Business coach Pat Wiklund works with entrepreneurs who want to make and keep more money from their businesses. Assess your one-person business with her free business tune up ecourse: pat3-32222@autocontractor.com. Contact Pat at pat@leadinganorganizationofone.comEmail to Pat Wiklund
The most successful entrepreneurs rely on their advisory boards to help spot new opportunities and potential pitfalls.Now you can have your own advisory board: a shadow board of directors.A shadow board of directors is a low-tech technique for accessing the expertise of others and increasing your confidence and options. A shadow board can help you get a variety of perspectives and access to...
We all have people whom we find difficult. We don't understand them, connect with them, or even talk comfortably with them. But, when we own a one person business, seeing someone as difficult gets in the way of our selling effectively and their buying wisely.
It is easy to blame the other person. They're the difficult ones. But, the truth is, if you find someone difficult, for sure they will find...
It is a sad truth to face, especially when we have worked so hard on getting trained, educated, and experienced. But, most of our prospects don't really care what we do, where we got our training or degrees, or what tools we use.At least not at first. First, they want to know what can you do for me
While budget is not a four-letter word, you'd think it was from the reactions and grumblings I get from clients as we work through their financial records, record keeping systems, and deciding how to best leverage their strengths, knowledge, and skills to increase their income and profitability.You
For all our interest in networking, following up is just as important. Many one-person business owners find they either don't follow up because they don't know what to do, or develop such an elaborate system for keeping in touch that it quickly breaks down and becomes unworkable. Typical downfalls
I used the word develop, not write on purpose in the title of this article. While your Operations Manual, Ops Manual, is a crucial tool in your Internal Management tool kit, you don't really write it.Instead you collect it. You gather in one place lots of the bits of information your business depen
Stop wasting time looking for papers lost on your desk, running down to the office supply store for last minute printer ribbons, or working 24-7. Use these tips to get more organized, streamline your repetitive activities and plan ahead to prevent office crises and uproar.Tip #1 - Find special place
When I first started making the transition from therapist to speaker, Somers White offered me the opportunity to visit his office where he was running his successful speaking and consulting business. I came away from my visit with one basic rule (and a multitude of tips) firmly in mind: get your sys
Recently a new client came to me in total frustration. She had been working with another coach who had insisted she focus on offering, and aggressively marketing, only one service. Now she was out of energy, out of money, and couldn't understand why she was failing. A great salesperson in her previ
The best way to market yourself with every e-mail you send is to have your own e-mail address at your own domain name. It helps build your brand and reinforce the products and services you offer your clients. However, even if you don't have your own domain name, there are some innovative ways to ma
Virtually every One-Person Business owner I've worked with has both products and services. Some of them just don't realize what they have. Don't let thinking you only provide service, don't have products, or don't know how to get started, slow you down. Time to learn from OPE (other people's e
If you are like most One-Person Business owners, you are THE ONE when it comes to the day-to-day word processing, page layout, financials, and graphics computer work that all needs to be done. You probably have all your old favorite software that makes your job so much easier.Or, do you?Legacy softw
Recently I had the opportunity to meet a one-person business owner who "commanded" high fees, was held in great regard by his colleagues and peers, but wasn't making the money his skills and reputation would have warranted.The clues were evident: too quick to come way down on his fees, taking wor
Whenever I suggest to a client that they consider adding audio to their marketing and product development projects, they come back with some version of "low class and tacky!"Truth be told, I used to think so too. Equating audio on the Web, or in my marketing materials as some version of Friendly H
The biggest myth about developing an on-line list of prospects is that you have to gather names on-line.Not so.One of the best ways to gather contact information from prospects is off-line, especially in person.And, it is easy to do.First develop a good "ethical bribe," a valuable gift in exchange
