How to conquer your marketing challenges with conversation

Vonetta Booker-Brown — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:46:51 +0000

Over the last few months, I’ve seen brilliant entrepreneurs struggling with their identities. They’ve chased objects, invested thousands of time and dollars in dead-end programs that left them feeling frustrated, stuck and confused as to what business they’re in.

Here’s the reason:

If you’re a solo entrepreneur, you’re often bootstrapped and looking for ways to do the work yourself until you’re able to hire team members and other services that can support your growth.

And, here’s the problem:

Much of the training out there is designed to teach you how to be an expert, which is cool–however, it generally doesn’t help you actually get things implemented and moving past your “stuck” spots. That kind of sucks.

That being said, “How can I stand out in an oversaturated market?” is a question I’ve been asked a lot recently. Fortunately, the answer’s so simple you’ll kick yourself when you hear it…

All you have to do is a little bit more a little bit better than everyone else.

Yep…that’s it. (I told you it was simple So, here’s my question to you:

What’s the biggest challenge in your business?

While you think about that for a minute, let me just tell you that most people don’t encourage conversations with their audience. But the social web is all about just that–conversation. It’s about making your target audience feel like they can play an active role in designing solutions for their problems. At My Content Planner, all of our content creation and marketing services begin with conversation–it’s literally built into the way my partner Kenya Halliburton & I create content for our clients.

Check out MyContentPlanner.com for an opportunity to exercise your conversation “muscles” and see how it all works!

Kris Baird – Cultivating the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Vonetta Booker-Brown — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:25:49 +0000

Healthcare consulting expert Kris Baird has picked a great niche to be involved in. A former RN (registered nurse), Baird transformed her 30-plus years of experience in patient care, health care marketing and business development/administration into The Baird Group—a successful consulting firm that specializes in customer service improvement and mystery shopping for health care organizations.

As the author of three books (Raising the Bar on Service Excellence, The Health Care Leader’s Guide for Putting Passion into Practice, Customer Service in Health Care: A Grassroots Approach to Creating a Culture of Service Excellence and Reclaiming the Passion; Stories That Celebrate the Essence of Nursing), Baird shared some tips on success & the practices that got her there.

On tapping into her entrepreneurial side from an early age:
“I was always figuring out new solutions to things; I loved the idea of taking something I was good at and making a buck out of it! Even in high school, I had a business where I made jewelry for an arts gallery. So, they would buy all the earrings and necklaces that I’d make. So, there’s always been that entrepreneurial spirit, and I think the combination with my writing skills has been a real asset. Even when I was in public health nursing, I was able to spot a market niche that was lush and ready for a product. I was having a conversation one day, and one of the teachers wanted me to do a program on appropriate touching for children. I said, ‘Oh sure—this goes right in the area of health and protective behaviors, good touching/bad touching, stranger danger,’ that kind of thing.

So, I went out and started to do some background research—and there wasn’t anything out there. The entrepreneur in me said, ‘If teachers are asking for this and there’s nothing out there, then there’s a market for this.’ So, I started to approach publishers; I was probably 25, 26 years old—and didn’t know any better. I found that there was a lot of curiosity but hesitation because it was sexual abuse prevention and they were a little skittish. But I ended up writing a curriculum and collateral materials, including a children’s story book—and ended up selling it to a publisher. It’s still used in about 40,000 schools today.

So, I say that sometimes, you just don’t know any better—and that’s probably the best thing for you. I didn’t know that there were all these rules about getting published and stuff, so not knowing was a real asset to me.”

Many more of Baird’s success tips for fellow entrepreneurs (plus the exciting experiences of several other dynamic female business owners) can be found in my e-book, Success Tales: Female Entrepreneurs’ Stories of Challenges, Inspiration and Success.

Your Content Without Consent: How to guard against Internet plagiarism

Vonetta Booker-Brown — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:16:35 +0000

Don't let Internet plagiarism do this to you...

If you’re a small business/marketing professional who writes, then you’re probably aware that creating articles and other content is one of the best ways to market your business and increase your search engine visibility—I can speak from experience! However, a very real downside to this is the increasing amount of plagiarism (when someone takes another’s written work and tries to pass it off on their own) on the Web. Unfortunately, it’s something that’s fairly easy to do, due to the vastness of the Internet. Many plagiarists think, “Sure, I can lift this copy or ‘borrow’ that sentence—who’s really going to find out?”

As a matter of fact, this article comes from an incident that I recently experienced, in which I happened to come across the website of an Alabama-based virtual assistant. To say her site’s copy looked “familiar” would be a gross understatement; lo and behold, as it turned out, this woman’s entire 6-page site was filled with verbatim copy from my virtual assistance website, (even down to the interview-style “Frequently Asked Questions” page, where she left my quotes intact and merely replaced my company name with hers!) It was so blatant and absurd, it was almost funny in a twisted, “no, she didn’t!” kind of way.

But plagiarism isn’t a laughing matter—especially when you’ve worked hard to create good copy that informs customers and increases your sales and visibility. Here are some ways that you can guard against it—and what to do if you find someone’s pilfered your content without your consent.

Utilize anti-plagiarism resources. There are a couple of good ones out there; I like to use Copyscape.com (which is how I found out about the woman mentioned above). At this website, you can enter the URL of your choice, and it immediately pulls up any online instances of copy that looks suspiciously similar to yours. You can then go to the site and check further to see whether they’ve actually stolen your copy (it could also be someone whom you’ve granted permission to post your article on their site). Copyscape is free, and also has little “Do Not Copy” banners that you can add to your site’s pages. Although Copyscape can’t prevent plagiarism, it’s a great way to monitor against copy thieves.

Okay—so, let’s say that like me, you unfortunately did come across someone trying to pass your copy off as their own. Now what?

The first line of defense is to let the offending party know that you know what they’ve been up to. In my case, the woman’s name, address, telephone number and email address was right there on her “Contact” page (ironically, the only copy that wasn’t lifted from my site), so I was able to both call and email her, letting her know that I was onto her & to remove my copy (basically, her whole website) immediately. However, some sites may not have the owner’s info readily available. If you can’t find out who owns the site just from browsing it, you may find vital information by doing a WHOIS search of the owner’s domain registration info. This will usually give you a name, address and phone number. (One way to find WHOIS information is by going to NetworkSolutions.com, and clicking on the WHOIS link at the bottom of the page.)

When you locate and contact the individual, let them know that they’ve infringed on your copyrighted material, and to remove it immediately. If it’s an article of yours, however, another option is to have them credit your work appropriately, along with a link back to your website (this gives you more search engine visibility). “Cease and desist” letters are very effective, as well—you can find samples online at the following websites:

http://www.webmastertechniques.com/Insight/cease.html
http://www.rightsforartists.com/examcease.html

Although you can send these yourself, it may be more effective if you have your attorney send it. In any case, be sure to copy any other parties you’ve contacted about the matter (i.e. search engines, the offender’s ISP provider, web host, etc.).

What if they don’t comply? In this case, you have a couple of other options: Alert the site’s web host and ISP provider to what’s going on—under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), they are obligated to respond to and remove any proven copyright infringing material. Oh—and don’t forget the search engines—you can also contact whichever ones the offending site appears on; they’re also bound by DMCA. To find guidelines, you can do a Web search on the search engine’s name and “copyright infringement” or “Digital Millennium Copyright Act.” Google’s guidelines, for example, are found at www.google.com/dmca.html.

Another downside (as if there’s an upside!) to Internet plagiarism is that it might sometimes be hard to distinguish whose copy came first, and your own legitimate text could suffer a decrease in search engine ranking (as they don’t take kindly to that sort of thing!). So, it’s important that you support your case with evidence that your web text was indeed online first. Take screen shots of the involved sites, WHOIS records, evidence of when copy was posted, etc.

As I said, unfortunately there’s no surefire way to prevent someone from plagiarizing your copy—but hopefully, these tips will help you shut the offender down. Oh, and in case you’re wondering what became of the woman who lifted my web copy: When I called her on the phone and confronted her, she claimed that she didn’t know about the site and didn’t know how the information got there. (Yeah, right…) Nonetheless, after informing her of my intentions, her site was down within the next hour—pretty quick for someone who didn’t know what I was talking about, huh?

Internet plagiarist depend on the Web’s vastness to help mask their deceit, but a bit of a watchful eye over your content can keep them in check. Good luck!

Seven Easy Ways to Get (and Stay) Organized

Vonetta Booker-Brown — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:12:46 +0000

Make a list…take some time.
The hardest part in getting organized is getting started. Organize that by first making a list of the things you need to get in order, and then setting a certain amount of time aside each day (over the course of a week, for example) to tackle what’s on your list. Breaking tasks up into smaller areas makes it seem less daunting and easier to manage. (Also–why not have a little fun and crank up your favorite music while you work?)

Templates are your friends.
If there’s a particular form that you use repeatedly, create a general template of it and keep it in a handy place nearby (on your desktop, perhaps). Simply save a new version of the form as needed, and type in the new information.

Say “no” to Pack Rat-ism.
Okay, it’s a made-up term—but the affliction is real! It’s often hard to clean house & throw things out—but how much do you really need those magazines, clothes & random items if they’ve been collecting dust in the closet for six months or more? If it’s been that long, you probably won’t miss it if you chuck it.

Say “no”…period!
We often have a hard time saying no to favors for friends, family & co-workers who mean well—but can be extreme time-suckers! Whether it’s home or business life, it’s important to set boundaries so that you can accomplish your tasks, avoid burnout and simply take time out for you. So, let Mom’s call go to voice mail if she wants to chat about routine stuff in the middle of your deadline; call her back or get together with her later, when things calm down.

Do the “To-Do.”
It’s often easier to sort things out once you put them down on paper. Create to-do lists & get things done in order of priority. (If you’re running errands, a list makes it easier to map out places to visit based on their proximity to each other.) Just be sure to get rid of that list once you’re done—don’t add to the clutter!

The Paperless Wonder
If you’re like me, you attract stacks of read-through magazines like bees to honey. Don’t let them pile up! (After all, how often do we actually re-read a magazine?) If there are articles that may be useful later, simply tear them out, scan them as PDF files, store on a disk—and toss the rest. (This works great for other important documents, as well.)

Get support for your success
No matter how organized we may be, sometimes there’s just too much going on for one person to handle alone. If you’re a small business owner, you’re probably juggling your business work along with the administrative/billing/marketing side of things, as well. A good solution is to get an assistant to help you with the latter, while you concentrate on running your business. Virtual assistants are a great answer to small business owners who don’t have room for an in-house assistant, as they can work with you remotely from their own location via email, phone and fax—saving time and resources.

Vonetta Booker-Brown is a freelance content marketing writer & the principal of V. Booker-Brown Copywriting, which provides content for blogs, social media, e-newsletters, e-books, press releases, websites, brochures, ads, presentations, and more. Visit http://www.vbookerbrown.com for more info on her services.

From “Nine-to-Fiver” to Entrepreneur

Vonetta Booker-Brown — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 23:59:47 +0000

Starting and running your own business is exciting, but it’s also hard work. Here are some tips for a smooth transition to full-time entrepreneur.

Assess your assets
Do you have enough money socked away for your transition? As you work at your full-time job while getting your business up and running, take the opportunity (and that still-steady paycheck) to save as much “rainy-day” funds as possible–six months’ to two years’ worth of living expenses is a good rule of thumb. Insurance plans are another important issue for small business owners–how will you get yours? If you’re married, you can probably join your spouse’s plan. If you’re solo, your local chamber of commerce can be a great resource in finding discounted health insurance rates, as well as other business, industry and networking organizations that you’re a member of. Another option is to continue with your employer’s plan through COBRA.

Test the waters
When it comes to your new business…research, research, research! Surf the Internet for information about the industry you’re entering, and keep an eye open for new trends. Who will your competitors be? What do they have to offer? Most importantly, what don’t they offer that you’ll be able to? If you can fill a particular niche or customer need, you’ll have that much more of an advantage over your competitors. Another savvy strategy is to talk to someone already established in the same business, and pick their brain about the rewards and challenges they regularly experience. And don’t forget to handle your business’s legal requirements, such as registering your business name and applying for a federal employer identification number (EIN), any state/city business licenses, tax certificates and zoning allowances.

Resign professionally
During your corporate ladder climb, you’ve probably been in a similar situation: Your boss has once again given that promotion to a schmoozing, slacker colleague—while passing you over despite your hard work and long hours. Office politics? Perhaps. Although the thought of barging into your manager’s office and handing him or her your resignation sounds tempting, slow down and count to ten. We’ve all had bad days, but immediately quitting a job based mainly on emotion could prove detrimental to your transition plan if you leave before you’re ready. Instead, take some time to calm down and clear your head—go out for a walk during lunch, or discuss your feelings with a good friend. Then, concentrate on using your energy as motivation for building your business, so that when you do give your notice, you can approach your manager calmly and professionally—and avoid burning bridges in the process.

From employer to client
If you’ve done the above, then bringing your former employer on as a client is a possibility. If your services are similar to your previous job description, the company may see the financial value in continuing to work with you rather than go through the tedious process of finding and hiring someone new. Before you leave, make an appointment with your manager to discuss your services as an independent contractor—and give them a detailed proposal outlining services, costs and areas they’ll save money in (i.e. no employee benefits, payroll taxes, space or equipment, etc.).

Keep it positive!
Starting your own business is challenging enough, so you’ll want to surround yourself with as many positive people as possible. Not everyone understands the entrepreneurial mindset, so you may have some family and friends thinking you’re a few fries short of a Happy Meal for having the audacity to leave the relative security of a 9-to-5. Expect this attitude occasionally; entrepreneurs are still widely considered “outside the norm.” Surround yourself with supportive, encouraging friends and family who “get it”—and utilize the many online communities structured for support within your industry.

Divapreneurs At Work – How Women Can Use Their Nurturing Trait to Generate Sales

Vonetta Booker-Brown — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:28:14 +0000

Since March is Women’s History Month, I figured that a great way to celebrate it would be to feature some great guest tips from a wonderful colleague of mine, Leesa Barnes.

If you don’t know her by now, you should definitely get acquainted! Known as “The Schmooze Coach,” she’s also an award winning motivational teacher who helps faith-centered solopreneurs, coaches, speakers, authors and consultants become financially and spiritually successful. So below, check out this great article of hers…

Divapreneurs At Work – How Women Can Use Their Nurturing Trait to Generate Sales

By Leesa Barnes

As a woman, you’re so good at addressing the needs of your family or your community.

If your child gets hurt on the monkey bars, you rush in to make it better. If your church needs volunteers for a bake sale, you’re the first to put your hand up. If your local food bank appeals for more non-perishable items, you’re the first in line at the grocery store.

You are able to find needs in everything around you, yet you stumble when it comes to your own business.

It’s time to use your sixth sense for your business as well. Look for a need, then address it by developing a product or service.

Don’t just launch yet-another-virtual-assistant company. Ask your target audience what’s missing, then fill that need.
Don’t write yet-another-ebook on a topic that’s been beaten to death. Instead, ask your clients what their biggest problem is then fill that need with a well-researched information product.
If you notice spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in someone’s writings, send them a quick email offering your editing services.
Don’t just become yet-another-professional-organizer. Instead, ask busy people why they would hire someone to organize their space, then start your business satisfying that need.

When someone tells you they have a need and you offer your services, don’t look at this as a hard sell. Look at this as a smart sell.

While you may be a great mom or a great volunteer, it’s now time to use your nurturing trait for your business as well. Your prosperity depends on this.

Leesa Barnes, The Schmooze Coach™, helps consultants, virtual assistants, professional organizers, coaches and solopreneurs avoid cold calling by developing a fearless networking plan. Leesa is author of “Schmooze Your Way to Success: 9 Fearless Networking Tips for the Shy, Timid, Introverted & Just Plain Clueless.” Go to [http://www.schmoozeyourwaytosuccess.com/ecourse.html] and sign up for her free 8-lesson ecourse called “From Clueless to Fearless: Secrets from the Schmooze Coach.”

Is Running a Home-Based Business Right for You?

Vonetta Booker-Brown — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:04:58 +0000

I’ve worked with tons of small business owners throughout my career, and at one point the majority of them had to decide whether running a home-based business was right for them. If you’re thinking that starting your own home-based business seems like the perfect solution, here are some things to consider before you take that leap and give Boss Man or Lady your two-week notice…

Adapting to a home-biz schedule
With a home-based business, the structure of a 9-to-5 job goes right out the window. Entrepreneurs often find themselves working at all hours of the day (or night), on weekends and/or holidays to get their businesses off the ground & ensure their success. Ask yourself if you’re prepared for this, or if you’d prefer a regular punch-in/punch-out schedule. Then again, if you work long, varied hours at your current job, the transition may be easier to tolerate. “I don’t mind putting in long hours, because it’s my passion,” says Lisa Raymond, who recently resigned from her job to start a home-based greeting card. “I’d rather do it for myself than someone who can fire me at any time.”

Assess your finances
Your financial shape is also something to seriously consider. Before you make that leap, assess whether you can shoulder the upcoming expenses of your home-based business. Do you have enough money saved up to quit your job and work from home full-time? If not, you may want to run your business part-time (while still at your job), and become a full-time entrepreneur only after your business can fully support you financially.

Telecommuting as an option
Do you actually like your job or career, but can’t stand the commute and/or would like to be at home more for your family? If so, you could perhaps explore telecommuting as an option. Telecommuting is when an employee is set up to work for their company from home instead of in the main office, and it’s a growing workforce trend. The best way to approach this situation with your employer is to present a well-prepared proposal that highlights exactly how you plan to effectively accomplish your job duties from your home office. A great resource for proposal creation ideas (and other telecommuting tips and articles) is WorkOptions.com, run by flexible work options advisor Pat Katepoo.

Two traits to have…
Two more must-have home-biz owner personality traits: Discipline & organization. As a business owner, there’s nobody else to watch over your shoulder when deadlines loom, or to motivate you to finish that proposal. Whatever needs to be done is of your doing—you’re the number one driving force that will determine the success or failure of your business. So, procrastination needs to go out the window (or at least reduced to a bare minimum)! Then there’s organization, the other key trait—needed to keep that “driving force” in order! Do you have a system in place to return/make phone calls & emails, maintain your filing system, and track your expenses? Taking the time to make sure you have a workable organization system in place goes a long way in effectively running your business. (For more info on this, check out my article “Seven Ways to Get (and Stay) Organized.”)

So, as the saying goes–“Look before you leap!” Take a moment or two to think about the above tips, and apply them to your success. Good luck!

Stumped for press release topics? 10 great ideas…

Vonetta Booker-Brown — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:00:36 +0000

You know what I always say…”if it’s free, it’s me,” lol. But seriously…press releases are a great way to garner media attention for your business–cost-free. If you’re scratching your head, wondering what you can write a press release about–no worries, because there are plenty of topics. PR Newswire has a great online article that includes a list of a few, to give you some ideas:

1. New Hire

Whether your business recently hired a new entry-level employee or has a new president, you should highlight the news with a press release. Simply include pertinent information about the new employee and the value they add to your business.

2. New Product

Any time you unveil a new product or service, you should create a press release to announce its debut to the world. These types of press releases should highlight the features of the product, where the product is available for purchase and any details of interest to the target retailer or consumer.

3. Updated Website

If major changes or additions to your company website have been made, the changes can be outlined in a press release. Make sure to explain why the modifications were made and how the changes will benefit new and existing visitors.

4. New Location

If your small business has relocated or opened another location, the news is a natural choice for a press release. It demonstrates that your business is thriving, and it gives you the opportunity to report on the expansion of you business.

5. Sale

If your business lands a new client, project, contract or large sale, a press release is a great way to let the media and consumers know about your success. Newsworthiness is important, so make sure to emphasize what makes the sale so special.

6. Philanthropic Activity

It’s smart to issue a press release when your company participates in philanthropic activities. Whether your employees have volunteered for a good cause or your company has made a donation, a well-written press release can highlight the news to enhance your online visibility. On top of that, giving back to the community is a good thing to do.

7. Awards

Any time your company or an employee is recognized with an award, you should take the time to issue a press release about it. The same is true about being featured in a major publication. This type of recognition is something that you should share with the world.

8. Free Offers

Everyone loves freebies! Distributing a press release about free offers will get the attention of the media and consumers.

9. Survey Results

Take an informal survey during regular business hours, and publish the results with a press release. The survey can relate to your company or revolve around a more general topic. Readers love data and a survey is a great way to collect information about your business, industry or products.

10. Milestones

Every time your company’s anniversary rolls around, you should find a way to incorporate the information into a press release. The press release can revolve around the things that have been accomplished throughout the year.

It pays to issue a press release about your small business from time to time, and there’s no end to the possibilities when it comes to topics.

Work That Tradeshow! (Part 4 of 4)

Vonetta Booker-Brown — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:05:39 +0000

In Part 3 of my “Work That Tradeshow” blog post series, we talked about mixing it up…and following up. In Part 4, we’ll be talking about categorizing and analyzing your tradeshow leads.

Categorize & analyze. So many leads, so little time! Actually, that’s a great “problem” to have. But to manage it better, put your leads into categories based on either industry or service type, or how you can partner with them (whatever works for you). You can do this with standard software such as Word, Excel, Constant Contact or 1Shopping Cart—anything that lets you easily access and manage contacts. Then, ask yourself the following post-tradeshow questions: What worked/didn’t work, booth location/functionality, whether the tradeshow was right for your business, what you learned from others and what you learned about the competition.

In the long run, it’s pretty unlikely that each & every one—or even most—of your tradeshow contacts will become paying customers immediately. But tradeshows also offer the invaluable opportunity to network, increase awareness about your company and brand—and add new members to your mailing list. The latter is a great way to keep prospects updated on what’s happening with your business—always with the potential to convert them into clients sooner or later!

Work That Tradeshow! (Part 3 of 4)

Vonetta Booker-Brown — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:39:07 +0000

In Part 2 of my “Work That Tradeshow” blog post series, we discussed the importance of having a backup in place, and having the right promotion tools. In Part 3, we’ll be talking about mixing it up…and following up!

Mix it up. Along with the main tradeshow, many event organizers also host mixers and social events for the participants. In addition to visiting other exhibitors on the tradeshow floor, this is one more way to network with the other vendors—getting to know more about what they do on a more sociable level and revealing what your company does, as well. Also consider attending any forums or panels that are being held on various topics, as well. When it’s time for the Q&A session, stand up, introduce yourself and your business and ask dialogue-fostering questions. This is also a great networking icebreaker—the panel topics give you and other exhibitors something to discuss at any social mixers afterwards.

Follow-up, follow-up! Following up on one’s tradeshow leads is often one of the most-overlooked tradeshow to-dos. And it’s also one of the most important! Tradeshow leads can be so abundant compared to other lead-generating situations; it’s a shame to let them slip through your fingers. Yet, that’s exactly what often happens—unless a specific follow-up strategy is put in place & utilized. Prioritize your post-tradeshow catch-up tasks accordingly, handling any urgent or emergency matters that have come up, first. Once things regarding existing clients have been attended to, it’s time to tackle that time you’ve set aside to follow up with your tradeshow contacts.

Ideally, tradeshow follow-ups should be done within 48 hours, while you’re still fresh in vendors’ minds. Whether it’s via phone or email (consider calling the most serious prospects), reach out and thank them for stopping by your booth (or graciously greeting your visit), and offer whatever product, service or partnership solution you had in mind.

Next, I’ll be talking about categorizing and analyzing your tradeshow leads.