Identifying your ideal client and your niche market is the basic foundation upon which every successful business is built. Below you will find 7 tips that are guaranteed to improve your business if you apply them.
Tip 1: Understand What Your Ideal Client Really WANTS
One of the biggest delusions that most small business owners make is the belief that everyone is my client. Not true! In fact when you try to market to everyone, you end up marketing to no one.
An additional belief that many small business owners have is that knowing the specific demographic information, such as age, sex, marital status, zip code, etc. is adequate knowledge in knowing who my ideal client or niche market is. This is also not true.
This type of demographic information only tells us the type of client that has a need for your product or service. You don’t want to be selling to a client that needs your product in as much as you want a client who has a want for your product or service. The distinction between needs and wants is huge and one that warrants some additional discussion. Continue reading →
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You’ve heard the saying, ‘treat something like a hobby, it will pay you like a hobby’. If networking is going to be one of your strategies to growing your business - treat it like a strategy! Don’t be an amatuer…
BNI founder and chairman, Dr. Ivan Misner, leads the world’s largest referral organization for business owners, and professionals. It’s sole purpose is the referral network strategy.
The key to networking? You MUST set obtainable goals and objectives. Often times, people attending a networking event will set the objective of ‘what time am I going to leave…’ Well, your results will reflect that - so make a change! Be specific, put some measurable numbers to it…how many events will I attend per week, how many people am I going to meet, what type of contacts am I looking for.
In a recent interview with Dr. Ivan Misner, he reveals the top 10 traits of a master networker;
10. Dedicated to working in their network; be an expert and effectively work your network.
9. Sincerity; be completely sincere and connected with the people in your network.
8. Helpfulness; enact ‘givers gain’ or ‘the law of reciprocity, be willing to give before you receive.
Imagine this; you are deep in thought, tackling an important project, you are in the zone - then…’ding’…the echoing sound of your email inbox, that’s right, you’ve got mail. Your thought process screeches to a hault, your mind shifts, you think ‘nah, I’ll check it later’, but what if it’s important? What if it is crucial information? Or, what if it’s an amazing discount offer from your favorite online retailer…? Doesn’t matter, you’ve now lost focus on the task at hand and reach for the mouse. How many times does this occur throughout your day? I bet it happens often enough, that if you added up all of the diversion of time wasted you could calculate that into money lost.
Test: Take an egg timer and set it for 1 hour. If you can go a whole hour without checking your email, you’re fine. If you start having a nervous breakdown and can’t go just 1 hour without checking that precious inbox, you’ve got problems.
I recently listened to a great interview John Assaraf
did with ‘The Productivity Pro’, Laura Stack, in which she states you should check your email no more than 4 times a day. “Checking your inbox any more than that is just a fancy way to procrastinate”, says Stack. She continues to add that most people use their email as a ‘to do’ list causing them to alter their focus and thought patterns which results in a high level of inefficiency in the workplace.
Follow Laura Stack’s 6 D’s just 4 times a day so you can maintain focus, maximize productivity, and increase your bank account!
Discard / Delete; You can quickly decide whether a message is junk, spam, information that does not need to be kept.
Delegate it; Give it to someone to handle, a partner, staff member, or employer - then move it to a personal folder in your email application.
Do it; Ask yourself ‘can I reply right this second?’ get it off your plate and be done with it - then delete it.
Date it; Can’t reply right now? don’t just leave it in your inbox! Convert it to a ‘to do’ or ‘task’ in the email application and then move it to a folder.
Drawer; This email doesn’t require any action, but needs to be saved - simply move it into a folder in your email application.
Deter; Why do I keep getting this? Unsubscribe, block, set up a rule to automatically move it into a folder.
These simple steps will save you time, money and most importantly - your sanity. Remember, the way you do anything is the way you do everything. You must change your actions if you want to change your results. If you would like a copy of this interview for detail on the 6 D’s and even more ‘Productivity Pro’ tips, send me an email; spencer@worksmartla.com micardis
