Well, I seem to have fallen off the blog-o-sphere. Since my grandmother died, I’ve felt scattered with my work. Time to pick up the pieces! Actually, things are going quite well. Last month I announced the creation of my “Earn Your Worth—Business Support Groups for Self-Employed Women”. The first group filled within three weeks, maxed with ten participants. A second group is now building. How exciting! The process of figuring out what works and doesn’t work in business is endlessly fascinating for me. Last year I announced a different program (it was a teleseminar coaching program) that launched and then promptly crashed. Actually, I don’t think it ever even made it off the ground, so I cancelled it. Painful and frustrating. But I think that one of my strengths in business is that I simply keep trying. I keep looking for what works. When one thing doesn’t work, I try something different. Easy to say, but hard to do. I’ve had seminars I was very excited about and knew where quite powerful, that I had to cancel. I’ve learned to give myself time to “grieve” over the cancelled program. Then I try something new. As they say, if you keep throwing things at the wall, eventually something will stick! I think as business women, we need to be more proud of our failures. It shows we are out there trying! You have to have a certain number of “failures” on the path to success. It’s a rare person who simply “gets it right” the first time around. As Buckminster Fuller said (the famous mathematician and philosopher) “The reason I know so much is because I have made so many mistakes.”

Recently, I attended a branding seminar with Chuck Pettis of Brand Solutions, Inc. It was a day devoted to “archetypal branding”- understanding archetypes and how to use them effectively in your branding. Here is the classic definition of a universal archetype, right from Chuck Pettis’ website:

An inherited pattern of thought or symbolic imagery derived from the past
collective experience and present in the individual unconscious. An original
model or type after which other similar things are patterned; a prototype. For
example, the archetypes of the Hero and the Outlaw (e.g., Luke Skywalker and
Darth Vader from the Star Wars movies) are found in many myths, stories and
movies.

I enjoyed the day a great deal and thought a lot about archetypes, Jung and business. Chuck presented twelve archetypes, based on Carol Pearson’s work, and how different companies use the archetype to help them maintain consistency in their branding. The “Explorer” archetype, for example, is the archetype for REI, while the “Outlaw” archetype helps define Harley-Davidson. I seem to resonate with the “Sage” archetype. I think understanding their business archetypes would help a lot of women rejuvenate their business and help bring into alignment their dedication to service with their need for profit.

Perhaps no one noticed, but I’m a day late posting this blog. My grandmother, LuCylle Davis, passed away last week, and I’ve spent the last days at family gatherings, wakes, her funeral etc. What perspective this lends me! In the midst of such loss, updating blogs and returning emails seems so trivial. Usually, business is at the top of my mind. Perhaps it is too important. My grandparents were self-employed for most of their lives. They owned a saloon at one point. At another point they owned a little company that stocked greeting cards and small toys in drug stores across the state. They worked hard. But they knew how to have fun! From family poker parties to many travels, they enjoyed their life and the lives of their five children and 16 grandchildren. My grandmother loved people and loved a crowd. Yes, she worked hard, but she never lost sight of that which mattered most to her: friends and family. I cry as I write these words, for they are so simple and so important. May we all heed her example. LuCylle Davis 1913-2006. Rest deeply in peace. I will miss you.

I’m in a great teleclass with Lynn Grodzki, who wrote Building Your Ideal Private Practice. (See www.privatepracticesuccess.com.) She is a therapist turned coach, who specializes in working with therapists and other “healing professionals” on their businesses. As I often work with a similar group, I was excited about learning from her. One of the things she discusses is the concept of “push vs. pull marketing”. In “push marketing”, you are pushing yourself on other people. This includes aggressive forms of marketing (cold calls etc) as well as advertisements, where you are selling yourself. This type of marketing doesn’t work well for those in the healing professions. It tends to rub against the grain, especially if you have a hard time with the notion of “selling yourself” in the first place. “Pull marketing” is when you put something of value out there that naturally pulls people towards you. I would argue that my newsletter is an example of “pull marketing”. I put out the content and if it resonates, people contact me. A classic example of “pull marketing” is teaching a class. You focus on delivering a great class or seminar, and you naturally pull people towards you. Interested people seek you out. Of course there are many tricks to doing this effectively, but many business owners would feel better, and do better, by focusing on pull marketing.

Last week I wrote about the power of newsletters. I’ve received emails from people who wonder how to get people on their mailing lists. Now-a-days, all electronic mailing lists need to be “opt-in”- that is, you can’t put people on your list who don’t want to be on your list. So what do you do? You ask! I know this can feel uncomfortable, because it involves putting yourself out there. We fear being pushy and we dislike selling ourselves too hard. But that is the beauty of a good mailing list. It is made of people who want to be on it! At the end of every talk or class you do, simply say something like this: “If you would like to receive my e-newsletter and stay in touch with my company, please give me your card and I will place you on my mailing list.” Not very pushy! But get in the habit of asking people if they would like to be on your list. A more effective way to go about this is a raffle of some sort. I usually send a basket around at the end of a talk and ask people to put their card in it. I tell them I will pull a card and give away a book (or anything of value) and that by putting their card in the basket, I will also put them on my mailing list. “Please don’t put your card in if you don’t want to be on my mailing list.” This is very effective and increases the number of names you receive dramatically. And remember, it is very easy for people to unsubscribe to most mailing lists! Make yourself ask.

One of the most powerful assets of The Women’s Earning Institute is my database. This is the pool of names that receives my monthly newsletter. I love writing, so for me, writing a newsletter is an enjoyable way to market. I make sure each newsletter is meaty and content heavy. Any “marketing” is generally saved for the end. Now I’m not under the illusion that recipients open up and eagerly read every newsletter they receive. Sometimes a particular topic strikes a cord and sometimes it doesn’t. But given how many times people have to be exposed to you before they consider buying your product or service (6-7 times!), a newsletter is a great way to create exposure. I’m most fascinated by how people use the newsletter. I find that professionals who receive it often forward it to other professionals. It has generated speaking engagements, as well as clients.

If I could do one thing differently, I would have started gathering people’s contact information sooner then I did. When I think of all the talks I did in the early years of my business, talks where I didn’t ask attendees if they wanted to be on my mailing list, I cringe. At the time, I had no newsletter, so I figured I didn’t need a mailing list. I think I was overwhelmed with creating and managing a database as well. But I know there were people in those years who would have liked to hear from me again. So whatever you do, ask people if they want to be on your mailing list. If nothing else, throw their names in a shoebox, in preparation for when you do have a mailing list.

Last week I wrote about declaring your niche. “Better to be known for one thing strongly than many things weakly”. I’ve declared my “niche” of working with self-employed women in various client-based businesses. But this past week has been challenging. It feels like when you declare your niche, the universe steps in and tests you, to see if you are really serious about this. I launched The Women’s Earning Institute in January, to coincide with my niche. But I’ve been in practice for many years, working with many people on money issues. This week it felt like the world was trying to pull me back into being a generalist. One friend told me she wanted to refer in her neighbor- who is not self-employed. Another colleague wanted to refer in a couple for me to work with- neither of whom is self-employed. In each case I decided I might see these people, but I spent serious time explaining my new niche to these wonderful referral sources. I think they really got it. Instead of saying, “oh, think of all the people you won’t be able to help”, they immediately started thinking of self-employed women who need my help! It feels like declaring a niche is like steering a boat. It helps guide you and give your business direction, so you don’t get pulled by the currents. But if you don’t know your direction, and believe strongly in it, your boat will be carried wherever the currents are going.

One of the most common issues I see when working with women is they have too wide a niche. Whether they are coaches, running a therapy business or law practice, they like doing a lot of different things for a lot of different people. Besides enjoying many kinds of people, women are also afraid they will lose clients if they cast too narrow a net. But as paradoxical as it sounds, you will make better money by refining your niche.

I used to work with everyone on their money issues—individuals, couples, salaried people, self-employed, you name it. It has been both exciting and uncomfortable to narrow my focus. Now, I work with women in client-based businesses. Some call me a “private-practice business coach”. Hire me to start/ tune-up your practice and get you more profitable. I have found that it is easier to “sell” myself with this refined niche, and the money is better. It’s better to be known for one thing strongly than many things weakly. Of course in the normal process of working with people, many issues come up. So in reality, I still work with many different people on many issues. But publicly focusing my niche has helped set me apart. Is it scary? Yes. But I’ve made myself do it and I’ve seen wonderful results.

One of the most frustrating things I’ve learned about marketing a service-based business (though this applies to many businesses) is how often people have to be exposed to you before it occurs to them to hire you. I’ve heard the number “seven” many times in connection to this- people have to be exposed to you at least seven times before they hire you. Good grief! This can make it difficult to measure the effectiveness of your marketing.

But remember- marketing is the cumulative effort of putting yourself out there. And there are many ways to put yourself and your business out there in the world.

I think my newsletter works well in this regard. Every month, people are exposed to me yet again. (Though I know many subscribers don’t avidly read my words of wisdom every month!) And at this point in my business, I’ve noticed that people don’t always even remember where they first heard about me. I have many new clients report a series of “synchronicities” that brought them in- in the space of a few months several different friends mention me, they see an article I wrote in a local paper, someone forwards them my newsletter etc. “Ah-ha! This must be a woman I should see!” They say. These synchronicities are actually a result of all my marketing work. If you want your business to grow, you must continue to put yourself out there. And remember, increased visibility helps your referral sources remember you as well!

Truth be told, I’m in mourning over the Seahawks loss yesterday in the Super bowl to the Steelers. But you are probably reading this to get some insights into running a more profitable business, so I will try to not digress into my opinions on how the refs called the game…. So the question has come up: How did I get lucky enough to get the feature article in Seattle Woman Magazine, which led to being on the cover? The answer: networking! For years (yes, that’s right- years!) I’ve networked with Women Business Owners (WBO) here in Seattle. I’ve spent the last two years serving on the Board. Through my relationships with other board members, many of whom have followed my work over the years, I was asked to give the keynote talk at one of our luncheons several months back. (Let’s clarify this- when the topic of speakers came up, I verbally threw my name into the hat- don’t just wait to be asked!) I diligently prepared for this opportunity and gave a wonderful talk. (It was on the psychology and how-to of rate-setting.) The publisher of Seattle Woman was in the audience and heard me, and after the talk came up to me and asked if I was interested in writing the feature article. I gave her an enthusiastic yes!

Remember what Seneca, the 1st century Roman philosopher said: Luck is what
happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Now here is what is interesting. I had been submitting article ideas to this magazine for six months, and had received no response! (I didn’t mention this to her when she offered me the feature article. I just graciously accepted.) This is the power of networking. I think some people believe networking is just about trying to get clients. This is very short sided. To me, the real power of networking is all the marketing opportunities that come out of it. Yes, I have clients that I’ve met through networking. But far more powerful are all the opportunities that have come to me by diligently creating relationships overtime with a group I like.
Mikelann