| |
| |
|
Small Business Information |
|
Blowing Your Own Horn - A Key Marketing Strategy for Small Business
-- Building Credibility Through Success Stories -- Successful solo entrepreneurs spend quite a bit of time building and expanding their networks. These networks can cover a broad spectrum - professional associations, community service, school or alumni networks, virtual communities, athletic groups, neighborhood associations. There are a variety of choices when creating our support system. What they all have in common is this: we engage in the same activity - relationship building. We may meet face to face, over the telephone or online. We exchange pleasantries, information, referrals or resources and in doing so, strengthen the bonds with individuals and the whole organization. What is not quite as common in our exchanges is the use of a personal or business success story. A success story has a double message: it highlights a specific activity that we accomplished or service that we do AND it communicates a distinguishing level of achievement. Both messages serve to build credibility with the listener, which in turn builds trust. Success stories need not be complicated or lengthy. Here are a few considerations when preparing your own. Be Proud About It - A good success story translates as truly genuine when you feel proud to share it. "I am so thrilled that I was able to save my client $5,000." -a Financial Services Representative Be Prepared - Think through your list of recent business achievements, honors, awards or professional certifications that represents something you are proud of and demonstrates an achievement. Then select one or two to share with your contacts at an appropriate time. Be Specific - Describe exactly what product or service that you delivered or the type of honor or certification that you received. "I recently completed the requirements for the Master Certified Coach designation." - a Business and Personal Coach Make It Current - Be careful to use situations or events that occurred within the past six months. This keeps it in the category of "news" that your listener may be interested to know. Keep It Brief - A few good sentences about the award or business achievement is all it takes. No need to dominate an exchange. The next time that you interact with a client, colleague, friend or family member, try blowing your own horn. Humorist Will Rogers said, "It ain't bragging if you done it." Copyright 2003, Charlotte Farrior ____________________________________________ Charlotte Farrior of Coaching Connection (http://www.corporatecoaching101.com) and Founder/Team Member of Solo-E (http://www.Solo-E.com) is a corporate and professional coach. She works with professionals, entrepreneurs, directors, and executives to define and achieve the personal and business goals they set for themselves. She coaches in the areas of goal setting, skill development, priority management and career transitions. ____________________________________________ *********** Find more articles like this at http://www.Solo-E.com - Keeping Solo Entrepreneurs Juiced in Business and in Life. Our team of Solo Entrepreneurs are comprised of small business experts who support others in finding business success with the flexibility and freedom to have a life, too. Network with other freelancers, self-employed and Solo Entrepreneurs in our forums, enjoy our articles and newsletter, and find other online training opportunities. ***********
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
(P)Refer to Grow Your Business (Although this article is geared towards small business owners, the information is just as applicable to a similar personal situation, only the action is slightly different.)Here is the scenario. Should I Franchise or Not? A reader of one of my online sessions asked should he franchise his business or not. He had set up a service business and was getting ready to expand and wanted to know if franchising was a good potential strategy for this. Mobile Detailing Environmental Concern in the Deep South Macon, GA goes after garage-gas station conversion detail/hand car washes for allowing storm drain pollution. I can remember a time when we were in the Macon GA. Using Technology to Manage Customer Loyalty Don't let your customer satisfaction research initiative collect dust on a shelf. Integrate technology with research to optimize the use of customer information. Mobile Detailing Expansion Considerations Expanding your business requires you to take a good hard look at your business (checking under the hood). You need to ask yourself. How to Successfully Avoid Becoming One of The 80% of Small Businesses That Will FAIL It's a commonly quoted statistic: 80% of all small businesses will fail within the first five years of running. In fact, in Internet marketing, this figure can be as high as 95%. Dispute Resolution; Competing With Other Franchisees If you are in a franchise and have a territory dispute with another franchisee you need to prevent a lawsuit use dispute resolution techniques to resolve the dispute. Competing with other franchisees is a subject that franchisors would prefer not to need to talk about. Small Businesses - Big Obstacles Everyone is talking about small businesses. In 1993, when it was allowed, more than 90,000 new firms were registered by individuals. Will Adding a Car Wash to Your Fast Lube Add Additional Crime to Your Facilities? Car Wash Crime in the Hood. Apparently not everyone is with us and certainly not everyone considers this to be a clean business. Personal Success - Take a Break from Business Have Some Time to YourselfOne of the most important things you can have when running a successful business, is to have time for yourself. Every small business owner needs to make time to be quiet. Everything I Need to Know About Business I Learned From My Nametag So there I was - sitting in the audience of an on-campus seminar. Surrounding me sat hundreds of fellow students; each of us wearing one of those little, handwritten, adhesive nametags. Time to Sell your Restaurant? Some Advice from Restaurant Consultants, Inc. As a specialist in getting restaurants open, it is surprising how many people ask, "How can I get out of my restaurant?" Reasons for this question vary greatly, from a death in the family to a merger with another firm, to the end of a lease.Selling your restaurant requires quality prior planning if you are going to realize the maximum value for the business. Maintaining Your Carpet Extractor in Your Auto Detail Shop Auto Detailing: Maintaining A Commercial Carpet ExtractorYou should drain your carpet extractor at the end of each use or at least by the end of the day. Do not dump the excess dirty water or soap into a storm drain. The Failures Guide to Small Business Success How many "get rich schemes" have you joined? Or have you invested in numerous legitimate business endeavors only to have them not work for you? Have you started you business and now facing a complete shut down? Do you consider yourself a failure? Are your loved ones pressing you to give up?Risk-taking is a large part of entrepreneurship, in fact it is what drives it, and it's why so many people avoid small business, despite its many potential rewards. Those of us who have tried it only to have failed may find ourselves right back where we started, which could leave us feeling like total failures. What Happened to the Money and Freedom? Ask anyone trapped in a cubical about their entrepreneurial dream and they will tell you, "I want to own my own business. I'll make more and have more time. Becoming Recession Proof A lot of business owners I've spoken with lately have commented how their business is slow because of "the recession." If you are one of these people, you might want to reconsider your position. Start a Technical Writing Service Technical writing services are employed to explain the details of a topic in a way that is easily understood by the readers. In todays information age, technical writing jobs are increasingly common. The End -- Fireworks or Fizzle? Seems as though there are a lot of business closings going around lately. Everywhere I look small businesses -- one on top of another -- are closing their doors. Chamber Membership will BOOST your Business When is the Chamber ideal for your business?Joining a Chamber of Commerce is likely the best thing any business or individual can do. Chambers provide many benefits to members. The Responsibility Conundrum - Where art Thou? Mr/Ms, 'not me' is often on holidays in your business. Yes come rain or shine they attend the workplace and put in the day for you; coffee to drink, gossip to catch up on, spying on management and colleagues, frequent toilet breaks, long lunches, long phone calls and let not forget the email needs to be checked and replied.
|
| home | site map | contact us |