It isn’t a secret that successful entrepreneurs don’t make it on their own.  They are usually supported by a tribe of people that know who they are, love what they do, and tell anyone they meet about how amazing they are.  Having a tribe of people that loves your business and champions you is nothing short of amazing – you get great referrals, people to brainstorm ideas and challenges with, and it makes the entire entrepreneurial journey enjoyable.

So how do you build a tribe?  Let’s examine a few common mistakes that I’ve seen people make:

• being unclear about why customers buy from you (if you don’t know why, your tribe will get even more confused and won’t know how to refer you)
• pitching for referrals before they even know who you are (same issue as this)
• diving too early into the alliance details (I’ll do this for you if you do this for me)

Remember that people have to know you, like you, before they trust you and will recommend you.  Guess what’s the best way to determine if someone should be in your tribe?

Get to know them.  Figure out if you like them.  Decide if you trust them.

I had a meeting last week with an IP lawyer.  My clients often have questions about issues that are outside of my coaching domain (accounting, tax, legal questions, SEO, etc) and I rely on having the right people in my tribe to refer clients to.  In working with clients that are licensing out their products and services, trademarks and IP protection often comes up.  Since I’m no lawyer, it was great to meet with a recommended expert who specializes in this field and find out more about how to best prepare for IP protection.

It was like any other coffee meeting, except it was like no other coffee meeting with a lawyer.  We talked about how we got into our field, laughed at lawyer jokes (he brought it up), chatted about sailing (which I know nothing about), bringing up kids (where I am a few years ahead of him), and at the end, we found out more about each other’s services and how we might work together.  He mentioned a few people he would introduce me to, said he would send me his fee schedule and gave me a few tips for my clients, and offered to talk at Mom CEO Academy if it would prepare more entrepreneurs to start off on the right foot.

It’s no wonder his firm gets 95% of their business from referrals.  I am now a big champion and can’t wait to send people to him.

So what is the key to building a tribe of champions?  Do as this lawyer did, don’t focus on the “doing”, focus on the “being” when you’re meeting with a potential champion:

• be curious about who they are and what they do
• care about where they are and where they want to go
• enjoy the discovery process
• have a bit of fun (note: lawyer jokes are funny when told by introverted lawyers with a slight self-deprecating humor)

Want to find out more?  Join me at the next Entrepreneur Mom Now Webinar series where we will discuss how to prepare, build, and manage a strategic alliance the right way.

Do you ever feel discouraged about your marketing efforts?  Do you sometimes send out marketing material, place ads in online or printed publications, exhibit at trade shows, meet countless potential customers through networking events, only to find that you don’t make a sale?

There are lots of ways to ensure that your marketing is effective.  Of course, you have to make sure that your niche markets or ideal clients understand why they should buy from you.  Of course, your pricing needs to align with the value you provide.  Of course, you need to build visibility (telling people who you are and what you do) and credibility (making sure that people understand why you are good at what you do).  However, beyond all this, there is also an element of timing.

The foundation of marketing management involves having systems to track, manage and improve the odds of meeting the right customers, educating them on why they should buy, and managing conversion rates and effectiveness of closing the sale.  However, sometimes people you meet or talk to just aren’t ready to buy from you.  They either have the need but don’t have the money, or have the money but don’t have the need.

It’s not you.  It’s them.  Don’t beat yourself up over it.  Don’t get discouraged about marketing, don’t stop networking, don’t stop building business, don’t quit because people have said no to you.  Not now doesn’t mean not ever.

Instead, keep finding ways to meet the right clients, and at the same time, don’t throw away your previous efforts by losing touch with people that you have met.  Develop a system so that you have an easy, low-effort way to keep in touch.  I’ve given countless seminars, gone to hundreds of networking events, and have spoken to thousands of potential clients.  Not everyone hires me right away. Some never work with me because we are not the right fit and will never be (I refer them to other coaches), others hire me months or years down the road when the timing is right.

Here are a few examples of great ways to keep in touch with prospective customers:

• Build a mailing list and send out email newsletters with helpful, relevant information at regular intervals
• Build your social media profiles (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, blogging etc) to make it easy for your clients to get to know you and engage with you
• Offer free or low-cost and low-risk versions of your products or services (basic models, introductory pricing, group classes instead of one-on-one, ebooks or downloadable products, trial size products) to experience buying from you

What can you do to keep in touch with people that are not ready to buy from you now (but might very well later)?

In a custom sales training session this past week for a client with five retail locations, the district manager came up to me after the end of the session with this question: “Felicia, I have a question for you.  I have been wondering why our flyer, which we spend lots of money printing and distributing, isn’t effective at all.  Any ideas?”

After taking a look at the flyer, I noticed that, like many other flyers I’ve seen, it touted a 20-40% discount rate for their products, picture of the products, and then the usual contact information for the various locations.

I asked “Is this distributed to current customers, at a tradeshow where you exhibit, or where else?”  He said “This is used for mostly for area codes in the neighborhood of the retail locations, where people don’t really know us yet but we want to incent them to come in.”

Here’s the issue.  Giving a discount and asking for a sale when someone doesn’t know you yet is like proposing on the first date.  I don’t know anything about you, I don’t even know if I want a second date yet, and you’re asking me to marry you?

When one goes to a grocery store, do you automatically pick up something just because it is on sale?  Probably not.  What if you have used the product before and it’s on sale?  Now that’s a different story.  When you visit Costco, have you noticed that discount coupons are more effective when paired with sampling?  Give me a chance to try your product at no risk, and if I like it, then give me a reason to buy now with the discount.

So what do you do when you’re marketing to brand new people who know nothing about you?  Think what you do on a first date.  Introduce yourself.  Be curious about them and what they like.  Tell them a little more about you.  Notice where you make a good fit.  And then ask them on a second date to explore more (and don’t forget to get their phone number and contact so you can call later).

‘Tis the time of year that everyone is talking goals and resolutions, setting intentions, and designing outcomes.  Did you decide what you want to accomplish in 2012?

I’ve found that many are giving up on making resolutions because they don’t work or last very long, so why do it because they are sure to be disappointed with (yet) more failed resolutions by February?  As an engineer-at-heart, I find myself intrigued by why resolutions don’t work for so many people.  Here are my thoughts:

Hunch #1: My feeling is that people overestimate what they can do in the short term, and underestimate what they can do in the long term.  Most cram too many ambitions into the daily, weekly, monthly cycles, and not enough into the yearly, biennially, and even longer, say 5 year time frames.  It’s not really surprising because we are all programmed to have a bit of ADD with information overload, ever changing business environments and priorities, and we all want and expect instant gratification.  3 year planning?  5 year planning?  Why bother?  Most can’t even imagine where things will be or what they want 6 months from now.

Hunch #2: People make resolutions that require them to live with conflicting values.  For example, if I want to lose weight by eating at home instead of eating out, but I value convenience over health, I’ll likely opt for the fast-food meal option in a time crunch.  If I want to eliminate watching TV at night and start reading, but I enjoy the perceived relaxation of TV-watching over the perceived benefits of reading, I likely won’t stick with my resolution for long.

Hunch #3: People make resolutions but don’t build resources to see it through.  By resources, I mean taking the necessary steps to adjust the mindset, learn the skills, seek the right advice, or build the proper environment and tribe of supporters to make sure that their resolutions have the best chance to come to fruition.

A hypothesis: resolutions aren’t just for some hard-core driven people who have unnaturally high resolve and can stick through things while others can’t, nor is it about an old concept that is ideal but hardly relevant in this day and age, but that the real issue is about how clear we are about what’s important to us, and whether we have done the work to clarify what is really needed to have it work?

Here’s a challenge for you: take the time to clarify your vision of what wild, ultimate success is for you 3, 5, or 10 years from today.  Imagine what that success would mean to you.  Why it would be important to you.  How would a life lived that way benefit you and those around you?  What would be the impact to your community?

My hunch is, if you became more clear about why you are making the resolution and what its impact and value is far, far, down the road, you might find that doing it is more important, more rewarding, and less painful than not doing it.  If your resolutions are crafted such that they are truly important, fun, and attainable, then implementation of your resolution becomes a positive and motivating exercise.

What do you think?  Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Only a few days left for 2011.  As I recover from the giddiness and celebration that is Christmas, various family gatherings, a short trip away with family and friends, and recounting the number of turkey dishes served a multitude of ways, I am deeply appreciative for the few days with a slower rhythm before the new year begins.  Being very action-oriented by nature, it’s been a treat to spend a few serene moments reflecting on 2011.

A few questions came up:

1.  What is the ONE thing that made the biggest impact in my business?
2.  What is the ONE thing that I will take into 2012 from 2011?
3.  What is the ONE thing that I want to eliminate?

What made the biggest impact

This year, it would no doubt be “Clarity”.  Clarity means different things to different people.  In my case, it’s about being clear on the 50,000 feet level vision and who I am at the core, my goals, AND being clear at the 5 feet level on what is needed for implementation and the skills and actions needed to get there.  It’s about connecting with that which I am most passionate about, knowing my gifts and what I want to offer the world, and building a clear plan to get there.

My clients who have the greatest successes, share this knowing as well.  They are the ones whose businesses mean more than making money.  Each has a business where there is a clear vision for who they want to be, where they see themselves in 3, 5, 10 years, and they pretty much CAN’T not do what they do because it is a bigger mission than who they are and their work benefits many many others.  Once this vision is clear, they build results through action.  They create strategies, long-term and short-term plans, and build accountability into their business to track progress and measure results.

In my case, my vision is “Education”.  I love inspiring everyone to absolutely be bold in courting passions and dreams and turning them into reality.  You should never not do anything because you don’t know how, or what to do.  It pains me when people quit because they don’t have the knowledge or skills, or have run out of steam. With the right mindset, strategies, and plans, you can absolutely achieve greatness in your business.

It’s become clear that every business (or previous jobs) that I have ever had is about education and empowering those around me to grow, learn and experience success.  For my own business, this clarity has enabled me to educate myself – to seek out the best mentor, create the best processes, and find the best clientele to work with, so that I love what I do everyday.

What I am taking into 2012 from 2011

I’ll admit, my tendency is being really really (really) impatient.  I want to achieve goals in half the time others take to do it, and if it doesn’t happen, doubt creeps in and I wonder if it was meant to be, and then get distracted by other things that seem shinier.  In a business meeting with my mentor earlier in the year, I realized that he had a very different way of tackling issues.  Instead of saying “oh well, it didn’t work, what’s the next thing to work on”, we spent the entire meeting dissecting what went wrong and what to do to change things up.  It was a small tweak on the mindset, but I ended up adopting this mindset and it has resulted in amazing results in 2011.  I’ve landed 8 training contracts, advised over 40 clients to start businesses in a self-employment program, built a strong roster of private coaching clients, and successfully completed hundreds of documents licensing work with joint venture partners.  There have been times where I want to focus on seemingly shinier things, but have stuck through even when the work isn’t pleasant.

For 2012, this is a trait I’m continuing to work on.  There are still a few projects on my hand that are doing the stop-go-stop-go pattern that I need to persist through!

What I am eliminating

Continuing on the same vein, I’m eliminating distractions and only taking on clients and projects that are in line with my vision, passion, and purpose.  This means that I’ll continue to focus on work that aligns with my passion of educating business owners on business development and growth, and working with clients to build businesses that are sustainable and scalable.  It means making tough decisions to discontinue a few ventures that have been fun but don’t quite align with the bigger vision, and focusing on those that do.

And with that, I am energized, excited and eager to begin 2012!

At yesterday’s Coaches Corner, we had a full house of entrepreneurs discussing the topic “Talking Money With Clients”.  Here is the gist if you missed it:

1)  Many are fine with talking about their company, services and products, but when it comes to pricing and money, they feel awkward

2) If you are uncomfortable asking for money, your customer will be uncomfortable giving it to you

3) The conversation about money isn’t really about money.  It is about how price relates to the various components of your offering.  Things to think about:

   – Are you showcasing value?
- Are you giving customers different terms options?
- Are you demonstrating a solution to a real problem?
- Are you recognizing what buying from you says about them?
- Are you pricing appropriately for your market position?

Once you know the answers to the above questions, lead the prospective client through a process of education so that they understand the tremendous value of buying from you! A prospective client should always go away knowing your value, your solutions, your position, and the benefits you bring to the table.

Want to join us at the next Coaches Corner?  Add yourself to the mailing list to be notified of the next upcoming event!

I say these phrases to my children all the time when they are learning a new skill or mastering an exercise: Try again.  You’re doing great.  You just need a few more tries.  You’re almost there.  Don’t give up now, you’re so close.  I know you can do it.

The very same thing applies when running your business.  Let me geek out a bit by showing you a graph (the engineer in me found great delight in drawing this).

When you are starting out with your business, or a new project, there will be a lot of effort with very little return.  Over some time, some of the sizzle will wear off, and still, no money coming in.  After what seems like an eternity of long hours and bills not being paid, you start to wonder – am I doing the right thing?  Should I try something else?  See that point in time where the arrow points to?  80% of people quit there.  And never gets to the point where their efforts payoff and they enjoy the momentum and hard work invested.

Don’t be that person.  If you JUST practise a little more, get some guidance and support, build a support team to encourage you, invest in upgrading skills, find out why things aren’t working, and PERSIST a little longer, I promise you that you will be rewarded.

This happens over and over with business owners not sticking things through and giving up just a little bit before they start seeing rewards.  What can I tell you?  Try again.  You’re doing great.  You just need a few more tries.  You’re almost there.  Don’t give up now, you’re so close.

I know you can do it.

On a clear, crisp, fall day last week, I sat in my favorite cafe with a nice cup of Chai, waiting for someone – an Executive Director with a large non-profit organization.  He had e-mailed earlier the week before, wanting to brainstorm a few items on his mind.

He was a bit late, and after ordering lunch, sat down and sighed.  “There’s been lots going on.”

We had spoken a few months earlier about working on updating their strategic plans, piloting some new marketing initiatives, and doing some research into getting to know members and their concerns.

Turns out he’s been busy.  “I’m getting lots of great ideas and have met with more than 50 member companies, but am finding that the board is very resistant to anything new.  After all, they’re so used to doing things the same way and very few of them want to try anything different.  I wish I could just go and implement these programs now, but I think there will be lots of buy-in required.  It’s frustrating.”

We brainstormed for a while, and he left the meeting re-energized and ready to present plans to the board.

I noticed a few things from this meeting:

• most of us, business owners especially, like people to embrace our ideas (nothing new here)
• most of us don’t like to hear criticisms
• we like to act, to launch, to see results, RIGHT NOW!
• people either fit in and like what we say or we cut them off

Not so quick.

There is a lot of value in surrounding yourself with (a few) people that don’t think like you do, don’t always agree with what you have to say, and always present a different angle that poses an issue for what you’re about to do.  There is a good place for them in your network. I know of many CEO’s that surround themselves with executives that aren’t like them.  A mature leader can take well-founded criticism in stride from her colleagues and inner network, because plans that are launched after considering different angles are better laid out.  It’s healthy to build an Opposition department in your company.  There is even a book about this.

In my business dealings, I have a mentor that acts as this role.  For any major ideas and plans, I schedule a call and run my plans by him.  He is objective, impartial to the outcome, and doesn’t even live in this city.   It is never a pleasant process and I dread the call most of the time, because he always presents things that might go wrong, risks I hadn’t thought of, and opportunity costs that are involved. I don’t take his comments personally, but instead value his views because it supports a well-rounded plan, considering different angles and risks.

I’m not saying that you tolerate and surround yourself with a lot of people that don’t agree with you.  That would be emotionally draining and demoralizing.  However, that isn’t saying that you shouldn’t have ANY critics in your world.  A few critics, intentionally placed, can save you from group think and going down a tunnel-visioned pipe dream.

For the executive director, he now saw his board in a different light.  They serve a new purpose, and any plans that have been vetted through them are stronger than ones that bear only his views.

Who in your network serves this purpose?  Don’t take what they say personally.  Position them for a greater purpose instead.

Here is the third in the five part series.  Today we discuss: “Are You Playing Small” in your business?

Here is part 2 of 5 on top mistakes that entrepreneurs make on Entrepreneur Mom Now.  How do you fare when it comes to managing your time?