Archive for December, 2009
Hobby to Business - Automate “stuff”
Posted by: | CommentsAs you are reading this, I am on holiday (well not technically a holiday, more just a break from work). I have scheduled this post to appear the Wednesday after Christmas so you can still read my wisdom.
One of the things I learned the hard way is not to do everything yourself. The beauty of the Internet and technology is that there are many things that can be automated. Scheduling blog posts is one of them. The message that appeared on Christmas day and this post are a couple of examples I have used. I also schedule posts when I get inspired to write something. This way there aren’t 5 posts on one day, then nothing for 2 weeks.
Another example of how I automate things is with the sale of reports and ebooks. I’ve signed up to a great service called e-Junkie that handles the purchase and delivery of the ebooks. The first I know about a sale is when I receive the money in my PayPal account. The beauty of this is that even when I’m not around, people still get their orders.
There are many other ways you can automate “stuff” in your business, these are just two examples. Automation takes away a lot of pressure to be at your computer 24/7 and your customers still get their products or information.
What are some ways you’ve automated “stuff” in your business?
Marketing Monday - is your 2010 plan ready?
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In this time between Christmas and New Year, most businesses have a quiet time. This is a great time to work ON rather than IN your business, especially if you can take advantage of all the new toys the kids received at Christmas and are still happy to play with…
One thing that is good to do is your marketing plan.
Get a calendar with the months of the year. Mark on it any special days, such as Mother’s Day and Christmas, and plan your marketing activities around them. Do you want to introduce a new product for Mother’s Day, or have a special on stocking stuffers for Christmas? Do you want to send Christmas cards with a gift voucher to your best customers? Mark all these things on your calendar at the relevant time.
When you have done this, you are ready for the year! You can then work on the budget for each activity, know when you need to send emails or get new products in. Depending on how you go, you can even schedule blog posts at the same time!
Depending on what activities you are planning, you can also plan any media releases you will need written and where to send them.
Creating a plan like this will help you keep on track with your marketing message and keep you going for the year.
If you need help with your plan, get a set of Childsplay Marketing cards. They are a fantastic brainstorming tool and one that I’ve been using quite a bit lately.
Saturday Site - Hire for Baby
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With the summer holidays here, many people are going travelling. Some to visit relatives, others just to get away from it all.
Hire for Baby is a fantastic business, with franchisees in every state of Australia, hiring out baby equipment. This includes car seats, cradles, activity toys, high chairs, prams, and much, much more. When my kids were small, we hired a baby capsule & exersaucer from them. It saved us money in buying the equipment up front, then we didn’t have to worry about storage when the boys grew out of them.
If you are going away and need a car seat, port-a-cot or any other baby products, save yourself the hassle of taking it all with you and hire it instead.
For more information, go to www.hireforbaby.com
We wish you a merry Christmas
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From my family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas.
Christmas Eve
Posted by: | CommentsI can’t believe it’s Christmas Eve already. My kids are very excited & have been counting down for days - only 1 more sleep until Christmas.
I came across this great photo on Annette Piper’s blog & thought I’d share it with you.
I hope you enjoy it & Merry Christmas.
Hobby to Business - Set aside time for planning
Posted by: | CommentsThis is something I am starting to get used to myself. As your business grows, you will find most of your work time is taken up with work. There is a danger in getting bogged down in the day to day running of your business and there is no time for planning.
Planning can include reviewing what you have done in the past, implementing new strategies, planning promotions, and many other things.
It can be hard to find the time to do this.
One way this can be done is to join a group coaching session, or even get together with fellow business mums to brainstorm and share ideas. By getting together with others, you are accountable to them to show up and take the time to work ON your business.
I would be interested to hear from other business mums how you make the time to get your planning done. Please share your ideas by adding a comment.
Marketing Monday - Use your email signature
Posted by: | CommentsDo you have an email signature? If not, you should have one. Your signature is more than just signing your name at the end of an email. You can include your URL and any other message you want to tell the people you email.
Your signature could include:
- Your latest special offer
- Details of an award you have won
- An invitation to an upcoming event
- Anything else you want to tell people about
Email signatures can be a powerful form of marketing. A word of caution, however, don’t make your signature too long or people won’t read them!
Some people create elaborate images as their email signature. This is not always a good idea as your message can be lost if people are either reading their emails in a text based system (yes, it still happens) or their email program is set up to block images. If you want to include an image, make sure you include some text also.
Your email signature can also be used to educate your clients about the different things you offer in your business.
Saturday Site - Leaf Journals
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Last week, we had the pleasure of trying out the new Christmas Story Starters from Cath Connell of Leaf Journals. These were brand new - Cath had only picked them up from the printers 2 days before our dinner!
The story starters made a fantastic activity. Each of us was given 2 cards - one was a story prompt and the other had a Christmas theme. As the dinner was a business one, the story starters helped us get to know people in a different way and made for much laughter as we shared our stories.
The Christmas Story Starters can be used in many different settings, from family gatherings to business functions and are a wonderful way to break the ice.
The Christmas Story Starters are the first product from Leaf Journals, and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next.
For more information, go to www.leafjournals.com
Friday Five - Christmas gift ideas
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I can’t believe how fast this year has gone. This is the last in this series of Friday Five blog posts with Christmas gift ideas. I hope the last few weeks have helped you with your Christmas Shopping.
- Glitzee - if you are looking for some beautiful bling, then look no further. Cathy has put together an amazing range of bling, including bags, hair crystals, jewellery and much more.
- Soy Deliteful - give more than just a candle with the wonderful range from Andrea at Soy Deliteful. You are sure to find a candle for that special person.
- Leaf Journals - the Christmas Story Starters from Leaf Journals are a brand new product and would make a wonderful gift, especially for that hard to buy for person.
- Unique Kids - Are you still looking for something to give the kids? Then check out the range at Unique Kids. They have a fantastic range of toys for kids and babies.
- Sugar Spice Nice - treat your home or someone you love with a beautiful gift from Sugar Spice Nice. Marg has a wonderful selection and you are sure to find something for every room in the house.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these gift suggestions. Friday Five will be on a break for the next few weeks and will be back in early 2010.
Hobby to Business - be mercenary
Posted by: | CommentsOne thing that I’ve learned over the last little while is that in business, we need to be mercenary, after all, aren’t we in this to make money?
This is not to say that you stop giving out free information and doing other tasks that don’t immediately make money, but evaluate everything.
At a coaching session on Monday, one of the participants mentioned that she needs to do 3 billable hours a day in order to reach her budgeted amount each week. With that in mind, she evaluates what she is doing and if she’s spending too much time on other things, she can pull herself up and concentrate on her billable hours and then goes from there. Once she has done her minimum of 3 billable hours, she can then move on to other things.
I thought this was great advice, and am trying to work out how I can apply this to my business. But I know my focus must be on the things that make me money, rather than the things that are great, but don’t make any money. For those things that don’t make money, I’m looking at how I can change that so I can keep doing them, but have them pay for themselves.
So, when you’re turning your hobby into a business, evaluate what you do each day and ask yourself “Is this helping me make money?” If it’s not, look at how you can change it.
