Momentum Monday: Are You Fishing Where the Big Fish Swim or Chasing the Guppies Around in the Shallows?
How do you expect to land the big fish if all you ever do is splash around in the shallows with the guppies? It’s tempting to stay in the shallows because fishing for guppies is easier and lets you stay within your comfort zone, but if you never fish where the big fish swim, how do you expect your business to grow?
Do the math. How many guppies do you need to equal one big fish? Dollar for dollar and hour for hour, big fish clients will generally be more profitable, more And more… working with the little guppies.
The reason is simple: less administration, better budgets and greater opportunity for ongoing work. In contrast, guppy clients tend to be budget-conscious, require a lot more handholding and often only need one-off projects, meaning you are right back to fishing when the project is done.
Don’t get me wrong! Guppy clients often are the bread and butter of your business, but the purpose of bread and butter clients is to provide a steady revenue stream while you working on landing the big fish, the one client that would take your business to the next level.
How to Start Swimming with the Big Fish in Business
#1: Make a Wish for Big Fish – Make a list of exactly who you want to work with. Maybe it’s a Fortune 500 company, maybe it’s a particular CEO who inspires you, maybe it’s simply a profile of the type of company you want to work with. The point is to get specific – the more specific, the better! Don’t hold back – dream BIG!
#2: Research, Research, Research! – Do your homework! Read the company blog, research the CEO, and follow them in social media. Ask around to find out how they award business – is it by RFP (Request for Proposal) or do they turn to their network for referrals?
#3: Create an Attraction Strategy– Directly going after a big fish client is only one strategy (in generally one that requires a lot of cold calling). Figure out what is going to lure the big fish into nibbling on your line. Ask yourself how you can make an impression on the company that would prompt them to seek you out!
#4: Connect to Connections – Find out who you know who knows that company or CEO. Leverage your online and offline connections. Ask your LinkedIn connections, or business networking group for a referral or a strategic introduction because a warm introduction will get you further in the door.
#5: Try ‘Borderless’ Networking – Sometimes getting the keys to the VIP room is easier said than done. That’s where social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, offer a unique opportunity to engage beyond your level. Often high profile business ‘celebrities’ operate their own accounts so it’s just a matter of engaging to get that golden opportunity. Notice I said ‘engaging’, not ‘pitching’ as blatant sales pitches will get you unfollowed or unfriended.
Remember, your big fish strategy is a long-term sales strategy designed to help you get to the next level. The last thing you want to do is neglect your smaller clients to chase a big fish who may not bite the first time you cast your line!
Dream BIG, Do BIG: Proof that Solving Real Problems is the Secret to a Booming Business
Want to know the secret to success? It’s not all the glamour and glitz of coming up with the latest sexy new idea or even the luck of the draw in discovering the latest craze. It’s solving real problems.
Just ask husband and wife entrepreneurs, Peter and Emma Fuerbringer, who proved that by simply listening to what the marketplace wants and delivering exactly that, you can take an ordinary business and turn it into an extraordinary success.
The Business: VonKids
The BIG Dream: Combine childcare with preschool education
The ‘BIG Dream’ didn’t start as a big dream at all. Instead Emma created the very first VonKids program to help out friends who were in dire need of reliable childcare.
Like all good entrepreneurial stories, one thing lead to another and before they knew it VonKids was operating 27 dayhomes in Calgary with additional 4 programs falling under their endorsed program.
The BIG Doing: Investing in curriculum development
Both former teachers themselves, Peter and Emma quickly realized the success of the VonKids program relied on developing an early education curriculum for their dayhome directors to follow.
VonKids enlisted the help of Margaret Smith and Michelle Beardsley, both leaders in the early education field, to create the VonKids curriculum from the ground up. Both were key in influencing their full day preschool approach for their older child programs.
The BIG Success: $1.5 million in revenue and an overflowing waitlist
Success in a ‘vanilla’ industry like childcare isn’t easy when around every corner there’s a new daycare or dayhome opening up. The key is not in the business model itself, but rather the delivery of an innovative program that fits exactly what people want.
VonKids listened to what parents wanted in terms of childcare: quality childcare in a warm home environment with an emphasis on learning and growth. The result was the VonKids program that takes the best of the daycare and early childhood education and combines them.
The BIG Advice: “Don’t try to cheat and take shortcuts”
“The reality of success is it’s messy and painful. You have to be willing to push forward with your idea when it becoming challenging and boring,” says Fuerbringer who admits poopy diapers and runny noses isn’t the sexiest industry. “You have to be willing to do the work. So often people try to take shortcuts.”
“Often people think big success needs to be something entirely new and innovative, but people are far too busy to figure out new stuff. Instead of trying to come up with something new, we took what was already being done and tweaked it.”
Got a Dream BIG, Do BIG success story you’d like to share with our readers? Join Entrepreneurial Moms and submit your story to your local chapter leader!
Momentum Monday: Talking is Not the Same as Doing – Why Success Hates Meetings
Success hates meetings. Success hates planning meetings. Success hates going to meetings. Success hates sitting through long, boring meetings. Success hates everything about meetings BECAUSE talking is not the same as doing. And talking, talking, talking is something meetings are especially good at.
Talking is intention. Talking is future. Talking is maybe. Talking is potential. Taking is EASIER than doing. Talking requires very little effort. Talking is quite possibly the farthest thing from doing. But doing is exactly what you need to do to succeed.
That’s why your job as an entrepreneur is to show up, every single day, and do! And not just any do (because many to-do’s fall into the category of distractions), you need to do the right things, the things that move your business forward and build momentum!
How to Get Out of the Talking, Talking, Talking Habit
#1: Radically Shorten Meetings – Instead of scheduling the long, drawn out, everyone’s invited to discuss and brainstorm meetings, consider planning more frequent power check in meetings. If you are finding it difficult to keep the meetings short, try holding meetings standing up.
#2: Change Your Meeting Strategy – Consider meetings short-term strategy sessions that allow you to refocus on immediate priority tasks and current projects. The purpose is to translate discussion into action, not rehash what has already been accomplished and drag out decision-making.
#3: Follow-up…FAST! – Make it a priority to send out an email summary of key decisions and task assignments immediately after the meeting. That way you won’t miss any key details and the momentum started in the meeting will continue.
#4: If You Dare Say It, Do It – Meaning commit to it or keep your mouth shut! The reason is if you get in the habit of breaking your ‘spoken’ promises, you become lax in your expectations. Think of it as a slippery slope – the first time you break a promise is hard, but after that, it’s no big deal and it quickly becomes a habit.
Mommy Mojo: S-T-R-E-T-C-H Goals – Why the Secret to Goal-Setting Success is Making Them Irresistible
There’s a ton of information out there on setting and achieving goals. Make them SMART, break them down into small doable steps, create a vision board, etc.
But here’s the thing about goals, if they are not utterly irresistible to me, I don’t care how SMART they are or how pretty my vision board is, I’m not going to do them.
So, how do we create and achieve these utterly irresistible goals?
It starts with my Irresistible Equation (Clarity + Confidence + Courage = Payoff):
Clarity
Get deep, connected clarity on your goal. I was working with a client once who kept setting a goal to lose 15 pounds. And no matter what she did, she kept losing her way. She’d go off her diet, she’d “forget” to go to the gym, and she’d fall into a downward spiral that felt terrible.
After doing some clarity work, we discovered something very interesting. Losing 15 pounds wasn’t HER goal. It was her mother’s goal for her. “You really need to lose about 15 pounds.” No wonder she kept sabotaging her efforts!
So, we re-framed the goal as something that deeply, clearly resonated with her: Have more energy to play with my kids and feel great in my clothes. Guess what? Suddenly going to gym and sticking with her eating plan became irresistible to her because the payoff was so delicious to her.
Goal setting tip #1 – Get deeply clear on exactly what your goal is.
Confidence
Once that crystal-clear clarity is in place, feeling confident about choices and decisions becomes so much easier.
Using the example above, my client was often faced with options that would move her away from her goal (in the form of awesome options)! Go shopping with friends instead of going to the gym. Eat just one piece of that delicious birthday cake instead of sticking with her eating plan.
By checking in with her goal (usually just one look at her children would do the trick), she was able to confidently say “No” to the distraction and “Yes” to the thing that would lead her to her ultimate destination.
Courage
The storms will come. That’s just part of the journey. And those are the times we have to dig down deep and hold the tiller steady until we reach calmer waters.
My client reached a plateau she couldn’t seem to get passed. And other people noticed. And commented. A side note on goal-setting an achievement: there will ALWAYS be people who are invested in seeing you fail. It sucks. But there it is.
And so she faced a choice. She could 1) Agree with the voice in her head and the voices of some people around her telling her she was failing or 2) Dig down deep, re-connect with her clarity, tap into that place where true courage lives and decide to prove them all wrong.
Choosing the first option was easy. And most people, whether they will admit it or not, go for option one when the going gets tough. They will frame it all kinds of ways to justify giving up. But in the end, that’s what it is – giving up.
Choosing option two is what separates champions from the also-rans. There’s just no other way to say it. It requires boldly stepping out, doing something really scary, and believing you can do something when the storm is blurring your vision.
My client chose option two, even though it meant flying in the face of relationships that meant a great deal to her. She kept at it. And she kept at it. And she kept at it. (That’s really all that courage is – dogged persistence.) Because she realized that it was about more than having energy and feeling great in her clothes. It was about belief in herself.
And guess what? She got where she wanted to go. Not in her original timeframe. Not with a huge crowd cheering her on. But she got there. And that changed everything.
So if you are having trouble reaching your goals, try making them Irresistible with Clarity, Confidence and Courage. Don’t hesitate on this (hesitation is also a hallmark of the Also-Ran’s.) It can make all the difference.
And, if you want more insights and strategies on applying the Irresistible Business Equation to where you are right now this minute, learn how to Create an Irresistible Presence!
Momentum Monday: Life Lessons from a 2-Year-Old – Not Taking No for an Answer
Almost every success story starts the same way. The intrepid entrepreneur finally gets a “Yes” after rejection after rejection. “No, not right now”, “No, we just don’t think it will work”, “No, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard”.
The reason for their success is they didn’t take “No” for an answer.
Lessons from a 2-Year-Old on Not Taking No for an Answer
The proudest moment in my daughter’s babyhood was the day I realized that “This kid has serious moxy!” Watching how she interacted with her environment, I realized that compared to her peers, she didn’t take “No” for an answer.
And not an asking multiple times kind of not taking “No”, but a deeply stubborn, single-minded determination kind of not taking no. More of a “No @#$% damn it” kind of no, but without the four-letter words.
It started at babyhood. You see, compared to other brand new crawlers, my daughter didn’t give up. Her crawling peers would stop at the slightest barrier, choosing to go around the pile of laundry to explore what was on the other side.
Not my little one. Faced with an obstacle, she hunkered down for a fight, bowing down her head to push through to the other side. Even if there was a much easier way around!
My inner voice said those prophetic words: Oh boy, I am in for it!
In an instant, my future as a parent flashed in front of me. I saw myself as the baffled, apologetic mother whose toddler ends up on the 6 o’clock news after narrowly escaping serious injury from climbing on top of a perilous height.
For the record, the polite term is “busy” (and thank goodness the 6 o’clock news never happened)…
The “No @#$% damn it” continued as my daughter started walking (an all determination, no skill or style endeavor on her part) and joined the ranks of the playground set.
By the age of two, her fearlessness was apparent. Seeing a kid twice her age attempt to climb to the top of the play structure, she just had to do it too! No fear, no excuses, just a quiet “No @#$% damn it” resolution that it will be done.
Often we let our fear, our inhabitations, our wishy-washy resolution get in the way of our success instead of taking a “No @#$% damn it” view of it. The minute we start to dream big, that little voice starts to question what we are doing and we slow down, we sabotage, we take “No” for an answer instead of pushing through to the final “Yes”.
Momentum Monday Challenge: Say “NO @#$% damn it” to whatever fear is holding you back and step up and do something big and bold this week!
From our Readers: What is the Best Decision you Ever Made for your Business?
Decisions, decisions, decisions! When running your own business, there are a gazillion decisions to make. Some are minor (what style of business cheques to order) and some big (deciding on a business name), and then there are the ones that catapult your business to the next level! So, we want to know: What is the best decision you ever made for your business?
Angela Hancock-Madeiros Angela’s Attic
“Best decision? Buying the business. I had never even worked retail before I bought my boutique. I just jumped in knowing it was part of my new path and I would learn as I went. What a ride.”
Felicia Shaw Simply in Your Purpose
“Including my young child in the business, so he feels empowered and a part of something great, which is his legacy. He is now a great supporter of mom’s business.”
Wendy LugoSantiago eAssistant-Worldwide
“Continuously learning. The internet never stops. Every second something new comes up. I like to learn and it is necessary for my business as well.”
Leah Chevallier bo bebe
“Learning to delegate and let go of some of the details that any entrepreneur feels only they can do. Learning to trust in yourself, your talents and your ability to train, mentor and mold your key staff and then believing in them enough to TRULY step back and let them fly. There will be mistakes and there will also be triumphs, after all, I didn’t make it to where I am with no mistakes, how I can I expect that of others?”
Alisha Brignall Room to Grow
“To partner and advertise with other mom businesses that hold the same philosophy. We all have the same clients so why not share the cost?”
Amanda Barker Edamame Kids
“The best decision (so far) was opening a brick and mortar and breaking down barriers so that organic and eco-friendly items are more affordable and accessible to parents.”
Valerie Gale Chinook & Hobby West
“I added a clearance center to our store. I expanded up above our store and now new and current is on the main floor and discontinued hobby, craft and dollhouse items are upstairs.”
Sheri Harke Bruneau Get It Together Professional Organizing
“I added workshops/classes as a service. It’s easy for people to read “How To” books, but what most people need is the one-on-one support to follow through. Whether it’s a group of stay-at-home moms, or a group of investment bankers – having someone there to give that extra advice or push is what gets people motivated to move forward.”
Angela Grinde Handbury Raising Miss Daisy
“I’’ve just started my business, Raising Miss Daisy but the best thing I’ve done so far is creating a website where customers can look at what’s new, as well as put in an order!”
Want to be one of our readers featured in an upcoming From our Readers? Visit our Entrepreneurial Moms facebook fan page on Wednesdays for the next From our Readers question of the week!
MOMeo Business 101: 5 Must-do Marketing Strategies for Success
So, on a scale of 1-10, how do you feel about marketing your business?
Some mom entrepreneurs love to spend time strategizing and marketing, they never stop thinking about it and talking to others about it, and if they have their druthers, they’d leave the nitty gritty operating details to other people because the marketing is so much fun!
Maybe you are at a 9 or 10 on the scale of “loves marketing!” Or, are you hanging out more at a 1, 2, or 3? You don’t have excess time to strategize – you’re too busy running your business and taking care of your family and your hubby, and you aren’t really so good at it either, so your marketing has to work fast and be easy for you, even though you aren’t a marketing aficionado!
5 Must-do Marketing Strategies for Every Mompreneur
#1: Develop systematic, measurable marketing methods. Since every type of marketing requires a certain investment, you want to track any marketing method you employ to know whether it’s worth your financial investment.
For example, if you’re using Google “pay per click” to drive people to your web site, pay careful attention to how many people click on the ad that comes up with a certain combination of keywords. Is it producing at least the number of web site visits you desired?
If you’re using Twitter or Facebook to drive people to your site, keep track of how many of your followers or friends go directly from your tweets and status updates to your site. These numbers indicate whether your efforts (financially and time-wise) are paying off.
#2: Determine exactly whom the marketing will target, and which benefits this population seeks. In doing so, whatever resources you invest will produce a greater return.
To easily and quickly determine your target market, survey existing customers to find out why they chose your business and what they enjoy about working with your company. Gather testimonials from customers – this is a great tool for word of mouth marketing, and doesn’t require large investments of either time or money.
#3: Get clear on your business concept and business model. Boil it down. Define exactly what the company offers and how it benefits clients.
For example, an executive coach may say, “I coach professionals to help them earn a better profit and find a satisfactory work-life balance,” even if what she does is actually much more complicated or is completed in many more steps. Also, examine the business model to make sure it’s realistic to expect the business to make money.
#4: Get clear on the marketing message. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of projects or clients, become very selective about to whom you are marketing your products or services so that you attract only the clients with whom you really want to work.
#5: Pair up with other entrepreneurs who offer similar or complementary services. Check out networking and affiliate marketing programs, which are inexpensive in terms of time and money, and provide opportunities for gaining new clients without much effort.
By leveraging relationships with entrepreneurs who offer similar or complementary services, you can successfully gain new clients with minimal additional investment. Similarly, by attending networking events with like-minded business owners, you can get the word out about your own products and services, and get advice from others in similar situations.
Marketing is one sure-fire way to grow a business. Depending on whether you want fast growth, slow growth or maintenance, various marketing methods exist to meet your various needs and desires.
Michele DeKinder-Smith is the founder of Jane out of the Box, an online resource dedicated to the women entrepreneur community. Discover more incredibly useful information for running a small business by taking the FREE Jane Types Assessment at Jane out of the Box. Offering networking and marketing opportunities, key resources and mentorship from successful women in business, Jane Out of the Box is online at www.janeoutofthebox.com
Don’t forget to leave us a comment–we love to hear from you!
Business 101: Building a Loyal, Enthusiastic Following starts with your B-O-P!
What’s your BOP?
Bold. Outrageous. Provocative.
If you want to build an enthusiastic and responsive tribe, these three words MUST be integrated into your voice and into the stand you choose to take.
In this loud, crowded marketplace, only the boldest voices will be heard. There is no place for kinda-sorta. And people are HUNGRY for leaders who are willing to take a stand and declare themselves in a very big way.
Think about that for a minute.
What voices or brands do you connect with most strongly? The ones who are trying to be like everyone else or the ones who strike out into uncharted territory and put their flag in the ground declaring it theirs?
One of the reasons the online shoe retailer Zappos commands the attention and attracts its audience is that it carved out really bold territory and delivers an outrageous experience. Zappos leaves no doubt about what they stand for as a brand.
And if doing that sounds a little scary, it isn’t. It’s A LOT scary.
Creating your own unique B-O-P statement is an all chips are in kind of thing. You can’t whisper boldly or be quietly outrageous or a tiny bit provocative. But if it were any easier, everyone would be doing it.
So take some quiet, uninterruptible time and ponder this question:
What is the boldest, most outrageous, most provocative (and true to me) statement I can make to my tribe?
Sarah Robinson is a seasoned coach and business strategist who is passionate about the idea of escaping mediocrity – both personally and professionally.
Her blog, http://www.escaping-mediocrity.com not only journals her personal adventures in breaking free from the stranglehold of mediocrity, but also offers insights, tools and a “tribe” for those who feel pulled toward the same adventurous life. Her expertise in personal and business change was developed through many years of working with and providing coaching to other entrepreneurs and start-up non-profits, where she honed her ability to turn around” thousands of struggling individuals and organizations.
Love this article? Want to know more? Visit the MOMeo Store to purchase Sarah Robinson’s e-learning course on “How to Build an Enthusiastic Loyal Following Quickly on a Shoestring Budget”
Famous Women Entrepreneurs: Three Basic Things They Know About Business Success
I find it very inspirational to learn from famous women entrepreneurs who had an idea and made it happen. What’s interesting about some of these women is that they didn’t necessarily have the ideal background or circumstances for success but that didn’t hold them back. They overcame their obstacles and became successful in a business world dominated by men.
There is a pattern that emerges when you take a look at what these diverse women entrepreneurs have in common – women like Mary Kay Ash (founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics), Anita Roddick (founder of The Body Shop) and Debbi Fields (founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies).
Let me share three things these famous women entrepreneurs knew and demonstrated about success that I’ve found critical in my life as an entrepreneur.
1. Believe in Yourself
Mary Kay Ash quote: “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember you can achieve.”
I love this quote because the right mindset is the number one determining factor of success in business and in life – especially for mom entrepreneurs. As you can see in Mary Kay’s quote, to believe in yourself you have to let go of “limiting” beliefs. A limiting belief is something that you believe to be true about yourself that is not true and it prevents you from moving forward.
If you believe in yourself, you can achieve your goals. Regardless of your past success (or not), it is completely possible to be successful in the future. It requires your belief and ability to change the story you’ve been telling about your past circumstances. Truly knowing what you want empowers you to put your best thoughts and actions forward.
2. Have a Support System
Anita Roddick quote: “We entrepreneurs are loners, vagabonds, troublemakers. Success is simply a matter of finding and surrounding ourselves with those open-minded and clever souls who can take our insanity and put it to good use.”
What I appreciate about this quote is its self-awareness. Although, I don’t necessarily agree that all entrepreneurs are loners, vagabonds or troublemakers, I do believe that we all have strengths and weaknesses. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned since starting my business is that you can’t do it alone. But you can achieve amazing things when you build a team and leverage each other’s strengths.
If you want to be truly successful, then you must have a fantastic support system. I’ve learned to delegate whether it means having friends to carpool my kids, VA’s to set-up my ezine or business coaches to help me discover the next step in my marketing plan. Learn to enjoy the collaborative process of what others add to the process of building your business.
3. Be of Service
Debbi Fields Quote: “The principle was right there – you couldn’t miss it. The more you did for your customers, the more they did for us.”
You can see from this quote that her focus was never just on a single sale, it was about creating a long-term meaningful relationship with her customers. When you step out of your own personal focus and begin asking how you can be of service to others, you embark on the path to success.
Customers sense when your focus is on being of service and they reward you with their loyalty. Instead of focusing on “What’s in it for me?” – take the focus off of yourself. Shift your focus to
“What am I going to GIVE?”
Whether or not you want to be famous, believing in yourself, having a support system and being of service will help you be a more successful and happier mom entrepreneur. Yes, we can learn a lot of the basics from these famous women entrepreneurs or from other entrepreneurs in our lives that display true leadership.
Kim DeYoung is the original Metromom—a motivated mom entrepreneur committed to her
family, her career and achieving success on her own terms. Also known as the “Get It
Done Girl”, Kim is the dynamic and creative force behind Metromom.com and Get it Done Action Club. Metromom is the “get it done” resource for the busy mom entrepreneurs,
providing solutions on marketing, money, mindset and motherhood.Kim never regrets leaving a career in the fashion industry to design an exciting
entrepreneurial lifestyle and work/life balance. It is now with complete clarity that
she combines her experiences in business, coaching, implementation, connection and
parenting to help entrepreneurs design a meaningful (and profitable) business on their
own terms!Metromom is more than just a brand. It’s a tangible extension of Kim, reflecting her
passion to give women the information, tools and coaching they need to “get it done” and
“get results”. At its core is the power of connection – like-minded women connect online
to provide each other with support, great ideas and business opportunities.Kim also provides dynamic “Get It Done” coaching one-on-one and through her
action-packed programs specifically designed for entrepreneurs who have lots of great
ideas but are stuck on how to make them a reality.
MOMeo Show: Nancy Marmolejo – Finding the Profit to go with the Passion
The passion isn’t your problem – you love, Love, LOVE what you do, but it’s finding the profit that has you considering going back to your J-O-B. What’s missing is your Profitable Essence according to Visibility Expert, Nancy Marmolejo.
Join Carla Young, Founder & CEO of MOMeo Community.com and Publisher of MOMeo Magazine.com as she interviews Nancy Marmolejo on finding that something special that makes you unique and wildly profitable. Find out what Nancy Marmolejo has to say about:
- How to discover what’s unique and incomparable in YOU
- The 4 key components you need to be successful and set yourself apart from the competition
- The one simple question you can ask that will take care of 80% of your marketing problems
- How to turn your business from mediocre to monetized!
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- I love that @AlyPain tells it like it is --> STOP Blaming Your Children - Why YOUR Failure Isn't THEIR Fault - http://t.co/LPo51mgI
- Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, "Make me feel important." ~Mary Kay Ash
