Work at Home without Distraction

My friend Mike Michalowicz, of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, has combined a list of 155 strategies to eliminate distractions while working at home, called The 155 Ways To Work At Home Without Distraction.  Great ideas if you work from home!

You can’t buy this type of publicity

I watched a video yesterday that Ashton Kutcher tweeted. It’s a great video, see it below. When I watched there had been about 5000 views. This morning I get up and Good Morning America is promoting a story about this couple and their video. I check the views and it has gotten more than a million views since last night. Say ‘Thank you Ashton.’

It’s not easy getting Ashton’s attention. He has almost 3 million followers on Twitter, but follows less than 200 people. So you can’t count on him to get your message out there. So, how can entrepreneurs and small business owners get this type of hype? Piggy back off of a hot or popular story is a great way to drive traffic to your blog (this post).

Blogging and social networking are more important than ever. If you’re not spending some time each and every day working your network, you’re missing out.

Don’t have the time? Hire a virtual assistant to help you out.

Check out the video…

Stay In Business After A Disaster

Whether it’s a natural or man made disaster, you want your business to survive a disaster with little disruption.  How quickly you can get back to business depends on the emergency planning you do today.

1. One of the first things you will need to do is to determine which staff, materials, and equipment are absolutely necessary to keep your business operating.
2. Create procedures for all aspects of your business in case someone has to step in and cover another persons duties.
3. Contact your insurance provider to review your coverage for things like physical loss, business interruption, and flood coverage.  Ask what records they will require after an emergency and include them in your emergency supply kit.
4. Create a contact list that includes all of your suppliers and business contacts.  Include back-up vendors in case your primary is not able to supply you after a disaster.  Keep this list in your emergency supply kit and at an off-site location.
5. What will your business do if you are not able to access its location?  Can you run the business from another location?
6. Define procedures for a crisis.  Make sure everyone knows what they are supposed to do.  Include emergency preparedness information in your internal communications, newsletters, employee email.  Designate an out-of-town number employees can call to leave a message saying they are “OK.”  Provide emergency information in the form of a card that can be placed in a purse or wallet.
7. Review your emergency plans annually. Your business may change as well as your procedures. 

With a little preparation you should be able to minimize the interruption in business in the event of a disaster.

Improve Your Bottom Line with What You Say

When was the last time you thought about what you were actually saying to potential clients? Are you closing the deal more often than not? Or maybe it’s time to revamp your elevator speech or introduction.

Remember potential clients do not want to hear statistics about you and your company; they want to know how your product or service will benefit them and make their life easier.

Here are some guidelines to inspire a winning introduction.

1. Do your homework. What is important to your potential clients? What do they value, what are their struggles, what stresses them out and keeps them up at night?

2. I have taken countless writing and grammar seminars, the one thing that they say is to write at an 8th grade level–the TV Guide is written at a 3rd grade level. You want everyone to understand what you are trying to sell them. Jargon will only impress other people in your field

3. Keep it short and simple-less than 50 words.

4. Start with a question that you know the answer will be ‘yes’. For example, “You know how business owners spend so much time doing their paperwork that they do not have time to do their actual work? I take care of your administrative tasks so you can focus on your billable hours.” This gives them something to relate to.

Remember the person on the other end of this conversation is either your ideal client or knows someone who is. Giving them a clear picture of what you do so they think of you when they run into someone looking for particular talents.