Is Your Business Organized For Profits?

July 2, 2016 By Leave a Comment

I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a neat freak. Personally, I know it makes me feel calmer and more clear headed when I walk into a space that’s clean and tidy. There is also a lot of research to back up the physical and psychological benefits of keeping things organized.

Here are just a few…

You reduce stress.
You are happier.
You eat better.
You have better relationships.
You are more productive.
You sleep better.
You even reduce your risk of heart attack!

However, there are also important financial reasons to being organized, especially in your business.

When you have systems and structures in place, you create space, ease and flow for money to come into your life.

Think about the physical space of your office. If it’s a mess, your mind is distracted every time your eyes fall on something that isn’t pertinent to your priorities. Distraction equals lost time, mental focus and creativity. How are you going to create the next amazing project if every time you walk in your office, you see piles of unfinished tasks.

If you work online to any degree and even if you don’t, you also have to think about the flow of your business model. Is it organized for profit?

If you don’t have a very clear sense of how your business model should be set up, it is a lot harder to bring in and keep money flowing through your business. Whether you call it a funnel, a pyramid, a money mountain or anything else, you need to know where and how to funnel leads and clients through your processes. If you don’t, you are leaving money on the table.

When you are just starting out, your business model will be simpler and in some ways, that’s a very good thing. Having fewer options makes it easier for you to get very skilled at selling the offerings you do have. However, as your grow, you’ll want to develop a more robust menu of products and services, not only because it will allow you to express your genius and creativity, but because it will also allow you to bring in and keep more clients.

However, more options requires more clarity. You need to know how the pieces fit together and the flow of your funnel. Doing so will make you life so much easier for you and provide more value to your clients.

Here are few things to think about to set yourself up for maximum profits:

1. How/where do the majority of leads come into my funnel?
2. Do I have enough options to sell different levels of clients into my programs?
3. Do I know how to present my offers in creative ways without lowering prices?
4. Do I have up-sells and down-sells ready for sales calls?
5. Do I have lateral options available that might be attractive to current clients?
6. Do I know the best logical order to move clients through my model?
7. Do I know how to bundle services to give juicy sales incentives?

Building business models can be very overwhelming, but once you get the hang of it, things get really, really fun. Suddenly, you feel more confident and grounded in your business. You recognize who is right fit for you much more quickly and sales calls get a heck of a lot easier.

What I know for sure is no model=no money. It is so worth the time to get organized in this part of your business. I can’t promise it will prevent a heart attack, but it just might. After all, what is a better stress reliever than knowing your profit house is order?

If you’d like to know more about how you can maximize your business model for profit, apply for a free strategy session here=>Session Application

Until next time, here’s to hitting all your notes!

Filed Under: Brand Building, Business Building Strategies, Careful Packaging, Increasing profits, Running a successful business, Success Strategies, Winning Strategies Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Is Your Brand Image Damaging Your Credibility?

May 19, 2015 By 1 Comment

At an event I attended recently for my daughter, I was chatting with another parent who is an administrator at a prominent local hospital. Between discussing braces, soccer and upcoming summer plans, we actually got around to talking about non-kid topics. I asked how work was going and he mentioned that he was swamped because in addition to seeing patients, he also was in the process of trying to fill an open position on his staff. When I asked him how it was going, his answer verified something I know to be true… IMAGE MATTERS.

This man told me how they had searched and searched for a qualified candidate and he was excited, but also nervous about someone they found that might be great. The candidate had a really good resume and the appropriate experience, but the problem was “she looked pretty disheveled.” Even though he liked her, he was worried the rest of his staff would not go for it based on her appearance. He went on to tell me that he knew the candidate was a busy mom and as a dad he gets how hectic it can be, but this was a reflection of the candidate’s judgement about the way she presented herself for the interview.

Even though this dad was someone I knew through our kids, I am quite certain he didn’t know I am a brand strategist and image consultant. We were just having a friendly conversation while we waited for our kids. So it wasn’t a case of him trying to come up with some common ground or something I’d be interested in hearing about. It was just the first thing that popped into his mind when I asked him about work.

The point is, people notice your appearance and how you present yourself absolutely effects their impression of you. The example I just shared is a real life situation where someone might lose out on a great opportunity solely because of their personal image. Do you think she will ever know that’s why she didn’t get the job? I doubt it and that’s why I’m revisiting the importance of image with you today. I want to remind you that people are watching, your image matters and it should be a priority when thinking about your personal brand.

Before we go any further, I want to say I AM that busy mom, no I’m not applying for a job in health care, but I am the mom who goes to the gym at 5am and then stops at grocery store afterwards to pick up milk for breakfast in my yoga pants. I do not look perfect all the time as many of you know first-hand. So I want to be clear that I am not implying you try to look perfect 24/7. However, if you are showing up as the ambassador of your brand, you would be very wise to put some thought and effort into your brand image.

I will never forget the first time I [Read more…]

Filed Under: Bold Branding, Image Management, Importance of Image, Personal Branding, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , ,

What are you waiting for?

July 24, 2014 By Leave a Comment

When I was a kid, my mom had this very cool pink pajama set. It had palazzo bottoms and a filmy top a la “I dream of Jeannie.” You can imagine,  as a girlie girl, I used to love putting that thing on and playing all kinds of make-believe. Even though it wasn’t something my mom really ever wore, I still always had to ask permission to play with it.

Because it wasn’t something I could grab on a whim, I would covet that pinkalicious guise. It would make me sad or even angry that my mom was keeping it from me. After all, if she knew how wonderful it made me feel, why wouldn’t she just give it to me? I guess maybe she imagined wearing it to some cool retro pool party in them there hills of northern Wisconsin.

Don’t you just hate it when you have to wait for what you want? Or worse yet, when you have to ask someone one else to give you something you crave? I know, I sure do. I hate it. I hate the feeling of being at the mercy of someone else’s judgment.

As kids, we need to have our parents monitor our decisions. Believe me, I have three kids and the words “You need to ask permission first.” have passed my lips many, many times. For example, “You have to ask permission before you use my Channel lipstick to paint flames on your face for action figure day at camp.”

Most of the time when I require my kids to ask permission for something it is to keep them safe. I wouldn’t want them going off where I didn’t know where they were or using a really sharp knife and risk cutting themselves. It’s all well-intentioned, but here’s the thing. Kids need that kind of supervision , adults don’t.  However, as adults most of us are are still waiting for others to give us permission to do and have what we want.

For entrepreneurs all this waiting can be deadly. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Life Lessons, Risk Taking, Success Strategies, Winning Strategies Tagged With: , , , ,