Motivating Business Mums. Debbie O'Connor
your business. Remember, in this example, the billable rate was £187.50—so an hour spent working with your client is clearly more profitable than the same hour spent filing.
Could your VA help you set up appointments so that all you need to do is hold your meeting or phone call and make the sale? Could they write your marketing copy, newsletter and update your blog, Twitter feed and other social media platforms? Could your bookkeeper/admin helper stuff the envelopes for your next mailing campaign? Could you automate some of your processes using technology?
What stops many small business owners from being successful and creating a business that works for them is their mindset. Reasons range from not wanting to lose control (a resistance to delegate), a poor sense of time management (they feel they can’t spare the time to train or monitor an assistant), to a reluctance to spend money. Successful business owners have moved beyond these internal restrictions and realise that they need to let go of their emotional baggage if they want to fly…
As a mumpreneur, you have an array of domestic duties to add to the list you’ve just created. Again, using the same principle, at £62.50/hour, what’s going to help your grow your business and allow you to spend time with your family?
Outsourcing domestic services such as ironing, cleaning, and baby-sitting/child-care and getting support from home-helps, etc. will mean that you can spend your time doing the things that are worth more to you, both emotionally and professionally.
Here, the additional mindset restrictions we place on ourselves are even more complex, because they relate to our perceptions and feelings as women running our own homes as well as our businesses. We want to be able to do it all and do it well. Therein lies the problem—the inability to accept that one person cannot do it all and do it well.
Instead of being intimidated by stories of apparent superwomen who are combining business success with domestic goodness status, take a few minutes to see how they are achieving their success. Without doubt, you’ll find that they have a team of supporters around them in their domestic and professional lives which allow them the time and freedom to create their wealth and success. When you have your own team around you, you’ll be able to thrive too.
Having the right mindset and the right support structure are two of your strongest assets and I know that with both in place, you’ll make every success of your business. Just by turning your contribution into a tangible figure as we’ve done today, you can see ‘you’re worth it’.
I hope that by reading this short piece, you’ll be able to work out at whether your business model is taking over your life. By confirming how you want to work, when you want to work, how much you need to charge and what you need to be doing to make these changes work for you, you’ve begun important first steps on your journey to that work-life balance you want to create. Enjoy the journey!
Sumi Olson, based in Liphook, Hampshire, is a sales and marketing consultant, speaker and author offering training, help and strategic support to authors/professionals/SME businesses. You can contact Sumi at www.olsonservices.co.uk
60-Second Networking Introductions
Grace Marshall
5 practical and 3 confidence tips for delivering great 60-second speeches
One thing that terrifies most of us when we start attending networking meetings is the prospect of standing up in a room full of strangers and speaking for 60 seconds about our business.
“What do I say?” we wonder. “What if I keep rambling or go off on a tangent?” “How do I keep to time? I keep running out of time!” or even “I can’t think of enough to say to fill 60 seconds!”
Here are five practical tips about what to say and how to structure your 60 seconds.
1. Start and end with your company name
People may not catch your name at the beginning. And often, it’s only when they hear about what you do, or what referrals you’re looking for, that they are prompted to write your name down. Reminding them at the end helps them to remember who you are and leaves them able to get in touch with you after the meeting.
2. Talk about what you do
Keep it brief and focused. Rather than put yourself under pressure to reel off a list, start with a broad statement, like “I’m a virtual assistant” or “I’m a photographer” and then focus on one service or one product that you provide. For example, “One thing I specialise in is wedding photography” or, “I’d like to talk to you today about my copy editing and proofreading.”
If you attend a regular networking meeting, this approach also keeps your 60 seconds fresh, holds attention and educates other members of the group on an ongoing basis, giving something different for them to be thinking about and looking out for each week or month.
3. Talk about the benefits
Make sure you talk about who your clients are and how they benefit from hiring or buying from you: “I help… to… with/by/so that….” Be sure to talk about the benefits, not just the features of your product or service. So if you offer a 24 hour turnaround as a feature, depending on your product, the benefit might be that your clients avoid missing their proposal deadline, avoid paying a fine or getting into trouble for leaving an anniversary gift till the last minute! Or if you design beautiful logos and websites, talk about the increase in visitors and paying clients who respond to a more professional or distinctive image.
4. Be specific about who you want to be referred to
“Anybody and everybody” draws a blank. You’re more likely to bring someone specific to mind if you say “someone who is expecting a baby” or “an arts student” or “an accountant”—someone that people can go away and contact, or be on the lookout for. You could even name a particular company you’re trying to get in touch with.
Don’t forget useful contacts and referral partners, too. Complementary businesses who serve the same types of clients as you can be great for mutual referrals. Someone at the meeting may not know of anyone about to get married, but they may well know of caterers, wedding planners, dressmakers, cake makers and contacts with venues.
5. Have a call to action
Do you want a potential client to ring you, visit your website, have a card or sign up for your free newsletter? Or do you want permission to call them? If you tell your networking partners what to say once they have spotted a potential referral, this makes it a lot easier for them to refer more business to you.
And here are three tips to boost your confidence with a 60-second networking introduction:
1. Be yourself
You don’t have to be a comedian, a silver-tongued salesman, a natural speaker or incredibly outgoing to deliver an effective 60-second introduction. And it’s okay to be nervous! Networking is about developing relationships, and people connect much more naturally when you are honest, authentic and willing to communicate. So smile, be human and be friendly whether you’re delivering or listening to a 60-second speech.
2. Be prepared
Seasoned networkers may look like they make it up as they go along, and get it right effortlessly, but there’s often more practice and preparation that goes on behind the scenes. If it helps your nerves, don’t be afraid to write yourself a script, practise it beforehand so you feel confident and comfortable with the timing, and even use it in the meeting itself if it helps you. Reading from a script may