Startup

8 Actions for a startup – #6 attend conferences

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Have you ever gone to a conference? They have a lineup of speakers, panels, and topics to pick from. They have concurrent sessions and sometimes two of the sessions you really want to go to are at the same time. How do you choose? By the speaker? by the topics? do you “toss a coin”? Decisions Decisions …

1. How do you find out about conferences?

Ask the same people you asked about what newsletter to subscribe to  (#3 in my list of 8 actions) or courses to take (#5 in my list of 8 actions) or books to read (#4 in my list of 8 actions). I’ll repeat them and I’ll add one more.

  • Ask other women at networking events.
  • Read the speakers’ websites and the conferences’ websites that other business owners suggest. Add these to your list and ask your mentor or coach or someone who’s attended before.
  • Ask your mentor and your coach which ones they go to. Ask them which ones they recommend. Have a list of the speakers and the topics offered that you’re considering when you ask them.
  • Check out the ones the writers/ owners of the newsletters you subscribe to attend or speak at.
  • Ask someone who’s gone to AND participated in the conference you’re thinking of attending.
  • Use a search engine on your computer like google. Enter a word or phrase that best describes what you’re involved in and looking for. For example: marketing, startup, chiropractic, alternative health or lifestyle coaching. How do you describe your business when you tell others what you do? Enter that phrase.

2. How do you choose whether to attend or not?

Use the criteria:

Location. Is it too far for you to go or is it in your city?

Cost. Add up accommodations, travel, attendance fee and your time and get the REAL cost of an event. Can you afford it?

Contacts. How many will you make? Remember you don’t just want to meet the presenters in person but to network with the other attendees.

Professional Development. What will you learn? Could you read it in a book? Take a webinar?

Timing. Do the dates conflict with anything you’ve already committed to?

If the contacts and your professional development and learning outweigh the costs and you can make the time for this then go. Don’t let yourself be swayed by the urgency that many conference organizers put on deciding. Do your “due diligence” just as you did before starting the business then decide if it’s right for you.

3. How do you choose which sessions to attend?

Speaker. Is there one of them you really want to hear and meet and that’s why you came?

Topic. Would you learn more from one topic than the other?

Recording. All events record the speakers. Could you buy the recording of the one you choose NOT to attend?

Associations. Do you have any associations you belong to who have an annual conference? Who attends this?

Is someone else going to that session and taking notes? That’s why networking is so important. Ask the people sitting near you at the conference what they do. Arrange to meet them for coffee or lunch or dinner. Which sessions are THEY attending?

Do This …

Share with us which conferences worked “best” for you. Tell us the name so we know and can tell others.

Originally posted   February 24, 2012 

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Startup

8 Actions for a startup – #5 Take live courses and webinars

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You take courses for at least two reasons – to learn and to meet people – network.

Kinds of Courses

1. Live Course. This is just as it says. You’re in a seminar or course with a group of people in a physical place like a hotel. Pros: you network with people, “personalized” attention from instructor Cons: cost – your time to get there, parking and fuel, paid recording of the course.

2. Webinars (used to be called telecourses and were via phone only) These use technology – computers or phones. Pros: cheaper, no travel time for you or the instructor, no cost for parking, can get a replay if you’re not available, use your laptop computer or smartphone for webinars Cons: networking with other participants is difficult or impossible, you may be at a client and therefore have no access to long distance for a phone course.

You can see that both types have their pros and cons. For me who can’t travel as easily since my stroke, if a seminar is in town I either have to pay for a taxi or find another participant to give me a ride, the webinars and telecourses are perfect. I can take several each year and I never have to leave home. Thank goodness for technology:-) But choose for yourself.

Why Take Courses?

  1. As a lifelong learner I believe in education and learning. Never stop learning. Even if it’s a free webinar, as long as the advertising of the speaker’s next course is kept to a minimum, sign up for them. The good news is that all webinars are recorded. The bad news is that the slides used in a webinar aren’t always available.
  2. Networking is the first kind of marketing I always suggest. At a live seminar you can choose the other students you wish to and talk with them or set up to meet them. You also have an opportunity to meet the instructor in person.

How do you hear about them?

Ask the same people you asked about what newsletter to subscribe to (#3 in my list of 8 actions) and books to read (#4 in my list of 8 actions). I’ll repeat the points here.

  • Make a list of what matters to YOU.
  • Make sure you put professional development costs in your planning budget.
  • Take a free webinar first.
  • Ask your mentor and your coach which ones they attend in person or listen to on a webinar. Ask them which ones they would recommend. If they’re paid courses by someone you’ve never heard of, ask your mentor or coach if they’ve heard of the speaker. If they have and you can afford it, take the course.
  • Have a list of what’s offered that you’re considering.
  • Read websites and go to the ones the business owners suggest.
  • Ask other women at networking events.
  • Check out the ones that the writers/ owners of the newsletters you subscribe offer.

Remember, you always learn something. Over the years I’ve taken many courses and webinars. You can never know everything.

You would think I know a lot since I’ve been self employed since 1980. Nope – one can always learn more. Early in 2011, I  took a group coaching program/ telecourse for 10 weeks from Tsufit  of “Step Into Spotlight”  and I learned something new AND different ways to look at something that I already knew. There’s always something new to learn!

Often I’m called a marketing expert. That’s because I keep learning through books, newsletters, webinars and conferences. But I learn the most from YOU – my students and followers. YOU ask the questions and if I know I tell you the answer. If I don’t know I tell you and then search to learn it and then tell YOU!

That’s how it works. It’s okay to not know the answer. Just ask and then you’ll know.

 Originally posted February 14, 2012

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Beliefs and Views, Small Business

How fishing is like entrepreneurship

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How, you ask? Have faith in your dream!

I watched the movie “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” and to me, the theme of it was to have faith in your dream. In summary, Fred Jones played by Ewan McGregor, is a fisheries expert and academic who works for the British government. When he’s approached by Harriet Chetwode-Talbot played by Emily Blunt with a plan to introduce salmon into the waterways of Yemen for the purpose of sport fishing, he laughs off the scheme, claiming it impossible.

The movie is based on Paul Torday’s novel, a political satire that was a best-seller in the UK. It’s an English movie too and I love them because they aren’t full of “blockbuster” film qualities as American movies are.

How is it like entrepreneurship?

When you fish you have to wait a long time to catch anything, don’t you? It could take 100s of hours before you feel that magical tug on your line. But you do it anyway. You may go fishing to enjoy nature and its beautiful scenery and the sounds of water flowing and for the stillness fishing creates in you. There are no phones ringing, no email and no noises of a busy city – silence.

This is a lot like starting your own business. You believe in your idea but like fishing it may take a long time to reach success as you’ve defined it. You persevere anyway. And you have patience.

Entrepreneurship means that you see problems as mysteries to be solved no matter how long it takes.

I was re-reading one of Tad Hargrave’s posts recently. This one was about Slow Marketing.

 In it he describes how marketing or building your business is like having a cup of tea. One sips tea. One doesn’t gulp it like one does coffee.

So have faith. Believe in your dream. Persevere. Be patient and wait. Success will come.

Tell us about one time when you believed in your dream – when others around you were saying “Give it up”.

Originally posted March 27, 2012 

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Beliefs and Views

What are you grateful for?

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Are you grateful every day for what you have, what you can do and where you are physically and emotionally? Are you aware of everyday things or just the big ones? Do you make time to acknowledge that you’re grateful for each of them?

Having gratitude is a way to transform your life and it’s one of the most powerful emotions.

We don’t always make the time to acknowledge what we’re thankful for except on Thanksgiving when we go around the dinner table and each person shares something they’re grateful for.

I think about people who are worse off than me when I see the athletes at Paralympic and Invictus games, people who have chronic pain or those with incurable cancer, children in other countries who can’t afford any education, homeless people and those with PTSD. I could go on and on.

Here’s an exercise that I do

I can’t remember where or when I learned the following technique but it works. And what it has done for me is that if something “huge” happens in my life, whether it is good (accomplishing a goal) or not (like my strokes), I’ve been able to look for something in each to be grateful for. I do it in bed just before I go to sleep at night. You can do the exercise by writing these things or thinking of them. You could keep a small recorder or your smartphone by your bed and that way you can remember your thoughts!

Every night when you’re going to sleep, close your eyes and think of things in your life that you feel grateful for. Don’t think of just your accomplishments but everyday things.

Let me start you with some of my own.

  • trying something new and loving it
  • having lunch with a friend (not just the lunch itself but also my anticipation of it)
  • having a “zoom” coffee chat with an old friend or acquaintance
  • finding a parking spot exactly where I need one (I always take my parking permit even though I can’t drive since the stroke and I give it to whoever’s driving J )
  • the smell of coffee
  • receiving a “just because” card in the mail or by email
  • finding an article of “old and favourite” clothing that I can wear again (in my case a winter coat that I bought in the 90s. I hadn’t been wearing it because I didn’t think it fit – it did!)
  • money to buy food (many people in the world go to bed hungry)

Here are some more that you can use. Over time you’ll create quite a long list for yourself.

  • opening your eyes in the morning and being able to see a sunrise
  • having an afternoon to do as you please.
  • the first bite of a yummy breakfast.
  • a facetime or skype chat with your child or grandchild.
  • fitting into your fall wardrobe
  • a book, a couch, a rainy day and a fireplace
  • winning at Scrabble
  • a new, ideal client.
  • the sound of raindrops on the roof.
  • growth in your business.
  • a song that triggers happy memories.
  • a strong mindset so you can bounce back from life’s hits (it’s called resilience)
  • the privilege to be able to read.
  • the right to vote.
  • the smell of dinner – and an invitation to enjoy it with people you love.
  • that the day is over as you crawl into bed and turn out the light

I’m grateful every day for the fact that it’s a new day full of possibilities. Aren’t you?

What are you grateful for?

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Small Business

How to care for your relationships

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Relationships are essential both in business and in life.

I read a book on neuromarketing (brain science research and how to use it in marketing) called The Buying Brain. Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind by Dr. A. K. Pradeep. In it he has a whole chapter on marketing to women and on page 75 of the book, the author says “Emotional memories are paramount in her decision making and in her relationships.”

We know that you need to build relationships in business. We know that women are better at building them than most men. Now we know why. Read the book to learn more about neuromarketing and selling to different groups.

How to find “old” relationships

Several years ago, I had coffee with a friend I had met in the 80s. We had lost touch over the years but I found her again via Linkedin!

We got together for coffee and talked for 3 hours about many things – what happened to each of us, what we’re doing now, and finally how we could help each other.

In December 2019, a woman I knew when I was a teacher in the 1970s, found me on facebook. We got together and picked up the friendship we had over 40 years ago!

This year another friend found me via LinkedIn and because of the pandemic and isolation, we saw each other along with a mutual friend using Facebook Messenger video. I hadn’t seen her for 10 years and it was as if it was yesterday.

Thank goodness for social networking!

Here are some more techniques including social media that you can use to find your friends and colleagues:

  • use the phone book online
  • use a search engine like google or bing
  • use social media like facebook or linkedin
  • ask mutual friends or colleagues
  • be creative!

How to maintain relationships

Whether a relationship is new or one you’ve had for years you can and should maintain them using one or more of the following methods. You may use some already.

  • call them by phone
  • send an email (ask for their phone number so you can speak in person)
  • have coffee or tea or lunch BUT get together somehow. In this Covid-19 era, use facetime, skype or zoom and have a virtual “coffee chat”.
  • email them something pertinent to their interests. This will show you’re thinking of them.
  • meet them for an event you’re both attending
  • get a ride with them to a networking event you’re both going to. I do and talk with business colleagues during the ride to catch up.
  • tell them about an event you’re attending online in this Covid-19 era and then chat 1 on 1 via phone afterwards to talk about what you each thought of the event
  • send a birthday card by mail or electronically
  • call near Christmas or Hanukkah with a holiday wish for good health and prosperity
  • other ideas?

If you have any other ways you maintain your relationships, share them with everyone. I’ve only included a few here.

 Originally posted February 16, 2012 

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Startup

8 Actions for a startup – #2 hire a coach

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What is a coach and how is it different from a consultant?

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines them this way .. “a coach instructs or trains. … a consultant gives professional advice or services; an expert.”

That doesn’t really help you, does it? A coach can and should be an expert too. What matters more is that the coach is a teacher who is also your cheerleader and trains you so you can do it yourself and the consultant gives you advice and possibly does something for you.

You’ll eventually need a consultant but you need a business coach first.

Why should you have a business coach?

This is your first business, isn’t it? You were very good at your job and may have moved up through the ranks. You may have worked for a large corporation that had multiple offices. But this may be the first time you’ve had your own business and you probably don’t know what to do.

Don’t worry. If you hire the right coach, you will.

A coach knows the right questions to ask. A session with a coach could be a mini steeping session (like tea) where you shut out the world and reflect inwardly on what you want.

Who is the RIGHT coach and how do you find her/ him?

Here are some ideas.

  1. Make a list of these: who you are (do you ask a lot of questions?), how you’d like to work ( by phone or in person), how you learn (are you visual, auditory or kinaesthetic?).
  2. Talk to friends or colleagues who have their own business and ask who they used. Would they use them again? Refer them?
  3. If you don’t know anyone with their own business call a “stranger” who has a successful business that’s similar to the kind you want to begin and ask them if they’ll become your coach.
  4. Ask your mentor. That’s why you get one first.
  5. Make an appointment with several people who ARE coaches. Many have a free session. See who “fits” with you.

Remember …

• It’s YOUR decision.

• YOU choose them not vice versa.

• You’ll have a lot of no’s before you have a “yes”.

• Trust your feelings.

Let me know what happens. If you’re already in business then what criteria did YOU use to choose YOUR coach?

Originally posted February 3, 2012

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Small Business

Technology isn’t always good

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What does that mean? Keep reading and I’ll explain.

You may not know the expression High Tech means High Touch but those of us who’ve been around technology for a while (for over 30 years) know it’s true.

When ATMs or banking machines were installed in Canada between 1969 and 1972 everyone thought it would mean the demise of bank tellers but they found out the opposite. People used bank tellers even more than before these “cash machines”. This is an example of why “high tech means high touch”.

In 2012, I was at a hospital for a blood transfusion (I have a very rare blood condition and have had more than 30 transfusions since the condition was diagnosed in 1978. Don’t worry though. It’s become “normal” for me.).

At that time, they had “a great new addition” using technology or so they thought. They assumed they could give more treatments than before and so help even more patients.

Here’s what happened. There were three administrative staff at a long desktop who checked you in at their computer and gave you a pager.

When mine hadn’t buzzed for more than an hour I went back up to ask what had happened and was it normal to wait this long. She checked my name on the computer and said my “product” wasn’t ready yet. No mention of how long I’d still have to wait and no offer to “physically” check for me – just on the computer.

To make a long story short it was a volunteer who helped me out after I’d been waiting for 90 minutes and I got my transfusion. That’s an example of why “high tech means high touch”.

Why didn’t the person at the computer get up and check for me? I believe she was an admin person just doing her job. It was in her job description to only check the computer.

Do I trust computers? Yes. The person using it? It depends. Human error is the problem, isn’t it.

So is “high tech” better? Yes and no. Yes more people get their transfusions and infusions. No because only when one asks does the person at the computer check AND only on the computer.

What would you do if it was your business? I hope you said “Help the customer. Get up off the chair and check why and come back with a REAL answer.” THAT’S customer service.

Originally posted December 27, 2011

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Startup

8 Actions for a startup – #4 read books

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These are some of my books

I’ve always loved to read – anything!

Buying books is one of my favourite things to do. So entering a bookstore is a dream come true for me. I was so happy when they first opened coffee shops IN bookstores. Now I can start reading what I’ve bought. But enough about me.

Have passion for your business topic and love to learn

You can learn a lot from books. When I decided I wanted to learn more about a concept called neuromarketing I found the name of several books about it. When I had the opportunity to go a bookstore I could scan the books themselves and decide which ones were for me. When I did, I ended up buying two of the books on my list.Forms of books

It used to be that there were two forms for books – hardcover and paperback. I know you could also get “books on tape” or books with large fonts. Now there are also ebooks. More authors are making sure their book besides being on paper is also an ebook.

It also used to be difficult to choose an ereader because each book chain has its own. But that’s changed. I have bought several ebooks for the Amazon KINDLE. I have an ipad so with the Kindle App downloaded on it, I open the KINDLE App there and voilà there are the books!

You can also listen to books with Audible – but I prefer seeing rather than listening😃

What should you read?

  • It goes without saying that you need to read books about your topic. It’s professional development (here in Canada you can deduct a book as Professional Development and not just courses). You can read them for Research and Development which you need to do all the time. So if you think you can stop learning since you’ve done a course on a certain topic, you can’t.
  • Go beyond your topic. Stay at the leading edge. That’s why I have read several books about neuromarketing.
  • Read about how to start a business and how to market. Remember that you can’t know too much.

Where can you learn what you should read?

  • Browse your topic in bricks and mortar bookstores.
  • Read newsletters online (that’s where I learned about neuromarketing. Patsi Krakoff of The Blogsquad wrote about books she’s read in her newsletter ).
  • Browse authors and your topic at online bookstores like amazon or Chapters or Borders.
  • Visit blogs. (They’re the topic of another post.)

Tell me what books you’re reading. As you know, I love to know about them! Share the titles with everyone.  

Originally posted February 10, 2012

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Startup

8 Actions for a startup – #3 subscribe to newsletters

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You’ve chosen a mentor and hired a business coach. What else should you do?

Do you remember when all newsletters were printed on paper and came by mail? I do. In the 80s when I co-owned an Apple computer dealership in Toronto, we had a one page one. It was even before desktop publishing. We would type it (on computer), print one, give that to a printshop, tell them how many copies to make, pick them up, fold and stuff them in envelopes, put a label for each customer on the envelope (Yes. We had a database program.), put a stamp on each and go to either a mailbox or the post office to mail them. WHEW! No wonder we were one of the few companies that did them.

Ezine or newsletter? What are they called?

They’re now electronic and are called either ezines (pronounced like magazine) or newsletters. We use them because it’s “free” to start and because postage is too expensive (here in Canada in 2020, if you qualify, the cost to mail a newsletter starts at 51 cents to mail and takes 3-5 days for delivery).

Why subscribe to newsletters?

There are several reasons and each newsletter ALWAYS has a way to unsubscribe. It’s the law in Canada and the U.S. So subscribe to several for now. You can always unsubscribe.

Subscribe to ones run by people in your business (your competitors). Here’s what to look for:

  • do they publish in text or in html and give you a choice of either one
  • what do they write about (you may want to write blog posts on their topics)
  • do YOU learn something (you should always be learning and this one way)
  • do they give you solid information or do they just advertise their products (the rule of thumb is 80% knowledge and 20% sales)

How do you know which newsletters to subscribe to?

  • Ask your mentor and your coach what they subscribe to. That’s why I had you get a mentor and a coach to start.
  • Read websites and go to the ones the business owners suggest.
  • Ask other people at networking events.

What newsletters do YOU subscribe to and why? Tell everyone so they know. I get ones about blogging, writing, online business, marketing to women, small businesses, about networking events here in Toronto, …. You can see that I subscribe to many.

Every once in a while I “clear the clutter on my computer” and unsubscribe to a few. How do I decide? Well for me they’re often ones I don’t read any more. You’re just starting so which ones have you chosen?

Originally posted on February 8, 2012

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Small Business

8 ways that sailing is like business

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I’ve used the analogy of sailing to describe business many times – and not just because I’m a sailor!

Here are 8 ways that show why.

Here’s me in August 95 at the helm of my own sailboat in San Francisco Bay

1. Let’s say you want to sail across Lake Ontario from Toronto to Rochester. You know where you’re starting from and where you want to get to – your destination. That’s like business planning. For example, you plan to get gross sales of $1 million and you have a revenue of $0 to start.

2. You have a nautical map and use it to mark your route. In business this is your written business plan.

3. When sailing in waters unknown to you, you need a chart (map) that shows not only the land but also what’s under the water – rocks, shoals, sandbars or reefs. In business you must know your industry and its trends and you must always be learning so you have a good idea of what’s coming. The future could hold things like changes in your industry, technology updates, the need for a mobile friendly website, or laws like CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Law).

4. Sailing is different from using a powerboat since the motor in a powerboat allows you to get to your destination in a straight line. There’s no such thing as “straight there” in sailing. It always depends on the wind – you could be on a tack or a reach, use a small sail or your spinnaker. In business you learn to “go with the flow” and expect changes in everything.

5. Speed is also dictated by the wind on a sailboat. Sometimes you move fast (on a reach – all hands on deck) and sometimes you’re in irons (no wind and therefore no movement) during which you clean the ship, fix sails etc. As I said in another article “All marketing is slow marketing“.

6. You keep adjusting your sails to try to get as “close to the wind” as  you can. In business you need to review your marketing and sales results (analytics, split headlines) frequently and then tweak your plan accordingly. But since you know your destination that’s not a problem. Changing it just gets you closer.

7. You could be in a fog (a real one like I was in in San Francisco Bay) or heavy rain and you need help from others. That time we asked the US Coast Guard for help. In business it’s important to know when to ask for help.

8. Before you begin any sailing – daysailing, racing or a trip, you ALWAYS check the equipment – the sails, the lines, the mast, and especially your team to make sure they’re all in good shape. In a business you do the same – it’s called having knowledge. I know the information for what to do is free on the internet but that’s not good enough – take courses – hire a consultant – get a team around who know what they’re doing because they’ve done it before.

What other similarities did you think of while reading this? Tell me!

 Originally posted August 9, 2015 

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