I'm a zoomer, are you? Some of you may be asking about now, what's a zoomer? It is a Seth Godin term, it is someone who is quick enough to master a task and restless enough to try something new. True entrepreneurs are by their very nature zoomers. While reading the competence or incompetent section of Seth Godin's book, I realized that my failure in the corporate world was not a failure but a success.
How can not fitting into a traditional job be a success? I am by no means a 'yes' woman, I am an idea person. This is why I did very well working with certain brokers who were willing to risk their marketing plans and try new things. This is why management and I had issues. I can come into a company look at how things are being done and come up with ideas to shake it up and make it different to the marketplace. My husband is on the opposite scale, not that he's a 'yes' man but that he is a detail oriented organizing genius. He walks into a position and can have it running so efficiently that it automatically saves money. He finds problems, even comes up with some on his own, I solve problems and he can efficiently handle the details of a solution.
Zoomers are idea people, risk takers, and innovators. They don't flourish in corporate settings and should not apply to live in a cubical because they will wither away and start popping anti-depressants like M&Ms. Zoomers are flexible creative problem solvers, not inflexible by the book people. I always asked for a job description so I could understand what was expected, but I rarely stayed within its confines. If you want to be a zoomer use a job description as a diving board, not a box.
Zoomers need detail oriented competent people as employees or partners. Zoomers are not administrators or implementors, they are innovators and problem solvers. Zoomers come up with a plan, but they need people who can implement the plan.
As a self employed individual you must be flexible and it is essential that you are a creative problem solver. Self Employment by its very nature means you are taking on risk, embrasing risk and all it offers. However, self employment and being an entrepreneur or not mutually exclusive. An entrepreneur has an idea, wants to do something differently and takes on innovation and a higher level of risk. You can be self employed and not be an innovator. If you want to be self employed but don't want to embrase a high level of risk, if you are more of a manager then an innovator an implementor rather then a brainstormer buy a franchise. A franchise is a business plan in a box, a system of processes that has worked over and over for a particular company. If you are like me and don't do processes and systems well, start from scratch and be a zoomer.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
In Business Be Different, Don't Be Lazy
Sitting in Starbucks sipping a latte reading Seth Godin's Book, Small is the New Big, my attention was diverted to two girls walking in the door, each with one crutch. People had been going in and out the whole time without catching my attention, why did these two girls? Because they were different, they both used a crutch to help them walk, they weren't crippled, they were probably recovering from a broken leg, same side. This of course got me wondering about their story, you don't usually see two people walking around with one crutch of a set each.
Everything about my morning latte was drawing my attention to what was different. Starbucks customized gift cards enabling the purchaser to create a unique gift card to give as a gift. Seth's Blog about Christmas Card Emails and how they were causing Christmas Spam. Being different, standing out, isn't that what advertisers and marketers get paid to figure out?
So how can you stand out in your business, after all you don't have an advertising budget the size of Starbucks. You probably can't afford to hire a marketing expert, after all you are a small business person, probably working from home. Well ideas kept flooding me, one that stood out though is a result of Seth Godin's ranting about the Christmas Card Spam dilemma.
Christmas is an extremely busy time and lots of sales staff and businesses send out Christmas Cards to thank their customers for their patronage. First, people are too busy to care if you sent them a card, especially when their mailboxes and emails are flooded with them. When I started in marketing small entrepreneurs the first thing I got rid of was Christmas Cards, we sent Thanksgiving Cards instead. Thanksgiving was in the spirit of thanking clients for their business and it would be the only card they received as a thank you. Well other marketing people caught on to this idea and more are doing it. So I started to think what would be the next best holiday to send out a Thank you, then it came to me.... Any day I felt like it. I'd make my own Thank You day and send out a card just because I wanted to say thank you, not because it was a holiday, catching my customer off guard and getting their attention.
The key to sending out cards saying thank you is to hand write them. I know sounds like too much work, too bad. Think about it, if you receive a card that is printed out, emailed or mass produced do you really appreciate the thought? If you receive a special handwritten card does it make an impact on you more than a mass produced one? The same for direct mail, do you open the envelopes with the labels or computer generated addresses or the envelopes that have handwritten addresses on them first? Stand out, do something different to get their attention. It means hard work, but you'll see better results.
Everything about my morning latte was drawing my attention to what was different. Starbucks customized gift cards enabling the purchaser to create a unique gift card to give as a gift. Seth's Blog about Christmas Card Emails and how they were causing Christmas Spam. Being different, standing out, isn't that what advertisers and marketers get paid to figure out?
So how can you stand out in your business, after all you don't have an advertising budget the size of Starbucks. You probably can't afford to hire a marketing expert, after all you are a small business person, probably working from home. Well ideas kept flooding me, one that stood out though is a result of Seth Godin's ranting about the Christmas Card Spam dilemma.
Christmas is an extremely busy time and lots of sales staff and businesses send out Christmas Cards to thank their customers for their patronage. First, people are too busy to care if you sent them a card, especially when their mailboxes and emails are flooded with them. When I started in marketing small entrepreneurs the first thing I got rid of was Christmas Cards, we sent Thanksgiving Cards instead. Thanksgiving was in the spirit of thanking clients for their business and it would be the only card they received as a thank you. Well other marketing people caught on to this idea and more are doing it. So I started to think what would be the next best holiday to send out a Thank you, then it came to me.... Any day I felt like it. I'd make my own Thank You day and send out a card just because I wanted to say thank you, not because it was a holiday, catching my customer off guard and getting their attention.
The key to sending out cards saying thank you is to hand write them. I know sounds like too much work, too bad. Think about it, if you receive a card that is printed out, emailed or mass produced do you really appreciate the thought? If you receive a special handwritten card does it make an impact on you more than a mass produced one? The same for direct mail, do you open the envelopes with the labels or computer generated addresses or the envelopes that have handwritten addresses on them first? Stand out, do something different to get their attention. It means hard work, but you'll see better results.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Why WAHM or other Small Businesses need to SQUIDOO
Do you Squidoo? When I first heard this statement I thought what is squidoo? You may be thinking the same thing right now. Squidoo is a marketing website created by Marketing guru Seth Godin. On Squidoo you can create what Squidoo calls a lens for free on any topic you want. I would suggest that you create a lens based on your business first, then go have fun creating lenses on your hobbies and interests.
What does Squidoo do for you? It drives traffic to your business online. In less then a month my website ranking went to #3 on Google for Latasia Jewelry. The big thing is I've gotten sales and a recruit from web searchers looking for Latasia Jewelry or a Work at home business opportunity, all thanks to Squidoo.
You can even make a residual income from your lenses. Recommend products through one of the many online stores Squidoo has partnered with and earn affiliate income. As well, all adsense income generated by the site is shared with all the lenses. OK you have to make a lot of good quality lenses before you see any real income from it, but wouldn't it be great to get a cheque in the mail out of the blue?
Come by my squidoo lenses to check it out, Then create your own.
Support and Resources for WAHM or those considering working from home
Latasia Jewelry and tips on choosing jewelry that suits you
Purchase Latasia Jewelry Online
What does Squidoo do for you? It drives traffic to your business online. In less then a month my website ranking went to #3 on Google for Latasia Jewelry. The big thing is I've gotten sales and a recruit from web searchers looking for Latasia Jewelry or a Work at home business opportunity, all thanks to Squidoo.
You can even make a residual income from your lenses. Recommend products through one of the many online stores Squidoo has partnered with and earn affiliate income. As well, all adsense income generated by the site is shared with all the lenses. OK you have to make a lot of good quality lenses before you see any real income from it, but wouldn't it be great to get a cheque in the mail out of the blue?
Come by my squidoo lenses to check it out, Then create your own.
Support and Resources for WAHM or those considering working from home
Latasia Jewelry and tips on choosing jewelry that suits you
Purchase Latasia Jewelry Online
Monday, January 28, 2008
Keep Your Focus on Your Core Business
If you are anything like me it is easy to loose focus and start off on tangents with your business, trying things and adding things that have nothing to do with your core business. One of the books I am reading right now is Seth Godin's book, Small is the New Big. I bought this book instead of another only because it had three dolls and the front and my 5 year old insisted that was the one I should get. Of course she thought it had to do with dolls. I have found some real diamonds in the few pages I have read, one of which is to stay focused, expand your target audience based on that what you already do, not find a new target and try to do both.
This is something I already knew, but to be reminded is always good because like I stated before I can go off on more than one tangent. So if you are a woman who works from home or would like to work from home, you are within my target audience. If you are a corporate dude or college student hoping to enter corporate America, or Canada, then you lie outside my target. I can expand my target by marketing to men who work from home or want to work from home but to start marketing to corporate lifers would be a waste of time and money.
Identifying your target market is the first thing you need to do. If the market is too small then expand it but keep the main criteria the same. For example, if you sell Health Products to Mothers then expanding your target to include other women or even men would make sense. Writing a blog on Caribbean Cruises would not help your bottom line. You can always write about Caribbean Cruises just don't expect that traffic to convert to sales. If you want sales on a Health Product, Blog about Health.
Keep reviewing your marketing plan, make sure you are on target, if not ask yourself why not and how you will get back there. If your target market is too small, figure out how to expand the market keeping your focus on the original market but including more of the marketplace. Don't split yourself or your focus.
This is something I already knew, but to be reminded is always good because like I stated before I can go off on more than one tangent. So if you are a woman who works from home or would like to work from home, you are within my target audience. If you are a corporate dude or college student hoping to enter corporate America, or Canada, then you lie outside my target. I can expand my target by marketing to men who work from home or want to work from home but to start marketing to corporate lifers would be a waste of time and money.
Identifying your target market is the first thing you need to do. If the market is too small then expand it but keep the main criteria the same. For example, if you sell Health Products to Mothers then expanding your target to include other women or even men would make sense. Writing a blog on Caribbean Cruises would not help your bottom line. You can always write about Caribbean Cruises just don't expect that traffic to convert to sales. If you want sales on a Health Product, Blog about Health.
Keep reviewing your marketing plan, make sure you are on target, if not ask yourself why not and how you will get back there. If your target market is too small, figure out how to expand the market keeping your focus on the original market but including more of the marketplace. Don't split yourself or your focus.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Why Women Can't Rise to the Top in Business
Ever wonder why there are so many more men in executive positions? Ever wonder why there are more male experts than female ones? The answer is in the innate nature of woman. We are the glue that keeps the family together or at least we are the ones to pick up all the pieces.
In the past Men went to work and the wife took care of everything so that he could concentrate on work and do what it took to rise to the top, if he was so inclined. He didn't come home wash dishes or pick up the kids or even do laundry. His whole role was wrapped up in being the income earner and the handyman (if he was so talented). Need the lawn mowed, need the garbage taken to the curb, or shovel the driveway? Then he was there to lend a hand. Need a diaper changed or a dish washed, he'd quickly disappear, he had work to do. By having less responsibilities at home he was free to put his focus into his work and if he wanted to climb the corporate ladder.
Today though, both parents work in most homes, both have more responsibilites in the home and with childcare. Their focus' are split between home and work thus they are challenged to do either as effectively as if they were able to focus on one role all day. Houses are no where near as clean, dinners are rarely shared at a table every night, and too often both parents are too exhausted to put in that extra effort at either work or home.
So are we doomed to mediocrity? No but it does mean that both parents need to look to each other for support and each need to look outside of the home for resources to help them. Quality daycare so they are not stressed and worried about their children. A quality house cleaner to ensure that weekends and evenings are free to focus on other tasks, such as children and the work they've both brought home. They both need to be willing to help the other and both need to have a vested interest in each others success in the workplace.
If one parent only cares about their career and places a tonne of demands on the other without helping out the other then things will fall apart. For arguments sake, I am takeing the traditional route but in todays world the roles could easily be reversed. Since, husbands in most cases still earn more and feel that their career is more important, they don't do 50% of home based work. The wife has added chores with grocery shopping, childcare, and housework. Just going on a family outing means an exhausting day for the wife as it is her responsibility to get everyone organized and out the door. She spends all the time making sure everyone, but her, is having fun and behaving. Afterall, the husband worked hard all day and deserves a day of leisure.
If the wife is trying to make a successful career for herself, it will be difficult because she won't be able to put in the long hours. She will have to drop everything for the kids and if the husband needs something done. Her focus will be split, her ability to stay organized will falter, especially if being organized isn't a strong suit. She will be too exhausted to anything well and so over scheduled that both her career and her family will suffer.
In todays family dynamic of two working parents it is so important that both parents work together and identify with each other so both can succeed and the family doesn't suffer. The husband must take on a more domestic role and all home chores must be split 50/50. An attitude of helping, sharing and caring about each other must be adopted by both parties. Neither can critizie, blame, or demand from the other or else someone gets so overwhelmed that it will all fall apart.
In the past Men went to work and the wife took care of everything so that he could concentrate on work and do what it took to rise to the top, if he was so inclined. He didn't come home wash dishes or pick up the kids or even do laundry. His whole role was wrapped up in being the income earner and the handyman (if he was so talented). Need the lawn mowed, need the garbage taken to the curb, or shovel the driveway? Then he was there to lend a hand. Need a diaper changed or a dish washed, he'd quickly disappear, he had work to do. By having less responsibilities at home he was free to put his focus into his work and if he wanted to climb the corporate ladder.
Today though, both parents work in most homes, both have more responsibilites in the home and with childcare. Their focus' are split between home and work thus they are challenged to do either as effectively as if they were able to focus on one role all day. Houses are no where near as clean, dinners are rarely shared at a table every night, and too often both parents are too exhausted to put in that extra effort at either work or home.
So are we doomed to mediocrity? No but it does mean that both parents need to look to each other for support and each need to look outside of the home for resources to help them. Quality daycare so they are not stressed and worried about their children. A quality house cleaner to ensure that weekends and evenings are free to focus on other tasks, such as children and the work they've both brought home. They both need to be willing to help the other and both need to have a vested interest in each others success in the workplace.
If one parent only cares about their career and places a tonne of demands on the other without helping out the other then things will fall apart. For arguments sake, I am takeing the traditional route but in todays world the roles could easily be reversed. Since, husbands in most cases still earn more and feel that their career is more important, they don't do 50% of home based work. The wife has added chores with grocery shopping, childcare, and housework. Just going on a family outing means an exhausting day for the wife as it is her responsibility to get everyone organized and out the door. She spends all the time making sure everyone, but her, is having fun and behaving. Afterall, the husband worked hard all day and deserves a day of leisure.
If the wife is trying to make a successful career for herself, it will be difficult because she won't be able to put in the long hours. She will have to drop everything for the kids and if the husband needs something done. Her focus will be split, her ability to stay organized will falter, especially if being organized isn't a strong suit. She will be too exhausted to anything well and so over scheduled that both her career and her family will suffer.
In todays family dynamic of two working parents it is so important that both parents work together and identify with each other so both can succeed and the family doesn't suffer. The husband must take on a more domestic role and all home chores must be split 50/50. An attitude of helping, sharing and caring about each other must be adopted by both parties. Neither can critizie, blame, or demand from the other or else someone gets so overwhelmed that it will all fall apart.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
WAHM Know Your Strengths & Weaknesses
For small business resources are limited and you end up having to be everyone, the manager, the CEO, the bookkeeper, the administrator, the salesperson, the receptionist and even the janitor. The problem is no one is good at everything, everyone has strengths and weaknesses. WAHMs have unique obsticals to overcome in order to find solutions to compensate for their weaknesses.
A work at home mom has a million things on her plate and little distractions to compound the problem. Those closest to her may not take her business seriously and as a result she may not take it seriously enough. A work at home mom is isolated and may have a harder time locating resources that are available to her to compensate for her weaknesses in business.
Admitting you can't do it all is the first step, as woman we may think we can do it all and don't need help. Got news for ya chicky, your strengths do not lie in everything that a business person must do and with home and kids it's easy to ignore that which you aren't strong in. Take me for example, I am not strong in administrative details, bookkeeping or keeping details organized. If I was a detail oriented person, I wouldn't be such a strong idea person or problem solver because the details would get in the way. Everyone cannot be good at everything.
WAHMs though are isolated and cannot always find the best solutions to compensate for their weaknesses and as a result business is harder than it needs to be. Many times business falls to the wayside and then dries up completely and she is faced with less money and may have to go back to work. So what can a WAHM do?
1. You need to identify what is holding you back from complete success, what is lacking.
2. You need to put a plan in place to compensate for these weaknesses. There is always a solution even if you can't see it.
3. Find someone that is good at ideas and can help you come up with solutions and compensate for weaknesses.
4. Find a partner, someone who is strong where you are weak and weak where you are strong and work as a team to build a stronger business.
5. If a partner isn't the answer find other resources. There are woman out there who have all types of businesses and are looking for a client like you. Can't afford it? Bartering may be an option or maybe you can negotiate something that will be of benefit to both of you. A longer payment plan or babysitting services in lieu of cash payment. There is always a solution, you just have to be able to look past the detail obsticals.
6. Find other WAHMs in the area, preferably from all sorts of different industries and work together to help each other. This is what Carennedy Solutions is all about, bringing WAHMs from all different types of backgrounds, strengths, and experience together. If you are in the Calgary area you are more than welcome to come by and see what its all about. Even if you are only thinking about becoming a WAHM and not yet in business. For that matter if you are an employed WAHM and not a business owner, you are more than welcome to attend too.
For more information go to http://www.carennedysolutions.com
7. Read, Read, and Read, somemore. There are some great books out there. I have a list of different business books you need in your resource library at my website through the store link.
Hopefully this is enough to get you started on the road to success. If you want to read more that I have written for WAHM check out my other sites:
Finding solutions for Women in Business
Support and ideas for WAHM or those considering on becoming a WAHM
Latasia Jewelry, all about the jewelry and the business
Latasia Jewellery in Calgary Canada
Another Blog from me at ivillage.
Support for WAHMs in Calgary Alberta Canada
Internet Marketing as a business for Women
My Avitar design and more designs for family and friends on shirts, mugs, gifts, cards, and more
buy unique gifts at Zazzle
A work at home mom has a million things on her plate and little distractions to compound the problem. Those closest to her may not take her business seriously and as a result she may not take it seriously enough. A work at home mom is isolated and may have a harder time locating resources that are available to her to compensate for her weaknesses in business.
Admitting you can't do it all is the first step, as woman we may think we can do it all and don't need help. Got news for ya chicky, your strengths do not lie in everything that a business person must do and with home and kids it's easy to ignore that which you aren't strong in. Take me for example, I am not strong in administrative details, bookkeeping or keeping details organized. If I was a detail oriented person, I wouldn't be such a strong idea person or problem solver because the details would get in the way. Everyone cannot be good at everything.
WAHMs though are isolated and cannot always find the best solutions to compensate for their weaknesses and as a result business is harder than it needs to be. Many times business falls to the wayside and then dries up completely and she is faced with less money and may have to go back to work. So what can a WAHM do?
1. You need to identify what is holding you back from complete success, what is lacking.
2. You need to put a plan in place to compensate for these weaknesses. There is always a solution even if you can't see it.
3. Find someone that is good at ideas and can help you come up with solutions and compensate for weaknesses.
4. Find a partner, someone who is strong where you are weak and weak where you are strong and work as a team to build a stronger business.
5. If a partner isn't the answer find other resources. There are woman out there who have all types of businesses and are looking for a client like you. Can't afford it? Bartering may be an option or maybe you can negotiate something that will be of benefit to both of you. A longer payment plan or babysitting services in lieu of cash payment. There is always a solution, you just have to be able to look past the detail obsticals.
6. Find other WAHMs in the area, preferably from all sorts of different industries and work together to help each other. This is what Carennedy Solutions is all about, bringing WAHMs from all different types of backgrounds, strengths, and experience together. If you are in the Calgary area you are more than welcome to come by and see what its all about. Even if you are only thinking about becoming a WAHM and not yet in business. For that matter if you are an employed WAHM and not a business owner, you are more than welcome to attend too.
For more information go to http://www.carennedysolutions.com
7. Read, Read, and Read, somemore. There are some great books out there. I have a list of different business books you need in your resource library at my website through the store link.
Hopefully this is enough to get you started on the road to success. If you want to read more that I have written for WAHM check out my other sites:
Finding solutions for Women in Business
Support and ideas for WAHM or those considering on becoming a WAHM
Latasia Jewelry, all about the jewelry and the business
Latasia Jewellery in Calgary Canada
Another Blog from me at ivillage.
Support for WAHMs in Calgary Alberta Canada
Internet Marketing as a business for Women
My Avitar design and more designs for family and friends on shirts, mugs, gifts, cards, and more
buy unique gifts at Zazzle
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
It's a New Year Time to Evaluate your Business
Christmas is over and now its time to get back to work. So what does that mean for the WAHM? The kids still are out of school and you may want to take an extended break too. This week is a perfect time to plan for 2008. Your business checklist for this week should include:
1. Written Goals - an unwritten goal is just a wish
2. A Written Plan to achieve these goals - this is your road map
3. Review what happened last year - what worked, what didn't
4. What products or services to drop - if they didn't sell in 2007 chances are....
5. What services or products to add in 2008 - did anyone want something you didn't have
6. Books to read list -- I don't mean Harlequin, or Danielle Steel
That should be good for this week.... lol.... Are you feeling a little overwhelmed? Start with number one and see how much you get done, after all there is always next week.
My Week is going to consist of writing my goals, and working on my business plan. I also need to finish up some changes to my online stores and I just opened a store for Cafe Affiliate shops to link to so I need to promote that this week too. I will also be making a list of products and services to add this year and working on my astore list of business books to read this year. So I'll be busy, even with the kids underfoot. I'm not sure how much I'll get done, or how many sleepless nights it will take, but it's better than nothing.
More resorces for WAHM and for those looking at opportunities to become a WAHM.
Information on Direct Sales companies like Latasia Jewelry
Support for WAHMs and those considering WAHM opportunities
Information on Latasia Jewelry
1. Written Goals - an unwritten goal is just a wish
2. A Written Plan to achieve these goals - this is your road map
3. Review what happened last year - what worked, what didn't
4. What products or services to drop - if they didn't sell in 2007 chances are....
5. What services or products to add in 2008 - did anyone want something you didn't have
6. Books to read list -- I don't mean Harlequin, or Danielle Steel
That should be good for this week.... lol.... Are you feeling a little overwhelmed? Start with number one and see how much you get done, after all there is always next week.
My Week is going to consist of writing my goals, and working on my business plan. I also need to finish up some changes to my online stores and I just opened a store for Cafe Affiliate shops to link to so I need to promote that this week too. I will also be making a list of products and services to add this year and working on my astore list of business books to read this year. So I'll be busy, even with the kids underfoot. I'm not sure how much I'll get done, or how many sleepless nights it will take, but it's better than nothing.
More resorces for WAHM and for those looking at opportunities to become a WAHM.
Information on Direct Sales companies like Latasia Jewelry
Support for WAHMs and those considering WAHM opportunities
Information on Latasia Jewelry
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
