Are You Wasting Your Time?

How Do You Spend Your Time?

 

Whether you own a small business, consult, or just want to create a project--how do you allocate the hours of your days?

 Most people don't like to think about sales, but regardless of your endeavor, finding the source of your cash flow is the lifeblood of your venture.

 

Time Allocation Formulas

Experts disagree on exact percentages about how to spend time. Keep in mind that needs change over time. A new venture will require almost all sales and marketing, 80% to 90%, with little time devoted to the actual product or service. Later, when a customer base is established, less selling will be required.

 

60 - 30 - 10 Rule

 Sue Clement at Success Coaching recommends:

 

 60% on marketing and sales (= 24 Hours)

30% on making or providing products or in service delivery (= 12 Hours)

10% on administration and management (= 4 Hours)

• Or simply, prioritize your time as marketing - making - managing. 

 

 40 - 20 - 30 - 5 - 5 Rule

 

Allan and Steve at LessEverything advise:

 

40% Doing work that pays = 16 Hours

30% Marketing = 12 Hours

20% Learning new things = 8 Hours

5% Running the Company = 2 Hours

5% Getting Inspired = 2 Hours

• Are you spending at least 12 hours per weeks on marketing yourself? Probably not.

• Can you live on 16 hours of paid work a week? If not, time to change things. You need a higher hourly rate or to cut your living expenses.

 

Which Rule Is Correct?

 It takes trial and error to fine tune which formula is best suited to any individual company. I am assuming Sue runs her business by herself while Steve and Allan have a partnership. Let’s look at the numbers based on solo versus partnership.

 

24 Hours a Week on Sales and Marketing

Allan and Steve’s numbers work for them because they have a partnership. Businesses that have more than one owner tend to generate better profits and are more likely not to fail. While Steve and Allan are only putting 12 hours each into marketing and sales, together they are completing 24 hours, equal to what Sue needs to stay in business as a sole proprietor.

While companies may hire marketing or sales help, most small businesses don’t have those kinds of resources. Likely all the sales and marketing duties will fall to the owners in companies that generate less than $5 million.

 

Doing Work

Sue spends 12 hours a week on delivery of her services, while Allan and Steve have a combined total of 32 hours. The latter could be a more labor intensive business, which requires more working hours from Allan and Steve.

If Sue owns a business which competes directly with Allan and Steve, she must be able to charge higher rates (best choice), hire help, or be able to live on 12 billable hours instead of the 16 billable hours per owner generated by Steve and Allan.

 

4 Hours a Week on Running the Company

Sue is spending 4 hours a week on running her company, while Steve and Allan’s combined 2 hours apiece also equals 4 hours.

 

Learning New Things and Getting Inspired

Allan and Steve have allocated 10 hours each, or 20 hours per week combined, to learning new skills and getting inspired. Sue, while running her business by herself, doesn’t have time to engage in these activities during a 40 hour work week.

Is Sue wants to have the same level of learning and inspiration as Steve and Allen, she must work 60 hours a week instead of 40. Otherwise, she is spending her time on running her business without being able to focus on new markets and expansion.

 

Conclusion

 

Both rules advocate only spending 4 hours a week on the actual administration of a business, and 24 hours a week creating a sales pipeline and generating exposure. If you aren't sure how you measure, spend a week tracking your time. You may be amazed to find it's time to change your schedule.

 

Not sure how to proceed? Business coaching can be a good start.

Date Before You Marry

Business Dating Advice

Do you fantasize about landing a big project or customer? Are their steps you can take to put yourself first in line? How do you offer ways to date before asking for the gigantic commitment to marriage?

 

Date Before You Marry

Dating is a process of getting to know each other. At first, no strings are attached. You only have to agree to a cup of coffee for an hour. Later, if you're compatible, you may go out to dinner or spend the whole day together. As time goes on, you may decide to become more committed, which can eventually lead to a lifelong partnership.

The road to marriage is taken in steps, with time and effort. In sales, it's called building a pipeline.

A local commercial real estate broker I know offers tax protest consulting services. For a percentage fee he helps property owners lower their tax bills. In the process he can meet landlords, demonstrate his reliability and skills, and remind the owners twice a year he is available for their real estate needs without being pushy.

Dating Services

What small service can you offer which would get you in front of the right people? If you want to write for a national magazine, can you contribute 300 words to a sidebar before pitching an entire article? If you're a consultant, can you offer a workshop? If you want to be given a large project at your job is there a small one to start?

Dating Success

Landing a big fish doesn't happen overnight. But with some work you can put yourself first in line.

The Art of Being Rejected

 

Rejection

By Samantha Clark

One of the hardest parts of business ownership, consulting, or freelancing--in short, being your own boss--is the constant need to find new revenue streams. Building a new business often takes more time spent in marketing than performing the actual service.

As a business coach one of the biggest obstacles to growth I see is the fear of rejection. Writers have to submit queries, a plumber's business will expand with word of mouth referrals, and a lawyer may have to become a saleswomen to find new clients.

How do you motivate yourself to get out there and risk having the public tell you they think your work sucks?

Try making it into a game. Set a goal for weekly rejections. Just as you can have goals for taking half hour walks or not drinking sodas, you can make getting rejected an expected part of your work week.

My personal goal is five rejections per week. When I started I picked the easy task of inviting friends to like my Mariposa Facebook page. (Hint, hint... go like the page if you haven't already.)

See! That wasn't so hard.

I find expecting to be rejected takes the sting out of the big ones. Recently, when a nationally known literary agent rejected my manuscript after reading it a second time, I thought to myself, okay, only four more rejections left to go this week. It was time to get back on my horse and keep riding.

Give it a try.

You'll soon discover what my clients and I have--it's hard to meet your rejection goal. Often, I don't make my weekly number. People surprise me by saying yes or liking my work.

The other benefit of a concrete goal is I know when to stop. If I can get my rejection requests done on Monday, I give myself permission to take the rest of the week off. It helps me get past my procrastination. I also know when I'm finished. I can enjoy my weekend off instead of worrying about finding new work.

After awhile you'll learn how many rejections you need to get what you want. The same advice can be applied to dating or making new friends. The important part is to just get out there.

Good Intentions, Bad Habits

Creating Lasting Changes

Starting a new habit is difficult. Our routines help us get through the day. So while we know we have things in our life we would like to change, our behavior doesn't match our intentions.

I didn't realize how out of sync my own actions were until one day I mentioned to my daughter, once again, that I intended to lose weight. A couple of weeks later my daughter went with me to the grocery store. Part way through our shopping expedition she asked if I still intended to lose weight. I replied that I did. So she asked me the obvious: Mom, why do you have a carton of ice cream and a box of cookies in the basket if you're planning to lose weight?

It was a light bulb moment. I realized I had not changed my habits to match my intentions.

I couldn't blame my family. I'm the one with the sweet tooth that always hauled home a bag full of treats. My husband and daughter only ate it because I was the one who brought the junk food into the house.

That realization was one step in a broader process that has helped to shed 40 pounds.

Since that time, I've noticed my clients often engage in the same behavior. While they tell me they want to earn more money, when we track how they spend their time, they are clearly engaged in activities that won't increase their income.

One of the most helpful aspects of coaching is having someone that will help you not only define your goals in life, but also make sure you are engaging in the behaviors that will make your dreams come true.

The Hardest Part of a Journey is Starting

Starting a Journey

On Saturday morning I held my first Creatives Session. A group of three women are meeting once a month to focus on getting creative work done in their lives. We will do guided writing sessions to help them stay in touch with their dreams and goals. More importantly we'll provide support for their creative endeavors.

Finding time to do creative hobbies is challenging. One participant told me that she knows her work suffers when she doesn't make time each week to do writing. She is short-tempered with her colleagues and isn't as open to new ideas.

All three women lead typical busy lives with careers and family. It's difficult to find even three hours a week to pursue a creative passion.

It's a shame that so many schools have removed "extras" from their budgets, like art and music classes. We are saying as a society that creativity isn't important. But to be innovative great minds and companies have to tap into their creativity. We need to be able to see problems in a different way if we're going to find solutions.

Pursuing creative hobbies isn't just a pastime. It leads to a much richer life.

Intro to Prospect List

 

 

Building a Prospect List

How are you doing building your business? Are you bringing in new projects or clients? Are your profits growing?

One of the keys to expanding is setting up a prospect list. Who are your potential new customers? Most of us make the mistake of thinking we can make a mental note to keep track. We vaguely think about new sources of income, but don't write anything down.

Not systematically tracking prospects is a big mistake.

There are many methods--from using a piece of paper and a pen, to setting up a computer program, to finding a phone app. Sophisticated tracking systems use CRM: Customer Relationship Management. A good CRM program helps automate the process of keeping in touch. If you're in a high volume business that generates tons of leads, you need a portable way to access client data quickly, to be able to remember names and details about potential accounts. Older systems include the little black book and file cards. Newer systems can tap into a range of information and social media that's already publicly available.

Savvy prospectors can follow their potential clients reactions in real time on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The most important part of a prospect list, however, is your ability to sort and classify any potential business. Are you spending enough time working on the deals which have the best potential to expand your income?

 

Toxic Prospects

I was taught prospecting the old-fashioned "A, B, C" method. I ranked them based on the idea of good, better and best. I don't like this method. If you think back to grade school, anything "C" or higher is passing.

Anyone dealing with prospects should be aware of potential "D" and "F" clients. These are the folks who will waste your time, not appreciate your services, ruin your reputation, haul you into court, damage your morale, and refuse to pay you after your services are rendered. In short, these are toxic prospects.

Avoid or get rid of any toxic prospects.

 

Making a List

The first step in prospecting is to figure out who has been your best source of income already. How many "A" clients do you have? If you have never had any, think about who would be your ideal client. If you could choose anyone in the world, who would be your customer?

Next, who are your "D" and "F" clients? What have been your worst experiences? Were there any red flags that a problem was coming, but you missed it or failed to get rid of the client? What should have warned you to stay away?

Of your remaining business, who fits into "B" or "C"? Why?

Once you've defined what types of clients are both good and toxic for your business, you can then start to rank prospects. You'll want to assign two categories--what they appear to be initially and what their future potential seems to be.

For example, you may be approached by a start-up company. Their current situation is that they have no income, no customer base, and no company history. You'll probably list them as an "F" to start. However, it may be a pair of partners with lots of investment funding and a history of forming successful ventures in the past. Therefore, they may have the potential to go to "C" in the near future. I would argue this would never be an "A" or "B" prospect until they have been in business for awhile.

At the other extreme is a potential client that appears to be an "A". You're ready to start work, but since it's a large account, you decide to call a couple of their vendors before arranging their services. You find out that the company has recently fallen behind on making their payments. This is a red flag that the company could be headed for bankruptcy, which would turn them into an "F". More investigation is needed.

Link to Bankruptcy Indicators

Prospecting

Once your prospecting system is in place, you need to schedule time weekly to go over your potential sources for new income. Make sure you have a systematic way to follow up.

Free e-Book if Order by Fri, May 31st, 2013

The Big Book of Content Marketing. New book. Free for only two days. Go http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D1C3KJC



80% of your online advertising doesn’t reach your audience. People delete cookies and block ads. How can you reach your audience?

There’s a new way. Your audience wants useful information. If it’s useful, they will share it. Use content marketing to give your audience what it wants. Based on real-world experience with Fortune 500s and Silicon Valley startups, this book covers:

• How Content Marketing fits into your marketing
• How to build your Content Marketing strategy
• Use Influencer Marketing to distribute your content
• Use SEO and PPC with your Content Marketing
• Metrics, tracking, and business goals for Content Marketing

About the Author
Andreas has worked at SGI, SUN, Brio, and Acxiom in Silicon Valley. He co-founded two digital marketing agencies. The second agency got investor funding, grew to 175 employees, and was sold in 2012. Andreas is on the advisory board of six Silicon Valley startups. This is his ninth book. His books were published by McGraw-Hill in the USA and Tsinghua University in Beijing (Tsinghua is the MIT of China). Andreas has been an SEO consultant for Stanford and manages PPC for MIT. He earned his post-graduate degree at the Universität Heidelberg and speaks four languages fluently.

What Others Say
• “Actionable and intelligently written, … a blueprint for driving tangible results….” --- Shawn Naggiar, Chief Revenue Officer, Act-On Software
• "… fantastic overview of content marketing." Joe Lajos, Professor, Faculté des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC)
• “… clear and accessible English for a worldwide audience… Ken Chang, CEO, ShanghaiValley.com
• “… captures the keys to making content effective…” -- Bonnie Crater, CEO, Full Circle CRM
• “… mandatory classroom reading.” – Jodi Gill, President, The Experts Bench
• "… the tools to create, distribute, and measure..." -- Ryan Withop, YouSendIt
• "… excellent book for the beginner or expert marketer…" -- -Craig Ellrod, Citrix Systems
• “Marketing professionals (…) will find this book invaluable.” Grace Hu-Morley, Polycom

Matterform Part 2

Read Part 1: Surviving in a Sunset Industry

Part 1 describes the issues Matterform Media was facing in 2013. Coaching began by defining and prioritizing problems.

Transformation Begins

The easiest issue to start with was improving Herrick’s office environment. Overall, he liked being in the Sunshine building, but he needed to clear out the clutter that was intruding into his work. He decided to buy a large oak cabinet to hide away office debris and find an executive desk with plenty of clear work space which could face the door, look more professional, and take advantage of his great views.

Herrick debated between buying a cheap desk versus an expansive executive model he had located on Craigslist at a good, though still expensive, price. The issue was deeper than office furniture. Did he believe he was going to be able to raise his revenues enough to justify the investment in himself?

He took a leap of faith and bought the executive desk.

He also cleaned out his second room and started to advertise a co-working space for lease. Until he expands enough again to need employees, he can solve the problem of isolation and generate some extra cash flow. Ideally he will find a tenant or two in a related business who can help with each other’s work prospects. We identified some ideal partners, like graphic designers or web developers, to target. He had been thinking of putting the extra space for rent for awhile, but hadn’t found the motivation until he started Mariposa coaching.

Moving Out of a Sunset Industry

The next problem was more challenging. How could Herrick generate a better rate of pay? He hadn’t priced his competitors in a while. Looking online he realized the services he was promoting were dropping in pay. It was time to figure out the highest and best use of his skills.

Every business owner should set aside time, preferably at least annually, to ask themselves—Am I doing the right thing, in the right place, at the right time?

We started to visualize his ideal customer. Who benefited the most from his expertise? Herrick realized his best skill was the consulting he provided while developing technical applications and integration.

A New Approach

Herrick searched online until he found a business model that best described his skills—Line of Business (LoB) applications. With more research he learned that while larger corporations had begun to embrace the concept, his ideal customer wasn’t being served. No one seemed to be marketing LoB to smaller organizations. Herrick had been selling LoB, but hadn’t used the terminology.

We began to work on getting Herrick to stop talking about the cool gadgets he could offer, and focus on how LoB could solve his customer’s problems. We worked on his 30 second elevator pitch. He could answer the question of what he did for a living by remarking that he offered Line of Business solutions. In the past he often launched into “Inspector Gadget” mode of talking about all the complicated stuff people could buy from him, which I suspect left the impression he was going to make their lives miserable with new technology they would have to learn.

Instead, he worked on introducing LoB, then waiting for the person to ask him to explain. Rather than talk gadget, he worked on asking people if they had problems in their business that needed solved.

Herrick further refined the process. He realized that he should never quote an hourly price for his services. Instead, he should price by the week or by the project. Furthermore, when he created a proposal, he would start by showing his potential customer where he could save them money, thereby making his services more than pay for itself. He wasn’t going to cost them money; he was going to increase their cash flow with his products.

Mariposa Goal

We decided Herrick’s number one goal for coaching should be to land a new major account by the end of the year. Everything he did would be benchmarked as to whether it helped him reach his goal or not.

Herrick wasn’t ready to start on sales calls yet, though. His website hadn’t been updated in years. Nor was he utilizing social media for marketing. With a new way to talk about his work, he was able to update his marketing content.

He wrote a detailed case study of his best client, so as to attract more of the same. We also talked about ways he could gain better exposure. It’s easier to date before getting married. Herrick’s services involve a small enterprise owner handing over all critical operations for integration. He needed to work on building trust and taking small steps towards building future relationships.

We identified some potential openings, such as offering competitive market analysis for a fee. He could then start to weed out who seemed serious and was willing to pay for his work. We also looked at some other ways to get in front of an audience, such as offering talks and workshops.

With a redesigned website and new marketing direction, Herrick was ready to start working on sales.

 
Stay tuned for a future post about Herrick's marketing and sales efforts through summer and fall of 2013 to reach his goal of a major new account by the end of the year.

Matterform Part 1

 

How to Survive a Sunset Industry

One of my first clients was Matterform Media. I met the owner, Michael Herrick, while I was a local commercial broker leasing office space at the Sunshine building in Downtown Albuquerque. Herrick and I, along with other fans of the urban lifestyle, have stayed in touch while volunteering together to improve our downtown.

When Herrick started Mariposa coaching with me, he was typical of many of the small business I knew around town. He had managed to survive the Great Recession, but his company was pared down to just the basics. He no longer had a staff of five employees. He remarked he actually liked the situation better, not having to worry about payroll. He was clearing the same profit as when he was fully staffed.

Immediately I began to wonder about the pricing of his services. Growing a company ideally involves creating greater profits for the owner than working solo would. If not, something is wrong.

There are two types of small business owners--people who grow a company and people who give themselves a job. It was curious to me that Herrick had the ability to run a full-fledged company but had chosen to go, in my opinion backwards, to working a self-employed job. Why had running a company with employees lost its appeal? Why wasn't he making enough money to want to have employees?

Like many small business owners Herrick had hunkered down to survive the recession. After discussing his "value per hour," I knew he had to be doing some jobs himself that he should be farming out to a lower paid employee or contract worker. It also concerned me that most of his cash flow was based on a single primary customer. So far, everything had worked out okay. But what happened if his best customer fired him or went out of business? He was too reliant on one source of income.

Herrick also mentioned another issue. Streamlining his business down to no employees had caused him to become isolated. His primary customer was on the west coast. Furthermore, as other companies pared back and went out of business, he had lost the companionship of the other tenants that used to be located on the same floor in his office building.

Herrick was starting to avoid time at his office. His two rooms were crowded, some of which had become expensive storage of family boxes that needed to be shifted to his house. Junk was starting to accumulate in the space that once would have held employees.

Herrick’s desk was a computer hutch shoved against the wall, with his back to the door and the two sunny windows with great views. He couldn’t see who approached the office. During our discussions he mentioned that disorder caused him anxiety.

 

Background

Herrick had started his company back in the days when customers paid a ridiculous amount of money for software and internet services like websites. Years ago it was a very specialized field.  However, technology has continued to evolve until now a high school student can build websites and databases. Herrick had moved into expanded services and more sophisticated technologies, but still talked about being a software company.

 

Crisis

Matterform Media had entered the sunset phase of its original industry. What used to be a high demand skill of building internet and business gadgets had become a commodity. Without being able to differentiate himself and the services he provided, Herrick had entered the race to the bottom competing on price.

Herrick pitched his services to a mutual acquaintance of ours and was disappointed that she chose an inexpensive website developer instead of hiring Matterform to integrate all of her business and website needs. She didn’t understand the value he offered.

We realized that while Herrick was talented at making small companies run efficiently, he wasn’t good at explaining his value proposition or making sales. He tended to assume that his really cool gadgets would speak for themselves. He also tended to underestimate his value at helping companies problem-solve. No high school student has a couple decades of business experience in showing a small enterprise owner how to run their entire operation more efficiently and increase cash flow with his tools.

 

Read Part 2: Transformation Begins 

Are You Marketing with Social Media?

 

 

Are Companies Benefiting From Social Media?

Here's a 2013 survey about the use of social media for marketing from an industry report by Michael Stelzner.

Some findings:

This year marketers, particularly those most experienced in social media, are planning to increase the use of YouTube, Blogging and Podcasts.

The most import media is Facebook.

Is Facebook effective? Half of the big companies agreed while less than a third of the self-employed thought so.

Companies spending the least amount of time on social media are the self-employed with no employees. (Coincidentally or not, they are also the companies most likely to fail.)

It takes time to develop social media relationships. Those companies who have been engaged the longest are getting the best results.

Ironically, it was the small businesses that have been able to reduce their overall marketing expenses by engaging in social media rather than the big companies, despite the bigger companies being more positive toward it.

To get results, companies should plan on 6 hours or more of social media engagement each week.

B2B (business to business) marketers are more likely to use LinkedIn and Twitter than B2C companies.

Most marketers are decreasing their use of geo-location services, like Foursquare.

80% of marketers won't be using any daily deals like Groupon.



Read the entire report:

2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report By Michael Stelzner

About Me

Welcome.

About me...

I live downtown in Albuquerque, New Mexico with my husband, two dogs, and a couple of very anti-social box turtles--who keep my small garden pest free. My daughter attends NMMI.

My original hometown is Canton, OH. I studied design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. A friend at Pratt suggested we spend a semester in Albuquerque. I've now been here more than two decades. I was most recently a commercial real estate broker before starting Mariposa. I provide consulting, writing and teach creativity workshops.

Some of my passions include style, travel, and being a friend of public spaces in Greater Downtown ABQ. I walk or bike to my destinations whenever possible. I adore train travel over airlines.

I'm a fan of the slow bike movement. I own a yellow tulip Electra Amsterdam bicycle with a picnic basket on the back. One of my favorite picnic spots is at Rio Bravo on the Bosque bike trail along the Rio Grande in ABQ.

One of the best kept "secrets" of the downtown area in ABQ is that we have a number of clothing and hat shops. The Gizmo Store has inexpensive men's walking shoes, Route 66 Pin Ups has vintage-style dresses, there are men's hat shops in Downtown and Old Town, a milliner at the Harwood Art Center, and more clothing boutiques in Old Town.

One of my favorite items is my Cross fountain pen. I have carpal tunnel in both of my hands, which makes my typing rather slow. Most of my longer writing is done the old fashioned way of long-hand. (I suppose that makes me part of the Slow Writers Movement.) I am a devotee of Mont Blanc inks for the fountain pen.

I've started the Mariposa Notes blog to be a space for transformations--including the topics of travel, style, creativity and place. I hope to highlight some of the journeys my clients make in their own transformation work.