So today’s post – how you do something is how you do everything – is more mindsetty and less marketingy, we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow!

So what does that mean? To me, it means that if I have integrity in my business and my home, then I will have it across the board and not have to worry that I am falling out of being in alignment with what I feel inside, what I talk about when I speak and how I coach my coaching clients. Soooo…here are the ways that I do everything (would love if you think about how you do things to try and make sure your business is in alignment – it could also be a great exercise for creating a mission statement for your business).

Everyone Matters

Just the other day a dear friend told me that someone said her business was not a valid model and that she should not dream of charging anyone for her services. OHHHH that made me mad! Especially because they had not paid her for work performed.

I figured out a long time ago that it is important to listen to people and what their thoughts, goals and likes are. When I do a one hour marketing call, I spend the majority of time listening to what they like to do, what they have done in the past that works and figuring out based on those criteria what they should do going forward. As a young buck marketing “expert” I didn’t do that. I would come in like a bull in a china shop and tell them what they should do based on what my world view was…not good!

First off, I DO think her business model is valid and secondly, be careful about what you say about someone else’s dreams. My respect for the person who said that decreased greatly and I will not be recommending them or working with them in the future.

Everything Matters

Brian Tracy talks about this A LOT. I have a recording of his that I listen to frequently that speaks to this over and over, everything matters, everything matters. This is another way of saying, how you do anything is how you do everything.

This one speaks to the way that you conduct your business and your life. If you have a high work ethic and get a lot done, you probably have a high work ethic with your home and your family too (if you don’t, then look at your priorities and make sure you are consistent with everyone, especially the people who matter!). If you have trouble getting things done or finished, then that is probably systemic and something you should work on with a coach or trainer to make it a habit in your business.

As adults, no one is really watching your every move and it is easy to let things slip or to tell little white lies (oh I didn’t get that email or yep that got done on time). If you decide to do everything with integrity, it does make everything easier (I really didn’t see that email or I saw it but it slipped my mind, SORRY). Saying your sorry for making a mistake is SO much easier than trying to justify your wrong actions. Always try to do your best and that is all anyone can ask of you (including yourself)!

Stay Organized

This is one I struggle with! I have tons of worksheets and charts to keep me in line. While I sometimes bristle with having these limitations, I try to look at them more as helpful boundaries that keep me on track. I also calendar my work life to the nth degree. Everything goes on there and I stick to it. Here is a great post about how to set goals and manage them effectively.

That having been said, I slip in this area as much as anyone else. I HATE when I see myself procrastinating about something and TRY to “just do it” to get it out of the way. The one way I have found works well is to organize your environment to make things easier. For instance, I HATE when I get a bunch of receipts in my purse and can’t find my money. One way to avoid this is to bring receipts up to my “receipt box” every time I come home from an event. Takes 3 seconds, I have to climb the stairs so I get a little exercise and it makes my days better (the fact that I have a “receipt box” is a post for another day!)

When you notice that you don’t want to do something, try and figure out if you can make a path of least resistance to getting there for yourself. Put your checkbook in the drawer right below your desk so that you can pay bills or deposit checks easily, set up a “one touch” system for emails, to dos or bills. Seriously, I am not the gal to tell you how to do this, if you have these issues, get an organizer in who works with people like you (I am SO visual) to help.

Have Grace

One of the main things I have as a lifelong, ongoing goal is to have grace (I even have a stamp that I use to remind myself). To me, having grace means respecting other people and their opinions. Listening and really paying attention instead of running people over. Doing what is required with a smile instead of crying about what I “have” to do.

Because I am clear on the front end what my goals are (to be a great marketing company owner, speaker and coach), I have something I can hold each of my icky things up to an say, “do I need to do this to further my business” or “can someone else do this better than I can”. There are many things that only I can do which I would not do given the choice BUT because I want specific things, those numbers are limited and manageable!

So I hope you can get a little bit out of this, I basically wrote it to remind me that I am a work in progress BUT that I am trying and succeeding in many different areas! If you do decide to set some of these up for yourself, BURN THE BOATS! Start today and don’t look back worrying about what WAS, go forward and change what IS!

Related posts:

1. Mindset – The Company You Keep

One question I always ask people is, are you excited about your business? Do you leap out of bed every morning just thrilled to get going on your day? If you are self employed and you are NOT this excited, then you are doing it wrong!

Small Business Entrepreneurs – A Get Rich Slow Kind Of Scheme

We work with many different types of entrepreneurs and small business owners who are working on a get-rich-quick kind of scheme. They jump from idea to idea, thinking the next one is going to be the BIG one that makes them heaps of money. I have never seen this work out, although I am sure you have gotten tons of emails telling you that it is possible for just $997.

One of my favorite bloggers, Remarkablogger, posted a challenge to other bloggers about revealing their secrets to breaking through to the other side of blogging success. I do not really talk about what makes my life easier or harder as an internet (and REAL) marketer, but in hopes it will help someone else, here are a few of my favorite things.

An Entrepreneurial Upbringing – A BIG ONE – One of the reasons I am successful at marketing and speaking to small business owners is that I grew up with that mindset. When I was young we had the “Whalers Walk” behind our house. This was a little gift store that was open whenever someone was home (as I was too young for a driver license, mostly that was me). I would follow shoppers up with my little cash box and sell to them. The next store my parents had was the DandyLion gift shop (my mom was WAY more creative with her naming conventions than I am!) As a child, I got an early exposure to the thrills of opening and running your own business.

Early Internet Interest – Around 1999 I got into a job where I did marketing for an internet company. When I started I had NO idea the difference between Linux and Windows servers, what programming languages where good for websites or even a lick of graphic design. Through trial and LOTS of error, I learned enough about that kind of thing to talk reasonably well with clients and overcame any fear that I had of technology. NOW, do not get me wrong, I am not a techy girl BUT I can talk the talk and not get snowed by fancy sounding techno-speak.

Failing A LOT – This one is HUGE – I mess up a lot. I have rolled out products that no one bought. I have spent good money on copywriting that would not make a starving man buy food. I have developed a “no lose” monthly product that I could not get more than 35 people at a time to sign up for. I have learned that you should not put years of time into something until you KNOW that it will make money. Do it good enough to get out there and then refine it AFTER you know it is something that the market wants.

Naming and pricing things – Oftentimes we know what products we have and what we like to do, duh. Most times we keep that a secret from potential clients by not formally naming it and putting a price on it. I used to do more piecemeal items, which I hate. Once I set up monthly marketing services, my business really took off. I LIKE working with committed people who are determined to make their businesses succeed, not just throw up a website or blog and think it will solve all of their problems.

Learning new things – Last but certainly not least is that I know everything is going to change and that I have to stay on the front lines to keep up. If you told me 5 years ago blogging and making blogs would be paying the bills I would have said you are nuts. Three years ago I did not know anything about social media and today I get paid to speak about it. It makes me sad when I see people stuck in what USED to be. They want everything to go back to how it was when they understood it. Well that is not going to happen. Progress moves forward and we have to keep up the pace. This little excerpt from Micheal’s post says it all!

If you look back to the 70s and early 80s, you’ll find something both interesting and very revealing of human nature happened. The robots came. What I mean is, robotics in manufacturing happened. And everyone knew it was going to happen. People who worked in factories knew it was coming. Those workers had a choice: they could learn something/do something new to take advantage (or at least sidestep) the coming change (like go to to school for… oh, I don’t know… robotics), or they could do… nothing.

You know what most people did, right? Weird, huh? Like lambs to the slaughter, etc. Those people were responsible for families, too, who were then harmed by this fatalistic refusal to deal with the changing times. Sad.

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1. Small Business and Entrepreneur Marketing Do what the fast kids do
2. Small Business Marketing Where Do You Find The Time
3. Is Small Business Marketing EVER Done

Your small business marketing efforts can sometimes get you down. This post is a rah rah effort to keep you moving forward and to keep those gremlins in your head down!

My small business marketing gang contains small biz owners, mlm-ers, realtors and even online entrepreneurs. While these are all different kinds of companies, the same fears, anxieties and doubts are shared by all!

A CONFESSION – I am marketing energizer bunny kind of gal. I love learning new things and trying out new techniques. That having been said, learning how to do new things is scary for everyone and I do not always get going while singing “The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Music”. So our first bullet is….

You Avoid Learning Small Business Marketing Because You Think It Will Have A Steep Learning Curve

I have to say that I took class in welding once and it DID take about 6 weeks to become good at lining up all those little gray beads of metal. I also got a college degree on the 10 year plan. Those two experiences aside, gotta say, every other thing I have ever tried, I OVER-ESTIMATED how long it would take to learn!

Set up my first Facebook Page (17 hours in my mind, about 20 minutes in actuality), making movies for my membership site (3 weeks, actually took about one whole day), getting my accounting under control (YEARS in my mind, about 3 hours in real life).

If you are avoiding doing something new because you think it will take forever to learn, do one of two things, either start it right now and try or get coaching or training on how to do it. Most things you need to know marketing-wise are in our DIY Small Business Marketing package OR you can do a search on YouTube.com and find out how to do almost anything!

You Are Worried Small Business Marketing Will Take Up All Your Time

There are two types of these worriers, ones who KNOW they hate marketing and will never do it and those who secretly love marketing and worry that they will spend all their time doing that and never sell their own products again.

Marketing is like every other task for your small business. NO ONE likes doing their books, but is a necessary evil in order to keep the IRS off your back. NO ONE likes making phone calls, but even I have to pick up a phone and follow up every now and then. Marketing is just another task that you either need to buck up and do or outsource to reputable marketer with a plan.

The last bullet is a two-fer…

Small Business Owners Are Afraid of Failure Or Of Not Getting Good Marketing Results

I was talking to one of my favorite humans on the planet this weekend. We have been talking for over a year about getting him on the internet so that he can grow his business. Come to find out, he is afraid that no one will read his stuff. Sigh. It is true, at first you may be writing blog posts only to yourself. You may feel a bit like shouting “is anybody out there” and hearing it echo back.

NO ONE has ever started anything ever with a huge following. Apple spent the last year building up excitement about their table computer, they did not wait until they were sure that there millions of people out there already convinced. I watched a fellow who was a part of a REALLY big real estate company leave and then re-grow his own following elsewhere. It was not fast and he had help along the way BUT he did it.

Start today. Do not worry that anyone will read what you are going to write. Write from the heart and I guarantee some people will find you and like what you have to say.

Start today. And tell it like it is. Do not sugar coat it so that you do not offend someone. It does not matter if you have the most vanilla stuff out there, someone will be offended so you might as well be genuine and talk about whatever you like.

Start today. Learn about something that scares the bejesus out of you. Get a book from the library or download the audio book or hire someone to teach you. Stop being scared and be BOLD!

Start today. Take a chance on something marketing-wise that is low cost but big reward. Some suggestions are to grow your lists for Twitter or Facebook. Add 100 people to your email list. Go to networking and meet 20 new people. Start a blog. Do something – TODAY!

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1. Small Business and Entrepreneur Marketing Do what the fast kids do
2. Is Small Business Marketing EVER Done
3. 10 Reasons To Use Social Media For Small Business Marketing

The difference between something not working and failing is huge and one that most people are not good at recognizing. This has come up a couple of times this week and so I wanted to get it out there, in writing for the world to see!

I was talking with my buddy Cyndee the other day and she said “oh I tried that and it is not working”. She then went on to other things that she is trying now AND talked about things that WERE working. The main point is that she NEVER felt like she failed, just tried and something was not working.

My other buddy Deb and I get together and try stuff all the time. We are ridiculous and naive, never assuming that it will not work, just saying that we are going to try and do it. Some of those things ARE working now and some have fallen flat on their faces BUT instead of focusing on the ones that do not work, we choose to look at the ones that did and then figure out how to do more of those things.

I talk to lots of clients who “tried” a website and it “failed” because no one came. They “tried” an email campaign years ago and it “failed” because there were no sales. They “tried” facebook but “failed” because they got no business from it.

I think this may be the most important post I have written this year. There I said it. If you get nothing else from reading this, STOP THINKING YOU FAILED.

I am not going to throw out that old Thomas Edison lightbulb thing or the gagillion other stories about people who overcame adversity to conquer all. This is just a little post about changing how you think about yourself and what you do.

Start trying things today. If they do not work, try something else and do not waste one second on worrying about it. Learn what you can from it, do not do that part of it again and try something else!

If you have success stories of things you have tried that worked, please feel free to post them here. If you have any failures, go back to the beginning and start reading again because you missed the point!

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1. Small Business Marketing Goals Make A Huge Difference
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Small business marketing burnout and failure is not EXACTLY the most uplifting topic ever, but I think it is important to talk about the fact that NO ONE gets everything done and what steps we can take to do better.

When I get frustrated with MY small business marketing I feel like a 10 year old kid who just wants to put her head under the covers and just MAKE IT ALL GO AWAY! Very mature I know, but it is what it is.

So let us talk about small business marketing failure first

I have failed miserably and gloriously at some of my marketing efforts (the mid 2000′s spammy email list debacle comes to mind first). The thing to remember though is that I have TRIED lots of marketing things too and some of them have succeeded.

I know that there are some things I do better at than others marketing-wise. I am TERRIBLE phone caller, sigh. I wish that was not so, but making a marketing plan that drives people to pick up the phone and call me is money flushed down the drain.

I know that I like doing online marketing and that I can measure the results with google analytics SOOO I do more online marketing and plump up the places that send me traffic.

Take a look at your marketing that is failing and either fix it OR ditch it. DO NOT spend one more dime on marketing that is not working without a plan!

Small business marketing burnout

I have a list of HUNDREDS of things I should be doing right now that I am not, which also makes me feel like a failure. When I get to this point, two things HAVE to happen:

1. I have to make my list smaller. I do not know anyone who has ever gotten through their whole list of things to do, it is just not possible SOOOO I need to make a smaller list. There is not enough time in the day to do everything so there have to be fewer things.
2. I have to focus my list. Take out your list of things to do or if they are in your head write them down now. Now look at them realistically (I HATE this part). How much can you actually do today…next week…this year. Which ones will drive money to your bank account soon? Do those first, even if they are the hardest or the ones that you do not know how to do!

What if you fall off the wagon?

So you are cruising along doing your marketing and then work happens. You do not post to your blog for two weeks, you do not email your list for a month, you do not send your quarterly newsletter, you stop calling your customers. ARGGGG

First off, they probably did not notice since work is happening to them too! And Second off, just start doing it again today. No apologies, no long winded explanations, just get back out there and start all over again. One day at a time baby, one day at a time.

I am going to be doing my two hour small business marketing consults for $100 until June first when the price will be going up to $250. If you would like to get on calendar to talk, email me soon (tara@marketingartfully.com) to save your place.

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1. Real Small Business Marketing
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Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs can feel like it is hard to get wind in their sales for their marketing efforts in today’s economy! Well I heard the magic words yesterday for how to get those efforts going again…:)

Skittles the Sailor

If you are having trouble getting your boat to go, just copy what the fast kids are doing.

Holy cow! That is great advice for kids and also for small business and entrepreneur marketers!!! We all know someone in our town or industry who seems to really be doing great things. For me it is Gary Vaynerchuk who has a best selling book, gets paid gagillions for keynote speeches and who loves what he does every minute of the day. For you it may be the Doctor who isn’t sitting there whining about how bad the economy is, he is out there with billboards and print and a great website – taking over market share that he will never lose once the economy starts getting more on track.

Now I am not a proponent of plagiarizing anyone, BUT you can definitely keep an eye on the competition to see what they are doing. OR do a search on the Google and find out what the successful florist in the next town over is doing that you could copy and generate more sales for your business. OR copy the fancy New York City business that is paying the super big bucks to Madison Avenue advertising agencies to get great ideas.

Whatever you do, sitting there with no wind in your sales is not an option if you want to keep your doors open. Get out there TODAY and copy what the fast kids are doing!!!

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Sunday morning. Coffee and reading a couple of blogs – BAM! I was just “hanging out” online and suddenly had GREAT inspiration in under 2 minutes!

Andrew Warner over at Mashable interviewed Seth Godin for a couple of minutes and gave me a great way to start my day of business building! Here’s my take on a couple of the points that came out of the interview..

Less Competition – I was thinking about this the other day. The small business owners that we work with are concerned about all the companies that are failing. Realtors are looking around and seeing their brethren dropping like flies and wondering if this is the time to drop out too. OH MY GOSH – this is SO the time to dive in and take market share! You are competing with fewer like businesses, you can make a slight tweek in your business and make huge differences! Don’t be afraid – be aggressive!

Build Value – It is amazing to me that in this day and age, after YEARS of hearing about Permission Marketing and being “customer-centric” the way that most businesses market. They are still sending out advertisements telling how great their product is and why you should drop everything, reach into your wallet and give them your money. They are NOT using relationships. They are not trying to build a business based on trust and sharing and providing true value for money. 

Focus – Seth’s last point was to be disciplined about what you are building. Deliver what you promise. Provide more than you promise. Work within your budget. I think we need to add to this that you HAVE to know what your business is doing. This seems simple but most business owners do not know what the main goal for their business is – figure it out! 

Thanks Seth and Andrew for starting my business building day off with a bang!

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So I have been able to talk to a BUNCH of new people lately (Hi Emily of Mind and Body Enrichment and Jacksonville Realtors!!!) lately. I have heard that small business owners are getting ready for a GREAT new year. I have heard that they are PASSIONATE about servicing their customers well AND they are ready to take care of their clients EVEN better. I have heard that they are EXCITED about growing their business and helping even more people have great lives!

Every small business owner feels that they are not doing enough for their customers. They have missed following up on a lead. They have not done every single thing that they could ever possibly do for their clients. They have missed a call or an email. They have not prospected enough, they have not done enough trade shows, open houses, seminars, emails, postcards, etc.

What they have done is BELIEVE in their businesses and their customers! They have tried very hard to do a GREAT job in a market that tells them EVERY day that the sky is falling!

If you are a small business owner you are doing a good job (I know – no one ever tells you that, so I am telling you right now!) You are doing the best that you can, with what you know how to do, with the time that you have. 

Keep it up and continue to do what you believe in! I realized lately that I believe in a lot of things that I am proud of:

• You SHOULD buy American (when possible)
• I like mom and pop stores
• I respect businesses that have customer service centers in America (I grew up in Western Pennsylvania – I buy American cars, I try not to shop at Walmart, I think we should encourage Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners)
• I AM proud that I am working with people who are excited about their small businesses

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So I am teaching a mega workshop this week on how to use your marketing materials and develop your marketing plan. It has been VERY eye opening for me and I wish I could attend it rather than teaching it! I don’t have a marketing plan for my businesses….sigh.

The cool thing about being a student of marketing is that I DO have a lot of ideas about things to do and I do implement them – just not in a cohesive, well thought out manner. It is more of a ready, fire, aim approach.

Now I know what you are thinking, who has time to aim? Who has time to sit down and review what their goals are, what steps are the best to take to get there, how much money it will take to get from here to there and what you need to do each day to make that goal a reality.

Well if you want to be in business long, hopefully you will make the time!

In the tough economic and cultural times we face, every dollar and minute will have to account for itself. If you are a small business owner you should be setting goals for attaining new business, servicing the business you have and making the most of your limited marketing dollars.

I TRULY believe that through all sectors of business we will be seeing closings. What does that mean to us as small business marketers? OPPORTUNITY! Opportunity to take over market share. Opportunity to provide services that were not needed during booming times AND opportunities to charge more for specialized services. 

My goal for today is to get the marketing plan worksheet finalized…and filled out!

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1. Small Business Marketing – Having A Plan

I have LOTS of ideas! I spend about 20 hours a week reading different articles, magazines, websites, blogs. I attend masterminds and classes. I reach out (deliberately) to new people who do things differently than I do and try to understand what makes those things work.

So how many ideas do I implement a week? Not as many as I would like!

I think that I am above the curve but nowhere near where I would like to be – sigh. So many great ideas, so little time. So what should we do to make more use of our good ideas?

1. Write them down! I cannot tell you how often I have had a flash of pure brilliance, thought out an entire business and marketing plan, figured out how I was going to spend the gagillions of dollars it would make me AND THEN FORGOTTEN IT ALL! Because it was SO brilliant, I figured that I would remember it. I would be able to hold all of the pieces in my head and then…life happened. The toilet broke, the car needed oil, the dog had to be let out – whatever I had thought about left me. Now don’t get me wrong, I still had the concept, but all the goodies that I had with my intial concept slithered away. Now I am stuck with a GREAT IDEA that I have to think really hard about. It seems less fun. I am trying to recreate rather than innovate. 
2. Prioritize – So now you are writing your great ideas down! YAY! Darn it, you have about 30 and your list keeps getting longer. You are starting to get overwhelmed with the amount of work that these ideas will take. STOP! You cannot do all of your great ideas at once. Someday when you are fabulously wealthy and have an assistant and your assistant has an assistant you will be able to do nothing all day but follow your whims, but right now you will have to limit the amount of things you have time for! Pick two things a week that will make a difference to your business and make sure you do those two things! Write them on the top of your daily planner pages and don’t do anything else extra until those are done. Some will be able to happen within the week and some will be ongoing. If they go over the week timeline, assess at the end of the week if they are still one of the two things that will make an impact on their business and see if they should stay on the list.
3. Make Friends – Now that you have a plan for your two things, what do you do with your leftover ideas? Should they shrivel and die just because you are not able to get to them? NO! Let them free to help the world be a better place!!! Okay, I know I am out of control here, I will reign it in a little…:) There are some things you can do to keep those ideas going – share them, get help, work together. If it is a great idea that you will never use but you know someone who would benefit from hearing it, tell them! If it is a great idea that you would like to use but will NEVER have time to research and develop, share it with a friend who can help with the legwork and you both can benefit! If it is an even bigger idea than that?!?!?!?! Work together with a group of people who can share your vision and chunk out pieces. THEY can put part of it on their two things to do list and the idea can keep moving forward if you all work together!

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