can put your business wing-tips and stiletto slippers back on. Here's our point…there's an intersection at which our passion for our business, done our way, intersects with our clients demand to do business with us their way. And taking credit cards is one of the big attractions to doing business with a company. Remember, at all times we are working to make “yes” easy for the client to say and do. Accepting credit cards makes for an easy Y-E-S! We'd ask if you really want to make money, but we know that's an incredibly silly question. Of course you do! Accepting credit cards is a proven way to increase your business, sales and profit. Accepting credit cards continues to become more and more important to any business today. If you have plans for a website and a shopping cart, you should be planning to take credit cards. A whopping 80% of everything purchased on-line—books, coaching services, workshops, cars, linens, hand-made clothing, wine, network marketing products, groceries, business services, you name it--are made with credit cards. Your goal is to always give your clients what they want and how they want it. That means taking credit cards because it's all about your clients, after all. However, all merchant services are not created equally. How do you decide not only who is right for you, but also who makes it easy for your client? How do you decide if it's time to change your provider? Here are some questions to get you thinking in the right direction as you investigate credit card merchant services: There are a number of moving parts in a merchant system—a special bank account, a verification gateway and processing company. Which merchant company has the easiest system for you and your clients? Particularly if you're not technical and don't want to be. Do they have a demo account you can play around with? That's a great way for you, or your team, to get acquainted with the system. Do you know what functionality you “have to have” versus “nice to have”? Sit down and create your list so you know what you're shopping for (and join our webinar as we'll help you create this “have to have” list.) What kind of help can you get after you open your account? Check out if they have on-line, phone and email support. How about training? Do you need training on the system and do they provide it…included in the fees or extra? What are the costs? All of them. Who charges a fee and what are they based on? What levels of security do I need and what do the companies offer? The next time you whip out your credit card to make a purchase, think about how much easier your “yes” became because that provider took a credit card. The same thing is true in your business. An easy “yes” from your prospect will make your day. Accepting their credit card just might be one way to make your day…and theirs. Permalink Friday, Aug 27, 2010 Take This Job and Love It By Martha Hanlon Friday, Aug 27, 2010 02:57 We stumbled on some websites the other day that just made us wonder if any W2 employee loved their job.  JobVent, WorkRant, WorkingStiff.  No one loves their job.  We find that kind of sad. We think everyone should love their job.  Isn't that in the Constitution?  It leads us to think about the mind of an entrepreneur versus a W-2.  Many of us haven't crossed over from W-2 to W-Me, and perhaps don't realize what a different brain it requires.  For the rest of you who have already made this passage, we occasionally need a little reminder of where our brains and actions need to be. What makes Entrepreneurs entrepreneurial? (Click to website) Some people think the entrepreneur cannot be studied.  They are created by art, not science.   However, a professor named Saras Sarasvathy has actually studied entrepreneurs, and guess what?  Entrepreneurs aren't like W-2s.  We love this list that Saras discovered: Entrepreneurs think differently. There's something different or funny about them. Entrepreneurs are not goal-oriented, rather they use materials at hand to create opportunities. They are much more flexible on goals, often starting with their means and saying "What can I do?" It's an opposite way of thinking about problem solving. We're not talking about flying by the seat of the pants. There's logic to the decision-making. Entrepreneurs thrive on the unpredictable nature of business. Surprises are not deviations from the path. Instead they are the norms that enable us to carve a path through the chaos. It's the reason many ignore market research. They see it as time and money wasters. Entrepreneurs don't start with existing markets and then try to go capture it. They imagine new markets and go create them...often one customer at a time. Hey, they might just try to take it out and sell it! Remember "Ready-fire-aim?" Well, we're sure it came from an entrepreneur. Too much ready-aim-aim-aim-aim is a disease of Corporate America that traps a smart W-2. Entrepreneurs view the world as a series of successes and failures that happen at all levels. The best entrepreneurs outlive their failures and accumulate successes over time. Small failures are good. They don't destroy the entire business :>) The really important thing?  Entrepreneurship is learnable.  Even people who have spent their whole careers in Corporate America can convert their thinking.  They just need to know that convert they must. Whether you're thinking about exiting your W-2 or you did it years ago, we believe this great reference list highlights what we're all striving for as entrepreneurs.  Print it out and put it by your PC.  When you need some inspiration, the Entrepreneurial Code will be there to inspire you. Permalink Tuesday, Aug 24, 2010 Why Some Companies Leap By Martha Hanlon Tuesday, Aug 24, 2010 12:23 It will be National Small Business Week in the United States in a couple of weeks-May 23-25 if you want to put it on your calendar  Are you ready to celebrate?  A little party would be completely appropriate.  Small businesses-people just like you--create between 60 and 80% of the new jobs in the country.  Entrepreneurs make the economy run, and are going to be the people who pull us out of this economic quagmire.  And Small business means (click to website) Team.  Exhibit A-look who's hiring right now. Entrepreneurs depend on their team like no one else.  Team supports your vision and plan, and move the ball.  After all, entrepreneurs make things happen.  Therefore, your team must make things happen. Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel and one of the most acclaimed leaders in America (even if he isn't with a small business) believes that getting the right team is one of the BIG reasons why some companies leap and others don't. We agree. So it's worth asking:  when was the last time you evaluated your team?  If you haven't done it recently, and by recently we mean within the last quarter, you're overdue.  And with all the changes, side-steps and just flat out craziness you're experiencing, a team evaluation is a great call right now. Here are three simple yet direct questions for you to assess your team: Do you have the right people on the bus? High quality people; people who can do a number of tasks; people who support your skills. At this stage it doesn't even matter that they are doing the right job. They are the right people. You need to recognize who they are and tag them as keepers. Who are the wrong people that you need to get off the bus? These folks might be highly talented but not for your company, not for your needs. It's time for an honest look and a frank conversation. Maybe you've grown in different directions. Whatever the reason, you both need a change. Who are the right people in the right seats on the bus? Now that your "bus" is in good shape, you need to determine the very best seat for each team member. You must match their talents to your needs. When you have the right people in just the right seat for them...including you...this is when your business is poised to leap. Your business evolves.  So must your team.  Evaluating your talent once a quarter is just about right to keep up with the demands of a thriving business. "There is a growth rate at which everybody fails, [resulting] in a chaos," says Andy. The right team in the right seats on Your Bus enables you to grow, leap and mange even when the chaos arrives.  Because it will arrive...might even be here right now.  It all depends on how you handle it. Permalink Monday, Aug 23, 2010 When Bad Things Happen To Good Websites By Martha Hanlon Monday, Aug 23, 2010 12:16 We've all had that moment on someone's website where what you're trying to do just flat out will not happen. You click the button, hit refresh, reenter your new incomprehensible, multi-lettered/numbered/charactered password, and nothing happens. The website just stares at you, taunting you. I confess. I'm not a techie. But I still have to live in 2010. I have to navigate websites, download information, send links and buy things like every other Thoroughly Modern Millionaire. If you're like me, you just surrender to these impossible websites, and maybe drop them a note about the problem. Then you get back a response that says something like, "Hit Control, ALT, Dollar Sign; select options, click custom, choose network management and you're problem is solved." What? There's a critical point to this rant... if your website doesn't work the way it's supposed to, you're driving away clients. If your website doesn't work the way someone like, well, me, does, do something about it! Websites are mandatory for every single business in existence. It's the central reason we spend so much time talking about them with you, and working to find website developers for you to use who "get it." Things just have to work. We've created a list of 5 things you have to do when you're developing your first website…or your tenth. Here's the simple truth: You Have 7 Seconds to Make a First Impression on Your Website Visitor. Here are 5 ways to grab your visitor in 5: What's the ONE thing you want visitors to do when they hit your home page? One Thing. Not 3 or 20. Make it obvious. Let a non-technical type test your site…often. Can they use it? Do they get stuck doing things? Can they find that critical white paper, free report or product they want to buy even after they've clicked through all your pages? Are you asking for just the right amount of information for your free report? Is your shopping cart user-friendly? Your website designer no longer has the eyes of an innocent. Go find one, make them your friend and ask them to kick the tires of your site. Make your home page about the client, NOT ABOUT YOU! If they love what you do for them, they'll click through to other pages. If you start off talking all about you, it's as boring as that person at the cocktail party you were avoiding last week. Be blunt and to the point. Be direct. Use fifth grade language so people "get it" in 7 seconds. No, you will not offend. Pull out your best impression of a New Yorker. Be proud of it. Your visitor will want to kiss you for making it easy for them. Run analytics on your site. Hey, it's free! And it will tell you valuable info like how long people stay, how many pages they view and on what page they exit. Analytics will give you huge clues about what's working and what isn't. Does your site pass this test? Does the new site you're planning for your new business measure up? Permalink Friday, Aug 20, 2010 The Face of the "Modern" Entrepreneur By Martha Hanlon Friday, Aug 20, 2010 02:32 While we work with entrepreneurs every day, and are ones ourselves, we were poking around to answer the question "Just what is the profile of an entrepreneur?" What makes us all decide to forsake a bi-weekly, guaranteed income to head off for adventure and headaches and reward and doing it yourself? How do we differ from the average W2 guy? What's running in our blood besides high doses of caffeine? We're pretty sure the answer has nothing to do with money. Our evidence? The average salary for an entrepreneur clocks in between a whopping $39,000 and $61,000 a year. They pay themselves?? So you still want to be an entrepreneur? We thought so. So do we. Becoming an entrepreneur means, yes, you have the idea, and yes, you know how to put that idea into action. But here's the interesting thing…every person we know has at least one idea for a business that they think will be great. Yet only a few of us leap. What's the profile for those who leap versus those who don't? You've got to have a "why". You've got to know for those hard, impossible days, those days when that guaranteed paycheck looks mighty good. We do know certain things about the profile of a modern entrepreneur, some of the whys: Most want the freedom to set their own schedule. Work at midnight. Run an errand at noon. Take a "vacation" when you want even if your business comes with you. Not a profile an employer cottons to much…except the work at midnight part. We highly value our skills at being The Boss. In the beginning that might mean you receive the Employee of the Week award every week…until employees arrive. A strong belief in "us" drives entrepreneurs like a chrome-plated Chevy. Family. Yes, it matters to all of us. Many entrepreneurs put family at the top of the list of reasons to work for themselves. Yes, we're subject matter experts, great at real estate, health care, financial planning or whatever. AND successful entrepreneurs understand all the disciplines of business structuring so they can be a great CEO, even if the only employee is you. You don't have to know so much that you do everything, just enough to lead everything. We also know for certain that other attributes don't contribute to the profile of today's small capitalist. We don't have to have an MBA. Sure, it's helpful, sometimes even over-the-moon great for the connections it brings. But MBAs don't necessarily make better entrepreneurs. Having money…of your own…doesn't mean you're equipped to finance the business. Of course, getting money from others doesn't mean you're equiped to finance your business, either! This is what we know. You'll probably find yourself somewhere in those bullets. This is what drives you. Remember your "why" - why you wanted to be an entrepreneur and it will make the tough days easier and the great days that much sweeter. Permalink  Next

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