Simply Business Coaching

How to Avoid being a Copycat

I think the reason there seem to be so many copycats out there, is that it does takes real effort to come up with an offering that is different to what’s available already.  It’s so much easier to just cut and paste and hope no-one notices.  But we do notice!  And these people don't do themselves any favours by engaging in such slap dash, lazy behaviour.  After all, if they can’t be bothered to work at presenting their business, how do we know if they can be bothered to provide good service to their customers?

Original ideas are hard to come by in the small business field, but it is still possible to put a different twist on your offering and stand out from the crowd – if you give it a bit of thought.

Packaging – what can you do to make your products or services stand out? Think about how you could add value, supply on different terms, over a different time period, or perhaps bundle several of your products together.

Target Market – if your competitors are targeting, say, accountants, why don’t you tailor your product for holistic therapists or chiropractors.  Even though it may seem scary to just target one group, it will actually make your marketing efforts a lot easier.  (And it doesn’t mean you can’t sell to accountants if they ask!)

Niching – One of those magic words that very few of us really understand!  This is what I think it means.  I’m a business coach and I work with owners of small businesses who have been going for a while and want to do more than just get by.  But they’re stuck in some way – that’s where I come in!  There are coaches who concentrate on personal relationships, on career issues, or on parenting.  I don’t do those.  I have my niche, other coaches have theirs.  What is your niche?

USP – Another magic term, this time it stands for Unique Selling Proposition.  This is really about what makes you different from all the other suppliers and providers of what you do?  Are you faster, more local, easier to contact, more reliable, cheaper, better quality?  And you’d better make sure you can prove it!  Provide testimonials and case studies to back up any claims you make.

Take some pride in putting your offering together, find ways to be different and to stand out from the crowd.  Put your personal stamp on how you present your product or service, then no-one will be able to accuse you of being a copycat!

Have you found a way to be different in your business?  Please share by commenting below.

It's not just about showing up!

Are you always rushing to do ‘just one more thing’ before you leave for a networking event?  Do you make just one more phone call or read one last email and then hope that the traffic is kind to you?  When you hurry in, are people already in small groups talking, or even taking their seats to listen to the speaker?

If you were to arrive earlier, preferably before the event is due to start, you could meet more people.  You could have time to study the list of attendees and decide who you want to meet.  You could stand near the registration desk and help to greet people as they arrive.  You could introduce yourself to new contacts.

Networking isn’t just about showing up, it’s about planning to get the most from every event – and that means arriving early!

Want more tips like this?  They’re in ‘The Confident Business Networking System’ (special offer last day today!)

Networking for results

I was at a networking breakfast the other day, I won’t say where to spare any blushes.  The time came to go around the table and do a 60-second ‘pitch’.  As each person stood up to speak, I observed their body language carefully. 

What I noticed was that everyone had their own way of presenting.  There were a few ‘white knuckles’ grasping backs of chairs or clasping hands; a lot of hands in pockets jangling loose change (sorry gentlemen but you do this a lot); there were some lowered gazes or staring into the distance.  I think you get the picture.

This was a ‘friendly’ group whose members knew each other quite well and yet, with a few exceptions, most people showed through their body language that they were uncomfortable standing up and talking about their businesses.

The solution to this is preparation.  Some people appear confident and are able to speak in a compelling and relaxed way, but you don’t know how long it may have taken them to achieve this.  When you see actors on a stage giving a great performance, you don’t know how many times they have rehearsed their lines and every gesture.

Practice what you want to say.  Get the timing right, the inflexion of your voice, the pauses – make sure what you’re saying flows.  Check your posture and mannerisms in front of a mirror; make some adjustments and see the difference.

When you come to presenting the ‘real thing’ your preparation will pay off.  You will deliver your message confidently and feel more comfortable doing it.

Want more tips like this?  They’re in ‘The Confident Business Networking System’ (special offer for this week only!)

How can I charge what I’m worth ...

Here’s a question from one of my coaching clients:  How can I charge what I’m worth when everyone seems to want everything free or at a discounted price?

Great question!  Firstly, as I teach in my Selling Skills workshops – never ever discount your prices.  You will feel resentful and your clients won’t value what they buy – and they’ll expect a discount for ever more.  Here are three tips for you to try:

• A much better strategy is to repeat all the benefits they’ll get from working with you (or buying your product); remind them of all the great results which will be more than worth the price you’re asking.
• Offer to take away certain parts of the service (if that’s possible).  Ask them which bits they’d be prepared to forego – that usually works because they don’t want to lose any part at all.  In fact, it’s a good idea to put together your products or services in such a way that you can add or take away elements according to different offers or circumstances.
• Something else to try is to add a bonus that isn’t going to cost you anything – and won’t involve you spending any more of your time.  This will make your client feel they’ve negotiated a good ‘deal’ and you’ll get your asking price.

Plan these responses out before you need to use them so you get comfortable saying them!  Let me know how you get on.

Are your habits holding you back?

Have you ever stopped to think about what you’re doing?  Or why do you do it that way?  It’s often because that’s the way you’ve been taught, the way that works best for you, or simply because you’re used to doing it that way.

Breaking an old ‘bad’ habit or one that no longer serves us can be very hard to do.  When I gave up smoking over 2 years ago, I was amazed how much of my day that habit had become a part.  Like with each cup of coffee and after meals. 

And, to my dismay, smoking had also become an integral part of my creative process.  Thinking up new ideas called for a cigarette, as did typing articles.

But I was determined to break that habit so I persevered and eventually succeeded.

Obviously I had some very good reasons to want to change that particular habit, not least because it was costly and bad for my future health. 

With other habits, in your business for instance, it can be harder to tell why, or if they need to be broken, or replaced with better habits.  It can often take an outsider to question why you’re doing something, or to suggest you try another way (I do a lot of this with clients!).

Take a look at your systems and processes, what marketing activities you do, how you respond to enquiries or to customer complaints.  Look at anything in your business that has become a habit.  Is it still working well?  Could you get a better result if you did it differently?

Find out which outdated habits are holding your business back and start working on them.  Let me know how you get on.

You might also be interested in a related post I wrote recently:  Are you sitting Comfortably

How necessary is your meeting?

In these days where our time is precious and we’re all being asked to think about carbon footprints, an obvious place to start making savings are the many business meetings we arrange, drive to and attend each day.

Meeting in person used to be the only way to assemble groups of people, but other options are now available – and for a very reasonable cost.

Telephone – almost regarded as outdated, but still very efficient and reliable.  Groups can dial into conference call facilities to include any number of participants.

Internet – this technology is still developing but it’s already possible to invite to, connect with, interact and share information with and even to see attendees at virtual meetings.

I believe some in-person meetings are more necessary than others.  Meeting with a potential or new client over a coffee or meal, for example, can help to move the relationship forward quickly.  However, regular update meetings and training sessions could be delivered equally well using available technology.

Perhaps the reason many people don’t like to go down this virtual route, in spite of the obvious advantages of saving travel time, money and energy, is that they prefer that physical contact.  They want to shake hands, look each other in the eye and pick up on the subtle body language signals – all of which are only possible at in person meetings.

(Could this be why our politicians still keep hopping on planes to attend meetings around the world, with hardly a thought to all the attendant costs?)

When fuel was less expensive and we seemed to have less to cram into our working day, meeting in person was an acceptable use of our resources.  Today, it’s inefficient and too costly – except for those really special and important occasions!

Have you changed your meeting habits at all?  If so, what was your reason for doing so?

Multi-Task or Focus?

Not so long ago the term ‘multi-tasking’ was used with pride and the thinking was -  if you weren’t multi-tasking, you weren’t working hard enough.

However, now the tide of opinion seems to be changing – away from multi-tasking and back in favour of focusing on doing just one thing at a time.

While it is certainly possible to multi-task (indeed mothers of young children have been practicing this skill for generations), when it comes to business I don’t think you can beat focusing on one task to get the best results.

Have you ever been on the phone and heard the person at the other end of the line typing or mouse-clicking during your call?  How did that make you feel?  I was a guest on a teleclass a few months back where the call was open so all callers could take part.  Not only could I hear the sounds of someone typing, they then made a phone call and every word of the conversation could be heard.  I thought this was so rude as it spoilt the call for the other participants and ruined the recording.

I know a lot of people share live events with their Twitter followers.  I’m in awe at their ability to do this during seminars whilst still taking in all the learning points, because I can’t type a message and pay full attention to what’s being said – both at the same time.

Just because we can multi-task, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good thing to do. 

• It’s polite to give your full attention to someone who has taken the time and trouble to call you, or to accept your call.
• It’s safer to give your full attention to driving your vehicle and leave phone calls and texts until after you reach your destination.
• It’s more efficient to give your full attention to one task at a time – you will finish it quicker and the end result will be better.

Where do you stand on this issue?  Multi-tasking or Focus?  Let me know by commenting below.

Are you ready for the hard truth about Time Management?

 'How do I find time to do everything?'

I’m asked this question by just about every business owner I talk to and it’s usually where I start when working with a new client!  The short answer is that you can’t get any more hours, minutes or seconds out of the day so I’m afraid trying to do ‘everything’ is the wrong approach.  Here are 4 quick tips that will help you get more done without the need to work long hours:

1. Sacrifice.  Sometimes you need to give up something in order to free up time to work on achieving what you want from your business.  Sort of short term pain for long term gain.  I’m not for a moment suggesting you give up precious family time.  Do you watch TV?  Could you watch less TV and reclaim some time?  Perhaps you could get up a little earlier each day?  It’s amazing what you can get done in 30 minutes!  If you’ve got into the habit of doing personal stuff during the day, like shopping or chatting on the phone to friends & family – get your working day boundaries sorted out.

2. Outsource.  As soon as you can and even before you can really afford it, find someone to do the stuff you dislike or that isn’t part of your brilliance.  There are hundreds of virtual assistants out there who will gladly take on your admin, book-keeping and routine tasks.  And if you believe you can’t afford to outsource, think about this:  what you pay them is far less than you‘ll earn in the time that’s freed up.

3. There are only 3 things you should be doing.  When I learned this tip, it transformed my business, so please try it because it really works!  What you work on needs to fall into one of these three categories:  client work, looking for clients or growing your business.  Anything else (like the admin) does not belong on your desk and should not be taking up your precious working day.

4. Actively do less.  This is a lesson I’ve only recently learnt myself.  While it sounds counter-intuitive, it actually does work.  Here’s what I mean.  First, don’t try to work 12 or more hours a day every day.  Stop working through every weekend and going without holidays.  Don’t be constantly on call.  If you do all this for too long, you’re not building a sustainable business, but you are setting yourself up for burn-out and possibly health breakdown.

Set up core working hours and finish on time at least 3 times a week.  I recently wrote a blog post entitled ‘Are you pushing too hard?’ where I talk about working to your personal energy peaks & troughs.  Sometimes changing pace, task or venue can have surprising benefits.

Are you listening to your clients?

As with so many of the blog posts and articles I write, today’s comes from personal experience!  For a long time I’ve pondered the ‘holy grail’ of marketing questions – what makes me different from other business coaches?  Over the years I’ve come up with various possible answers, but then thought it might be easier to try and bottle the sea mist on the beach when I go for my morning walk!

A couple of months ago, when I was planning the merge of this blog to my original website, I came across my file of client testimonials.  As I read through some of the most recent, to see which might be good to include on the new site, I was struck by how many were thanking me for showing them easy ways to quickly achieve what they had thought to be too difficult. 

So I phoned around a few former and current clients, asking what they had found to be the most valuable part of working with me.  Nearly everyone said the same – that I had a way of unravelling complex situations.

What do you do for your clients that makes you different from your competitors?  And if you sell a physical product, HOW you sell it can be different from how anyone else sells it.  If you don’t know the answer, ask your clients.  They might just have the answer to your tricky marketing questions!

How can you redecorate your business?

Coming up with new ideas isn’t a problem for most entrepreneurs, in fact the problem is usually the opposite: having too many ideas to follow up can drive us mad!  And deciding which to tackle first can lead to much internal debate and the dreaded procrastination.

However sometimes it isn’t a case of thinking up new products or services, but looking at what you already have and working out how you could make them better than they are.

When you move into a new home, you want to stamp your own personality on it by redecorating to your taste as soon as time and funds allow.  And unless you’re one of these people who then sells up and moves on to pastures new, the chances are that you’ll want to change the decor again after a year or so.  But you don’t usually throw everything out and start all over again do you?

It’s more likely you’ll change just a few things here and there, perhaps the wall colour or the curtains, and freshen up the whole look with some new accessories, rugs and cushions. 

Just as doing a full refurbishment in your home can be very expensive and wasteful, so can constantly discarding products and services in your business. 

So, today’s suggestion is for you to take a look at what you already have and think about how you could freshen up your offering quickly and inexpensively.  A bit of redecorating can work wonders!