“If I could only land this one huge client, I’d make it big!”
I hear it all the time, “forget the minnows… fish for that whale!”
And it did make sense in an industrialized-aged era. In the previous century, the marketing & sales efforts to attract one hundred clients paying $1,000 was usually significantly more than it was to hook one client paying $100,000.
But in the age of the internet – where information flows swiftly, and technology has helped smart businesses create virtual pipelines for promoting & delivering goods and services – this is no longer the case.
We now have the ability to use social media, websites, email, video and a host of other technologies to further our product’s reach and effectiveness.
As entrepreneurs living in the 21st century we have wonderful opportunities available to us. And over time, we will present specific scenarios and case studies in which you can apply technology into your business.
But technology is not the premise of this article… It’s about being happy.
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Greg
In today’s “creative economy” the power of storytelling is critical. In particular, in your marketing efforts. Here’s an example of how Chipotle is bringing music, animation, and an important cause together to tell a powerful story in 2 minutes. Remarkable.
Back to the Start [Video]
Bradley
The world is an interesting place. But unfortunately, most people will never experience it all. Which is one main reason I’ve been advocating the need to go against the grain when it comes to your lifestyle. So hopefully as you continue to explore creating your ideal lifestyle you’ll consider world travel. This webpage is an amazing motivator to venture out and see the remarkable world.
50 of the Most Important Landmarks in the World
In last week’s post on Laying a Financial Foundation, one of the tenets mentioned was: Choose Advisors Carefully.
Entering an arrangement with an advisor, whether contractural or not, is similar to a marriage. No, you’re not going to spend the rest of your lives together sitting on the front porch in rocking chairs while one shouts and the other one keeps saying, “What?”
But, you are going to work very closely together. You want that relationship to be the best experience for both of you.
Here are some questions to ask yourself and them before you “put a ring on it.” [continue reading…]
Dear Solopreneur,
Are you a one-man-band pretending your business is bigger than it truly is? It’s easy to do, you know, just change “I” to “we” in your sale scripts. Instantly, you have yourself a firm instead of a home office. Magic!
But you may be doing more harm than good.
What if your potential client or customer is looking for someone rolling solo? You may have scared them away. Or what if a company needed a 10-person shop to help them out and you would have never won the business alone? You and the prospect may have unnecessarily wasted valuable time discussing the project.
Ultimately, it’s best to be honest and up front, since it will only be a matter of time until the client realizes the you-not-us scheme. So as a rule of thumb going forward: be honest and set proper expectations. Call a spade a spade. It’s not We… it’s You.
Sincerely,
Brad
ps. As your business grows and you bring on one or more employees, you will experience a tremendous boost in motivation when you’re changing the content on your marketing collateral from I to We.
Purchasing for your business is inevitable.
But are you getting caught in the trap of using excess time and resources to save a couple bucks?
It happens all too often.
“If I just search for a better price, it’s worth the effort. Right?”
Wrong.
When I briefly worked for a Fortune 500 company implementing technology into businesses, some of my clients would boggle my mind when it came down to making decisions.
They would spend hours researching on the web between buying from my competition or me… for the same product.
Most of these times would be because of a price difference under $10. While I will agree that $10 is $10 and these decisions can add up to a healthy sum of money, what could those two hours be better used for?
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