Thinking – Page 3 – Pauline Bright Business Coach

5 Money Making Strategies Even If You Think You’re No Good At Numbers

Before you do anything to do with money you may need to change your mindset and language about money. Start talking about money in the positive and drop the negative thoughts and feelings and words you use about money.

Stop telling yourself you’re no good at money and numbers and start telling yourself you’re on the way to learning more about money and numbers.

Then employ these 5 money making strategies to help you make more money.

1. Multiple transactions

If you say “Thank you and goodbye” to your customers after a transaction you may be losing one of the best opportunities to help your customers get more of what they really want – and put money in your bank.

Say “thank you and hello“ – invite your customers to join your community of happy clients so you can keep in touch with them.

2. Sell what makes money

If you have a range of products or services at different price points, think about this: top sales people will tell you that it often takes about the same amount of time and effort to sell one BIG thing than one small thing, provided you are speaking to the right customer. And if they want the small things why not bundle them together to make a big sale – think “upsell”. You won’t know unless you offer.

You might be spending too much time attracting small clients instead of going after the bigger clients. “Any sale is a sale” while technically correct, could be eating into your profits by not selling high profit items or discounting to get the sale.

Think bigger – around 20% of your customers would buy a higher priced item from you if you

a) had one

b) offered it to them.

Make sure you cultivate the top 20% of customers who love you and will buy your big ticket items.

3. Invest in assets

If you’re going to reinvest money back into your business DON’T “pimp your ride” buying pretty things or high tech things UNLESS they have the ability to make you more money.

Invest in people who can bring in more sales, technology to make it easier to collect money, systems that create more flow so things run faster and smoother and programs that identify the money you are leaving on the table so you can scoop it up.

4. Sell your ideas

If you sell tangible products or time for money services you could be missing out on leveraged money or even “money while you sleep”.

You probably know lots of things other people don’t know. It’s likely they would be happy for you to teach it to them either 1 to 1, in a group or an online automated program. Have you considered information products? E-books, e-classes, video programs, membership programs are easier than ever before to set up and run at minimal cost.

Use blogs, social media, email marketing and strategic partners to market and sell your ideas

5. Set money goals

Decide on the ACTUAL amount of money you want then get to work with a piece of paper or a spreadsheet to work out how you will achieve it. OR use the Income Generator Calculator tool.

For example your money goal might be an extra $100,000 in the next 90 Days.

Break the goal down into manageable chunks – if you sell a service, how many days will you be working in the next 90 days to sell and deliver that service. Let’s call it 44 working days to allow other days for running your business and days off.

Do the numbers
100000/44 = $2272.73 per day is your target.

The next question is HOW? How can you make that much money each day for 44 days?

Get creative – work out how many sales you’d need to generate to achieve the target then get to work structuring, marketing and selling to reach your goal.

5 common myths about small business that you should ignore

Everyone has an opinion. Everyone’s an expert – even taxi drivers can tell you how to run the country or give you hot stock tips.

Some of the most prolific business “advice” comes from family and friends – who don’t even have a business! And some of it is spewed out on the internet by self-styled would-be gurus. Maybe they know what they’re talking about, maybe not.

“You know what your problem is?” and “You know what you should do,” they tell you.

Some of it, a tiny trickle of it, turns out to be quite good, but the majority of it is urban myths and things people make up to justify their own actions or beliefs.

A word of caution

Don’t believe everything you read, see or hear – especially on the internet where anyone can be an expert.

With this in mind, you can also take what I say with a pinch of salt. This has been my personal experience of being a business owner in multiple businesses for 35 years, and experience from working with business owners for 12 years.

Question what you read and test out these “myths” to see if they are true for you. You may need to shift your thinking a degree or two.

Myth #1

You can’t make a profit in your first year or two of business

If this were true then it’s possible that the business owner has put too much “infrastructure” in the business before they work out if they’ve

Got a saleable product or service with high demand
Got a good deep market for the product or service

One of the first things you should do in business is work out where the money is. Make sure there is enough profit to feed the machine and grow from there. Don’t waste money on toys and looking good.

People get despondent and give up when they realise they are not making any money. There has to be a payoff.

Myth #2

Grow your business so you can have a nice flash office

Why do people insist on making themselves look good at the expense of making the business work?

By all means have a nice flash office if it helps get you more business and it helps you deliver your product or service but do the numbers first. Don’t pimp your ride!

You have to make a lot of money to pay the rent – and other things – before you even think about paying yourself.

Think differently about how to run your business effectively without incurring too many expenses.

Myth #3

Home based businesses are not “real” businesses

If you think a home based business is just “playing” at business, here are the top 5 businesses that started from home:

Amazon
Apple
Disney
Google
Harley Davidson

That doesn’t mean that you need to grow your business to global proportions if you don’t want to, but it can be a great starting point.

These businesses didn’t rush out and get flashy offices and all the gadgets they needed to start up. They kept it simple, started in the garage, had vision and kept at it.

Your home-based business could earn you millions without you ever having to move out. It depends on how you structure it and what your vision is. Keeping it simple and running it lean has huge benefits.

Myth #4

You have to get a business degree

Fortunately you DON’T have to get a degree to run a business. It can be helpful, or not, depending on how you apply it.

Learning to run a business is like learning to ride a bike. You can’t learn it from a book. It’s not hypothetical – you need to get on and hold on, learn to pedal and steer, fall off, get up, work out how to go fast and when to slow down.

Learn as you go. Read some books, do some courses, find a coach or mentor, but APPLY what you learn and as Mario Andretti said “If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.”

Enjoy the ride!

Myth #5

It’s good to go hard! Sleep is overrated

Oh no it’s NOT!

If you think you can sleep when you’re dead you might just die sooner than later.

You need the full cooperation of your brain and body to do your best at anything. An exhausted brain can’t think straight.

All the best business leaders have found a way to take time out, to relax, get the creative juices flowing and so can you.

Be realistic about what you can get done in a day or a week, stretch it a little if you need to and then be disciple enough to shut down and turn off to rest. Make it a regular habit if you don’t want to be constantly running on empty.

Discover your path to wealth by working in flow with your Natural Genius talents

Wealth Dynamics in a nutshell

Many people think that there are hundreds of routes to wealth. With Wealth Dynamics, you’ll see that there are actually only eight paths to wealth and that one of those paths is the correct one for you.

These paths are highlighted by the successful people who have achieved wealth through following their natural path. This is to say, they found the wealth dynamic match that suited their talents.

Could you imagine Richard Branson as a footballer, or Bill Gates as a fish monger?

No, they discovered the talents they were born with and capitalized on them. They followed a path that they loved, their path of least resistance and they excelled at it. Wouldn’t you like to find your path, benefit from your natural strengths and excel?

Let’s take a brief look at each of these eight wealth profiles…

The Creator

The Creators can’t help creating! They are good at creating profitable ideas and businesses, but not so good with the day to day running of a business. Successful creators will delegate everything, except the creative process. Example: Walt Disney

The Mechanic

Mechanics are perfectionists who like to finish things, rather than create them. They want to make everything better – fine tune them. Example: Henry Ford.

The Star

It is easy to spot a star. Obviously, you have film, music and sports stars, but high profile CEOs can also be thought of stars. They rely on the strength of their personality and are aware of the pressure of always having to deliver. Example: Oprah Winfrey

The Supporter

Supporters are great networkers with loads of energy and enthusiasm. Their greatest wealth can be achieved when they join forces with a Star, Creator, Deal Maker, or Mechanic. Example: Steve Ballmer

The Deal Maker

A deal maker relies on relationships, connections and being able to react intuitively when the best opportunities present themselves. Example: Donald Trump

The Trader

A trader is someone who naturally hunts out bargains, naturally loves haggling and gets immense satisfaction from a great deal. They are equally as good at finding high price buyers. Example: George Soros

The Accumulator

Incremental growth is the key to this wealth dynamics profile. They are patient, disciplined and will stick fast to a successful system. Example: Warren Buffet

The Lord

The Lord likes to control everything. You can find a lord where there are fixed assets generating cash. They don’t want attention like the stars and like to create wealth quietly. Example: Ingvar Kamprad

These carefully thought out profiles are the result of years of studying the approaches of hundreds of successful wealth creators combined with Chinese philosophy.

Knowing which of these wealth profiles is yours, is like having the keys to the vault of the Bank Of England.

More than 250,000 entrepreneurs have already found their true profile and are discovering, with amazing clarity the direction towards true wealth for them.

Would you like to join them? CLICK HERE to take the test.

Pauline Bright is an accredited Wealth Dynamics Profile consultant. To book a Debrief and Discovery session once you’ve done your profile, please email support@brightbusiness.net.au or call 0413 739 196. You’ll find out how to use your profile in your current business or situation and what is the right path for you to follow.

7 Client-getting strategies even if you think you’re no good at marketing

Let’s get rid of the head –trash first. Marketing is not difficult. Stop thinking of it as “Marketing”, start thinking “Getting to know the people you’d like as customers”.

Here are just 7 ideas – there are a million more, I’m sure.

The trick is to IMPLEMENT a strategy or two, don’t just passively read this then let yourself off the hook. Marketing only works if you work it.

1. Collaborate

Gone are the days of thinking you have to do everything yourself. There are plenty of ways to collaborate with friends and colleagues in business.

Organise a brainstorming session to work out what you could offer each other’s customers. Share your databases ethically – no spamming. How about putting together an irresistible offer as a package of products or services.

2. Work your network

Join a Meetup group, a business networking group or your local Chamber of Commerce. Immerse yourself in a group of proactive business owners to swap stories, strategies and ideas and give each other encouragement.

Get to know your peers and GIVE referrals before you expect them back.

3. Offer a freebie

You have information or product and services that other people want, otherwise you wouldn’t be in business. While you’re out networking and brainstorming come up with ideas for “freebies” you could give to potential customers.

Can you give the equivalent of samples, taste tests, try-before-you-buy offers? Can you give simple yet desirable information in the form of checklists, guides, reports, whitepapers, PDF downloads, videos. The list is endless and it won’t cost you a fortune.

It could be a 1 page document printed from your office printer and posted or emailed out. Develop a library of useful freebies and every time you’re talking to someone listen carefully and offer to send them something irresistibly good that will help them solve a problem.

4. Co work

If you work in a home office on your own, find out what co-working spaces are available in your local area. Hire some desk space for a day or two a week and get to know the other business owners. You’ll soon build up your network of friends and colleagues.

Apply the Collaboration strategy with your new network.

5. Get your work out there

If you never had a stand at an expo, now is the time to give it a go.

Google what’s coming up, there are often national, international and local expos you can participate in. The big expos can cost several thousand dollars to participate but if you sell a high end product it can be very lucrative.

If at the lower end, often business networking groups and chambers of commerce will run business expos .

The secret with expos is not to stay behind a barrier in your stand. Go out and meet people, have a chat. If you’re on the shy side, get a friend to help you, someone who loves talking to people.

It’s also a great way to do a survey. Make sure you have a way to capture prospective customer’s details – make an offer and put them in a draw for a prize or two.

6. Get some publicity

Make your business newsworthy. Find a way to link your products or services to something topical and send a press release to your local journalists in the press, radio and TV.

The media are always hungry for stories. Get to know journalists who are looking for stories like yours and consistently send them good newsworthy material. Always be ready to comment on an issue to be seen as an expert in that area.

7. Speak wherever you can

One of the best ways to get noticed and therefore get customers is to develop your speaking skills.

When you join a networking group you will be expected to speak at every meeting to introduce yourself and your business. You’ll get better with practice.

If you know how to do something others don’t then offer to teach them – preferably in a group setting. Use your networks, co-working space, chambers of commerce, meetup groups – anywhere you can think of to get more experience.

If you’re already an experienced speaker, try getting a little publicity and connect with people who need speakers. If you think about the thousands of conferences, industry expos, networking events and boardroom “lunch and learn” meetings you’re sure to find something that fits well with you.

Good luck, let us know how you go and feel free to share your own ideas on ways to get customers.

What you should be doing everyday to manage your social media channels

Managing social media channels for your business can be very time consuming. By getting organized at the start of the month, you will save yourself a lot of time throughout it! Each month you should take some time to plan out your social media schedule. We recommend you do this 2 – 4 week in advance to ensure that you’re organised. Stay on track with your posting schedule and deliver engaging content to your followers.

Here is a list of daily social media must do’s

Check your notifications in the morning and randomly throughout the day. Turning on your notifications makes this process easier as you can monitor if any comments or reviews are made to your page while your not actively on social media and respond in a timely matter or re-tweet anything that is relevant. Monitoring and management of your pages are very important when working to maintain credibility online.
Post everyday! This of course depends on what social media channel you’re on BUT at a minimum most require daily posting. As an example, we recommend posting to Facebook once per day and Instagram 2-3 times per day.
Follow the posts and comments within the groups you’re a member of. It is important to be an active group member so other members get to know who you are and you can do this by posting within the group or commenting on any posts that have been made since you last visited.
To grow your network and increase brand awareness it is important to follow, engage and share from other pages/accounts you’re following. Go through and like, comment or share interesting posts you read that may be of benefit to your own network.
Review & Report. You should be checking each day how well your channels are performing. This will ensure you keep on track to achieving set KPI’s and give you time to tweak future posts. In effect, making sure your getting the most out of your efforts.

So how long should this all take each day – that’s hard to answer as it really will come down to how active you want to be and how quickly you want to grow your brand and awareness. If you stick to the daily tips listed above and plan your calendar in advance, then aim for 30 minutes to one hour (broken up if needed) each day.

Katrina Giura – Gloss Marketing Communications

Evolutionary Business Design

Category: Thinking