Posts Tagged ‘Femalepreneurs.com’

Six simple strategies to build your brand online for more impact and income

By Jan Marie Dore

In this age of new media and new marketing, the rules for marketing professional-service businesses have changed dramatically. Yet, many service-based businesses are not keeping up with the times and may fall behind the leaders in their marketplace who are embracing the new media models to build their brand online.

Having a strong brand reputation is the key to making sales in the new economy. It’s never been more important for your brand to be highly relevant. Your brand is the one competitive edge you can offer that no one else can copy or duplicate.

Brand marketing trends indicate that you need to have something highly interesting and relevant to say to build a brand that people will notice. You need to engage your community, build your platform and include social media in your marketing mix.

Here are my six simple strategies to build your brand online for more impact and income:

1. Publish a blog that positions you as a leader in your niche

Publishing a blog is a great way to expand your visibility and attract a community of followers. And it’s very easy and low cost to publish a blog. Creating a blog is a great way to find your voice as well as start to cultivate an audience base. Put the focus on your readers instead of on you. Provide solutions to the biggest challenges experienced by your audience and you’ll never be at a loss for content. Offering valuable and relevant information in your blog can position you as the go-to person in your area of expertise. You will be easily referable and people will line up to buy from you. To remain relevant, your message must be interesting and timely, communicate authority and an authentic personality and indicate that you are connected and in the know.

2. Brand your brilliance and your purpose

Personality and purpose-driven marketing can be highly effective these days when it has become so hard to get people’s attention. The most effective personal brands are built around your strengths, expertise, passion, personality and life purpose. A strong brand based on your unique brilliance can differentiate your offerings and create value-added client relationships which lead to sustainable client loyalty. What people want now is relevance, simplicity, authentic personality, honesty, imagination and inspiration. If you’ve been holding back on following your true purpose or heart’s desire in your business, or not saying what you really think and feel, now’s the time to get real.

3. Leverage social media marketing

Social media marketing is one of the easiest ways to effectively expand your reputation. You can use social media to position yourself as an expert, build your credibility, build relationships and extend your reach. Social media can be a very powerful tool for business growth if you know how to use it wisely to build relationships and not just to promote yourself. To successfully leverage social media, become highly active at a few sites like Facebook and Twitter, or LinkedIn, rather than trying to keep up with multiple networks. Get to know and get known by your online community and virtual neighbors. Become a superstar, must-read resource and source of inspiration on Twitter.

4. Build a Purposeful Platform to Amplify Your Brand and Your Message

Your brand platform is the image or impression you make in the marketplace. It’s the set of associations that clients make when they think of you and your services. It’s both what you stand for and what your marketplace perceives as valuable. It’s how you create distinctive value through the unique combination of your expertise, values, vision, passion, purpose and message. By following your passion and purpose, you can build a purposeful platform that feeds both your pocketbook and your soul. A powerful online presence is one that builds and extends your platform and positions you to become well known for your message. There are many ways you can do this: article and blog marketing, social media marketing, signature presentations and programs, press releases, and developing a line of information products, to name a few. The first important step of course is to choose a highly targeted niche market that is looking for solutions to problems that you have answers to.

5. Take your brand viral with video marketing

Video marketing is hot. It’s the big key secret method to extending your reach globally and attracting more interested, pre-qualified leads quickly. A picture really is worth a thousand words! You can easily create short, two-minute video tips to post at your blog for your target audience, or a video of you outlining the benefits of your new program at your sales page, or record testimonials from satisfied clients. Upload your videos to a free video-sharing site such as YouTube. Video can quickly raise your visibility and exposure and spread your message virally across the Internet.

6. Create raving brand fans

People have so many complex brand choices today that they get overwhelmed and confused. You need to get a community of people really engaged to build a loyal following. Develop a marketing strategy that will give your target audience exactly what they want so you can attract a community of followers and “raving brand fans”. Find out where your community is. Find out what they like to read and who they follow. Build your connections, strategic alliances and audience base. Over time, people will start to trust your expertise and enjoy your style and will buy your services and products without you having to put a lot of effort into selling.

Times have changed in the Web 2.0 world. The Internet has leveled the playing field in vying for people’s attention. Online branding will give you an edge in the marketplace that will cause clients to think of you first when they need your type of services.

 

janmariedore.jpgJan Marie Dore, MCC, is the Founder of Femalepreneurs.com, an online learning center for women worldwide who want to create a more profitable business and live a great life. Jan is an authority on small business whose passion is inspiring women to new levels of success and fulfillment through her coaching programs, teleseminars, workshops and retreats. She has made it her mission to teach women simple, effective marketing strategies to attract more customers and grow their profits substantially with much less effort.

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on April 15th, 2010

, , , , , , , , ,
0 comments | Share

Could your business model be more profitable?

By Jan Marie Dore

When I first started providing business coaching services, I followed the time-for-money model that all coaches at that time and most professional service providers were trained to use. I charged a monthly fee for two hours of time spent with me every month.

That worked well while I was in start-up mode. But it stopped working so well when I grew into a full practice. I ran out of the time and energy I needed to add more new clients and additional income. I started to realize there was a cap on my profits. 

I could see only three options: either work harder and longer hours to increase my income, or raise my rates, or settle for a less than satisfactory income level.

I chose to raise my rates. I was too timid to go back to my current clients and tell them I wanted more money, so I just increased my fee for new clients. That worked all right for quite a while, and I was content with a decent hourly rate and a full roster of clients.  

It wasn’t until I started learning about different business models that I realized I had been in my own little world of not knowing there were other options for achieving a much more profitable business.

It wasn’t until I implemented a new business model and leveraging strategies that I was able to bring in the kind of income I wanted to make. The knowledge of new business models and ways to leverage my time and energy was the foundation for my being able to even imagine making six figures or more. 

I made the shift from professional practitioner to business owner first by branching out into multiple streams of income, such as group coaching programs, workshops, training and speaking, and then creating a line of information products. Over time, I discovered additional leveraging models, such as the membership or association model. 

Now I know that there are many ways to structure your business so you can move away from trading all your time for money and enjoy much more income and freedom in your business. If you’re not bringing in the kind of money you want, your business model and service delivery systems are the first places to look at. 

The business models and systems ideas are almost endless so you can attract more clients and make more money without working so hard. I teach those newer models to all my clients. I love showing women how to shift away from trading all their time for money and implementing systems to leverage what they know into multiple streams of income. 

Is your business model set up so you can bring in more money with less effort? If not, here’s what to do. First, look for ways you could deliver your services to multiple people at one time. Or consider raising your rates by packaging your service delivery in different ways that provide more value without taking more of your time. Or if you have a proven program or signature system, licensing or selling your home-study system might be another option for you to consider to increase your income to the level you want. 

Think out of the box with creative, innovative ways to deliver and leverage your existing services, and watch your income start to soar!

 

janmariedore.jpgJan Marie Dore, MCC, is the Founder of Femalepreneurs.com, an online learning center for women worldwide who want to create a more profitable business and live a great life. Jan is an authority on small business whose passion is inspiring women to new levels of success and fulfillment through her coaching programs, teleseminars, workshops and retreats. She has made it her mission to teach women simple, effective marketing strategies to attract more customers and grow their profits substantially with much less effort.

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on March 25th, 2010

, , , , , , , ,
4 comments | Share

Top Seven Business Tips for Women Entrepreneurs

By Jan Marie Dore

chalkboardCanada is a global leader in women’s entrepreneurship. More women are starting small businesses than ever before. In the past ten years, the number of self-employed women in Canada has grown by more than twenty percent. Female entrepreneurial activity is higher in Canada than in many other leading countries, including Germany, France, U.K., Italy and Japan, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand. (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2005).

Over the past fourteen years, I have worked with hundreds of women entrepreneurs as their business coach. I’ve noticed that many women small business owners experience similar  challenges in growing and running their businesses, such as feeling overwhelmed and isolated, having difficulty keeping focused and productive, not enrolling enough support, and not planning for growth.

I’m often asked what my best business tips are for small business owners. I’ve compiled a list of my top seven tips for women entrepreneurs. Here’s a summary of my best advice for any woman running a small business:

1. Focus on your strengths

There’s an old saying – ‘Do what you do best and delegate the rest.’ Know what your top strengths are. Delegate or drop anything that you’re not exceptionally skilled at, and focus at least 80% of your time on using your key strengths and talents that bring you income.

2. Put yourself first

Your growing business needs a lot of time and attention. Many women in business put themselves third or fourth on their list of priorities. Put you and your business first and everything else will fall into place.

3. Learn to say ‘no’

I often ask women who have started a business to drop at least 25% of their time commitments when we start working together. Most women are too over-committed with non-business related activities. Be strategic about what you say yes to, especially in the first few years of your business. Guard your precious time as the valuable asset that it is.

4. Plan for success

Lack of planning causes more businesses to fail than anything else. Planning is very valuable because it causes you to think ahead to your vision and to consider next steps to reach your goals. You can create a simple one or two page business and marketing plan that outlines your business objectives and how you will achieve them. It doesn’t have to be complex or time consuming to do this.

5. Ask for support

Don’t try to figure it all out by yourself. Notice where you are stuck and could use some help, and ask for it. Ask colleagues or others who have been in business and could mentor you, hire a business coach, or form your own mastermind support team. Get peer support as well as administrative support. 

6. Delegate or drop your weaknesses

Get clear on what you don’t enjoy doing or don’t do very well. Either stop trying to do it, or find someone who will do it for you. A perfect example is bookkeeping. Many business owners struggle to keep their own books and records. If you dislike it, give it to someone else to do, and free up your time to earn money doing what you do best.

7. Keep an eye on the bottom line

You don’t need to have complex financial statements, but setting targets and tracking some key indicators every month will help you understand how you are doing. You‘ll know sooner what’s working and what’s not working so that you can make strategic adjustments.

Implement at least three of these tips, and watch your business start to thrive!

 

janmariedore Jan Marie Dore, MCC, is the Founder of Femalepreneurs.com, an online learning center for women worldwide who want to create a more profitable business and live a great life. Jan is an authority on small business whose passion is inspiring women to new levels of success and fulfillment through her coaching programs, teleseminars, workshops and retreats. She has made it her mission to teach women simple, effective marketing strategies to attract more customers and grow their profits substantially with much less effort.

Posted by Lynnette in Getting Started on February 11th, 2010

, , , , , , , ,
4 comments | Share