Three rules of alignment as a small business owner

If you have your own agency – PR firm, marketing consultancy, graphic design agency, career coach, etc.) – there are three practices that must be in alignment. Before I tell you what my best practices are, think about what’s most important in your
business and let’s see if we are on the same page.

Photo by Liz Cezat. Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids, Mich.

In my practice, I have determined that these are the most important trio of traits: discipline, focus and making connections. Talent is a given. If you didn’t have talent, you wouldn’t be pursuing a small agency model because no one would hire you.

Here’s a rundown of the trio.

1. Discipline. If you have your ducks in a row – business plan is set, client base is steady, office systems are up and running – attend to client work first. Whether you do it yourself or assign it to a partner, associate or freelancer – get the project in the works and manage it. Take care to produce the results that the client has specified. No surprises. Fulfill the need – on time, within budget and meet expectations.

2. Focus. There are so many distractions in a day. If you are focused on what you do best, then you shouldn’t have a problem getting the work done. Focus can make the hours seem like minutes. Work on your most challenging client projects at prime time. Are you most productive at 7 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. or 5 p.m.? Know your cycle. Once you can accomplish your client work in a focused manner, try to use that strategy for the work that you don’t like to do. Establish a specific time to do billing, make prospecting calls, and organize your projects, and then focus solely on that. It then becomes routine.

3. Connections. Set aside time daily, weekly and monthly to fortify your connections and meet new people. How can this be readily achieved? Reach out on social media – that can be a daily practice. Attend one to two meetings a week to get the word out about your business and forge new partnerships. Make calls – no robocalls please – or send personalized e-mails. Attend meetings that your clients and prospective clients attend. Learn what matters to them and what they want from your company. Follow up with a LinkedIn invite or ‘nice to meet you’ note. Then, stay engaged. Be pleasantly persistent.

Set up appointments based on interest and the need to see clients face-to-face before they sign up for your services. If you can build trust via your brand (website, white papers, blog, collateral marketing pieces), a phone call or e-mails, a meeting may not be needed.

Follow this triad of business practices and your agency or solo practice will be humming along.

Optimize your connections online

Prospecting for clients online
is like blazing a trail.
Photo by Liz Cezat, Zion National Park

If you belong to a professional service group that provides B-to-B services, you know how important it is to build a pipeline of prospective clients.

One of the fastest ways to showcase your talents and get your name known as a professional or head of your firm is through social media. To get the quality prospects that your business deserves, you want to connect with people online who can use your service or otherwise bring you new business.  Act in a manner that shows you’re in it for a great working relationship, not a quick one-time deal.

Many professionals fear making online connections. After all, you don’t really know who you are connecting with, do you? You can see their photo but you aren’t seeing the whole person. You can read their resume on Linked-In or their one-line bio on Twitter, but what aren’t they telling you?

One of the best ways to know who you are dealing with online is to engage with them in various ways:

• Join groups on LinkedIn in your prospect’s industry. If you’re a lawyer and you represent school districts, sign up for the educational groups on Linked In. If you’re lucky, you’ll be one of only a few lawyers seeking prospects in this forum. (Others may not be as savvy as you are.) Then ask questions or answer them. Invite the people who stand out to join your Linked-In associates. Communicate with them when something of shared interest comes up. Let them get to know your personality by talking about your lifestyle interests or joking with them (no emoticons please). If you’re going to be in their town for business, offer to meet them in person.

• If you’re not on Twitter, sign up immediately. You can choose who you want to follow. There will be a wide range of people following you. I follow back only those who post interesting items, are prospects or could become associates. Twitter is a great way to follow news and trends, and learn who’s who in various industries. It also links to many career-building tips, articles and interesting people.

• If you have a Facebook page for business, great. Utilize it to educate your clients and invite their feedback. Track how much new business you gain from this source. If you only have a personal account for family, friends and some associates, use it judiciously for business. A periodic post about your services and achievements is enough to keep your business in the forefront for referrals by your Facebook community. Don’t overuse this or you’ll irk your Facebook friends who often just want to know what’s new with the people they know and like.

• Blog. (That’s both a verb and a noun.) Those who have blogs need to gain visibility for their posts. Announce a new post via Linked-In, Twitter and Facebook (if appropriate). Customize the heading for each venue. Don’t say, “New post. Read all about it.” No one cares unless you give them a reason to care – use an enticing headline they can’t resist clicking on. For Twitter, repost at different times with different headings and see which works best.

Social media can be scary at first but once you get the hang of it and deploy it in your unique style, you will begin to see the benefits of prospecting online. Please share some of your tips here because this list is just the beginning.