Marketing for Solopreneurs

Pay More! Get Less! Who Would Want That?

Prices are going through the roof. Gas, food--everything, it seems.

Yesterday, Bob brought home a new carton of our favorite brand of frozen yogurt. He dropped it on the kitchen counter. "Looks smaller, doesn't it?" he said.

I looked closer. It was wider and shorter, but I couldn’t tell. Until I pulled the old carton from the freezer. Sure enough, the net weight on the new one had a lower number. And the yogurt’s price had increased by $1.50. So we were paying more and getting less.

Not a good thing, right? Who would use the marketing slogan, "Pay More! Get Less!"

A good friend of mine, a newspaper publisher, told me something that stuck with her over the years. One day, as she sat in one of her classes for her M.B.A. degree, her professor asked, "Is there anything you would pay more to get less of?"

At first his students were puzzled. But, as they gave it more thought, the overwhelming consensus, the most common answer, was: "information."

The Internet has caused an explosion of new information, the likes of which we have never seen before. If you google a topic, even narrowing it down from "e-marketing strategies" to "building a reliable, opt-in e-mail marketing list", you will have to wade through pages and pages of entries to find what you are looking for. And after you’ve sorted through it all to get to the good stuff, there’s the task of figuring out what it means to you, the solopreneur and small business owner.

There is a new and growing trend in information harvesting. Resources like our marketingyoursmallbiz.com e-publication,
The Solo Way, are combining the very best information with expert advice to help their readers solve real-world problems. If you pay just a little more, you’ll get less information, especially bad information—and a whole lot of practical, solopreneur-focused ideas and activities. Now, if we could just help you with your frozen yogurt prices

Online and In-Person Networking: The Best of Both Worlds

Over the years, I have been a strong believer in networking. But whether it was a Chamber of Commerce event or coffee with a prospective client or colleague, it was always a face-to-face thing. I had to start up the car and drive somewhere. It was time-consuming. And staying in touch was difficult.

Recently we joined an online networking community called Biznik. It is based in the Seattle area, so the largest part of its membership is local. Biznik is unique because they offer opportunities to network both online and in person. The members themselves plan and host the events: networking breakfasts, lunches, even happy hours. And members can share their business expertise and build their credibility through “real time” workshops and articles posted online.

Why does it work better than traditional networking? Because the online and offline parts complement each other so well. Say you meet someone online and post a comment on their article in the Learn section, or welcome someone in the new members thread, or discuss a topic with another member in the forum. You can invite that person to join your online network. Or you can watch to see when they’ll be attending an upcoming event, so you can meet them in person and start the relationship building.

Or maybe you meet someone at a live event. Where follow-up was a difficult thing in the past, you can send a message through Biznik, or respond to a post of theirs on the forum, and the connection can be strengthened, without having to wait until another event that may be weeks down the road.

Business is all about growing relationships, not exchanging business cards. And Biznik does just that. Their tagline says it all: Business networking that doesn't suck.

You can tour the site and see for yourself at biznik.com.

Why Many Profit-Driven Blogs Fail

I am a fan of marketing guru and author Seth Godin and regularly visit his blog. Godin talked a couple of days ago about the questions he gets from beginning bloggers. Invariably the most common one is how they can make a lot of money blogging. I hear this a lot, too.

The other day an acquaintance of mine called and asked me to check out her new blog. She had read a book on the benefits of business blogging, got all excited, and within days her blog was up. Unfortunately, the two posts that were up were miniature sales letters, with links to click on for many of her products and services.

Godin’s point, well taken, was that the best, most successful bloggers did not set out with the purpose of making a profit. Though it turned out that they made money, it wasn’t their reason for starting up. They just had something to say and a service they wanted to provide.

It’s one of those things that’s true in most aspects of our entrepreneurial lives. The monetary benefits will eventually kick in, but we start with our passion, our reason for creating our business and our desire to make our customers—and ourselves—happy. And the rewards flow from that. If you have a blog, what’s your purpose?

Running Your Solo Biz: What's Passion Got to Do with It?

The other day I was chatting with some of my colleagues—fellow solopreneurs all—and the topic of discussion moved to our passions. My massage therapist friend gestured wildly as she talked about freeing people from their pain and giving them a one-hour vacation from stress. My financial advisor pal had a gleam in his eye (yes, we're talking a financial guy here!) when he described the satisfaction of, as he called it, financial architecture: taking the modest nest egg of a widow nearing retirement and building a portfolio that gives her a nice monthly income for the rest of her life. For me, as the editor of marketingyoursmallbiz.com, it is the fun of "mining for gold," discovering the new, best-of-the-best marketing ideas and figuring out how to help solopreneurs use them to increase sales.

It got me thinking. We all started our businesses because we wanted to do something. Maybe it was to help people solve a particular problem. Maybe it was because we were sure that there was a better way to make or do something. Or maybe we just found a way to turn what we love to do and think about into an income stream.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our daily tasks and challenges we forget why we started our business in the first place. And that’s a really important thing to remember. Because when you communicate to your prospects and customers, if the spark isn’t there, if they don’t feel your passion for what you do, how can you expect them to get excited about your product or service?

Look What YouTube Started: Shine in Your Own Online Video

First it was the boring “About Us” website page—all text and no personality. Then some of us, kicking and screaming, were dragged into the still photo stage. The advice: Smile, but don’t look too goofy. Be yourself. Above all, don’t look frozen.

It can be difficult—and a little scary— showing out real selves to our customers. What if they don’t like me? What if they don’t even see the real me? (Does anyone really think that their photo looks like them?)

And just when we think we’ve figured out the photo thing (be friendly, think about what you most love about your job when the camera clicks, look the lens straight in the eye, now don’t forget to be authentic), along comes the newest form of connecting with your customers: the online video.

A friend of mine, Pamela Ziemann, has written an article that helped me understand what a good video needs to do. Pamela, an incredibly talented presentation skills trainer and coach, thinks it’s key in a video to show three traits: your authenticity (there’s that “real you” thing again!), your expertise and your passion.

How to make a video that will make your listener stand up and take notice? Pamela’s advice:

1. Organize and get crystal clear with your message. If you have three points to share, tell them. The more organized and focused you are, the easier it will be for them to connect with your message.
2. Use short sentences. Each sentence should be able to be said in one breath. Think of each sentence as a complete thought and avoid pesky filler words like “um” and “ya know.”
3. When you say your name, make the pitch go down at the end. If it goes up at the end, it sounds like a question and makes the listener wonder if you know who you are.
4. Avoid distracting gestures. Maintain eye contact and keep your feet on the floor, even if your viewer will only see your face. Make your facial expressions show your passion about what you do, rather than making distracting, repetitive gestures with your hands.
5. Use descriptive words. Give your listeners sensual stimulation by using strong verbs and adjectives. It makes your story so much more interesting.
6. Wear solid colors. Cameras don’t respond well to small patterns or vivid colors. Try dark blue or one of the pastels.
7. Before you go on camera, warm up with deep breathing exercises. Shake your body and let it move however it wants to. Think about the passion you have for your product or service, why you started your business in the first place. Speak from the core of your values and don’t be shy about it.

I am preparing to make my first online video and Pamela’s tips were perfectly timed. Hope you can use them, too.