Register Your Name as a Domain

Will your personal name become part of your business brand? No matter what the answer, there’s one task that’s smart for you to complete before another day ends: register your name as a domain.

The July 2nd edition of BusinessWeek makes the reasons clear in the UpFront article, “The Early Bird Gets the Domain.” It tells how domain squatters registered some of the 2008 presidential candidates’ names long before the candidates thought about running for office.

“The biggest worry about not controlling your own name domain is leaving it open to mudslingers,” says Robert Sinclair, a digital marketing consultant. “And it looks bad to the digerati that you didn’t have the foresight to snag your own domain.”

You don’t have to run a political campaign to understand the necessity for registering your name. It’s yours; why not control it to lead clients to your site? And customers may remember your name quicker than they remember your firm’s name. That’s how I use my ShirleyFrazier.com site, which is also known as www.ShirleySpeaks.com.

This is an easy task, and I bet that there are marketing ideas running through your mind for its use as you finalize the transaction.

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June 25, 2007 | Filed Under Marketing News, Online Ideas, Solo Housekeeping | Leave a Comment

Learning Curves are Steep, But Worth It

We solo business owners are always refining our businesses. Part of that mission includes making sure that we uncover built-in opportunities that are sometimes overlooked, and other times it’s a matter of learning something new to enhance a current ability.

Like you, I constantly perform checks to streamline my business procedures. I’m also facing a new challenge. I’ve enrolled in a business course at Baruch College in New York City. The course ends in mid July, just in time for me to travel throughout the U.S. to present numerous seminars.

Do course studies become more difficult as you get older, or are you so set in your ways that anything new seems overly demanding?

That’s what I asked myself after last week’s first class. I was so confused by the material’s complexity that I was ready to quit. But we entrepreneurs are a tough bunch. That’s why we’re in charge of our own success. Receiving a homework assignment didn’t make things easier, but I completed it with a sigh of relief and desire to learn more.

Nothing you do will be easy unless you’ve done it before, and learning something new to enhance your level of business is worth the temporary angst. By mid July, I’ll have mastered this learning curve and have a brand new skill that enhances my customer service and income potential.

This summer, I encourage you to face a new challenge. At the end, there will be a reward so beneficial that you’ll wonder why you didn’t accomplish it earlier.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, solo business marketing, solo entrepreneur, learning curves, managing change

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June 20, 2007 | Filed Under Offline Ideas, Problems & Solutions, Solo Housekeeping | Leave a Comment

Always Be Prepared for Competitive Rivalry

Every industry has a high-end and low-end participant. In most cases, if a low-end competitor comes into your territory, there’s a belief that lowering your prices or price matching will help you retain clients. But is that the only alternative? Most of all, will the reduced prices put you out of business?

I thought about this as I read, “Not Copying Wal-Mart Pays Off for Grocers” in The Wall Street Journal’s June 6 edition.

Many stores, including independent grocers, closed their businesses due to big chain infiltration. But others revamped their focus, catering to customers differently than the overly-crowded competition.

But the survivors rallied by redesigning stores, introducing a more relaxed shopping experience and marrying low-priced staples with higher-margin breads, meats and wine.

How would you react if a company selling similar products or services came to town? Value-added services is one option. Extended hours on certain nights or during the customer’s busy season is another. And a look at your rates to see if an adjustment is required is another smart, tactical approach.

Lowering your prices as a knee-jerk reaction will do more harm than good. Plant a solid foundation of service, and you’ll stay solvent no matter who comes to town.

NOTE: If you cannot open the above article link, go to www.wsj.com and type the article’s title into the site’s search box.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, solo business marketing, solo entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, competition

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June 18, 2007 | Filed Under Offline Ideas, Problems & Solutions, Solo Housekeeping | Leave a Comment

Free Advice is a Costly Mistake

When you tell people what you do, it’s done with the idea that in the long run you’ll capitalize on your expertise. The hope is that word-of-mouth marketing will encourage sales now or in the future.

Too often I find that telling people what I do results in a barrage of questions, and people expect me to provide them with an on-the-spot consultation or tutorial.

Does this also happen to you? Time is as crucial as it is expensive when you work alone, especially when someone wants to know everything you’ve learned in a nanosecond. “That sounds like fun” or “Hey, I have a question. How do you…?” are frequent ways people start asking me for advice.

My gift of gab is a blessing, but not when inquirers want the equivalent of a free seminar in restaurants and airport lounges. I’ve learned how to effectively stop people who will never hire me from seeking free advice.

The Wall Street Journal’s June 7th article, “Free Advice for Pros Who Keep Getting Asked for Free Advice,” goes into detail about this. Read the interviews with business owners to learn about solutions that may work for you.

I now customize my response to fit the moment.

“That’s what I teach in my adult course. Here’s my card. Check my Web site for classes in your area.”
“You’ll learn everything through a consultation. My rate is (cost) per hour. When do you want to start?”

What do you say to bring the free advice train to a grinding halt?

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June 12, 2007 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Problems & Solutions | 1 Comment