inspiration | be you & attract your right people

i sometimes get people telling me that they don't like my style. i have had people unsubscribe from newsletter because i use words like 'kick ass' and 'badass'. i have had people tell me they don't take me seriously because i don't use capitals. 

and do you know what?

that's ok with me!

i decided when i got started blogging that i wasn't going to try to fit in with what i thought i should do, or whatever anyone else was doing. i wasn't going to struggle to be 'correct'. instead i was going to be me.

i get that not everyone will like that style. and that is ok.

when people unsubscribe or say they won't come back for more, i see that as a good thing. actually, it's awesome!

• it means that the people who aren't my kind of people are going somewhere else.

• it means that everyone else that sticks around are my kind of people. they get me!

• and that means i probably get them too. it means i can help them better. 

so i am just going to keep being me. in fact i am going to be me even louder than i was before. 

and just respectfully ignore anyone who doesn't like it.

read more about targeting your right people:

• http://www.buildalittlebiz.com/blog/2011/3/9/how-to-figure-out-who-your-ideal-client-is.html
• http://www.themiddlefingerproject.org/how-to-get-clear-on-your-target-market-and-never-have-to-hunt-for-your-next-gig-again/
• http://questiontherules.com/the-un-rock-rockstar/ 

ask the expert | who do you think YOU are?

today we have a post from our business support expert: sam leader from flying solo. if you have never visited her site, you must go have a look. heaps of useful information for anyone with start-up questions and a fantastic forum!

A recent experience made me appreciate how important our job titles are to the outside world. This makes me cranky as.

I was filling out a residency reference for a friend recently. His feedback? “Looks great. Only under ‘occupation’ please instead of ‘Editor’ can you say ‘Director’?’

Of course I made the change. I understood his rationale – it doesn’t matter that I see myself more as an editor than a business owner, because clearly the latter has more gravitas.

Until this happened I hadn’t realised how much I hate job titles. They are limiting and easily misconstrued. They are at best a necessary evil. It’s why I dread the ‘what do you do?’ question, which I normally fumble my way through while my conversation partner longs for a refill.

Even though I have published about a dozen articles on elevator pitches, when it comes to giving one, can I manage? Can I bunnies. You know what they say about plumbers and their leaky taps. 

For your amusement, here are some of the answers I spew forth:

“I’m the editor of Flying Solo, an online community that supports micro businesses.”
This is technically correct, although far from clear. What’s an online community and why does it need an editor?

“I’m a business owner”
Ambiguous. Authoritative. Kind of like this one.

“I run my own business.”
Similarly ambiguous but not as authoritative.

“I work from home.”
Has a whiff of the telegraph pole ad.  

“I work from home part time, and have two young children.”
This whiffs of telegraph poles and bodily extractions! And even to my ears, saying ‘part time’ has connotations of a lack of dedication, which I know is patently untrue. Nonetheless, the sense remains for me.

This last descriptor is the most accurate, but one I tend not to use. Why? My observation is that although this is by far the most challenging and rewarding role for me, every non work at home parent I say this to seems to think it’s not at all challenging or rewarding. You can just see it in their expression. Sad but true.

In the absence of feeling comfortable answering the perennial question I am the master of swiftly turning into a prime interrogator, starting my barrage of questions with, you guessed it, “What do you do?”

How do you introduce yourself? What impression do you think it gives others? Do you go for the job title you know will impress over a personally preferred label?

Meantime if there are any pop psychologists reading this who want to analyse my confusion over my identity, not to mention my appalling sense of professional inadequacy, I’m all ears.

Top up, anyone?

Sam Leader is the Editor of Flying Solo, Australia's micro business community, and one of its three directors. Over the last five years she has overseen the publication of over 1,300 articles from over 100 contributors. She is also the co-author, with Robert Gerrish and Peter Crocker, of the business bestseller Flying Solo - How to go it alone in business. Sam's responsible "...for all the book's good bits."   Like most solo business owners, Sam wears a number of other hats. As Social Media Manager, she oversees Flying Solo's presence on Facebook and Twitter (LinkedIn's coming soon) and she is also Mistress of Mojo, ensuring motivation stays high for everyone involved in Flying Solo.

Do you have a question for our start-up and business support expert? Please send us an email - your question could be featured in our next 'ask the expert' post!

ask the expert | why you need to expose yourself to your clients

today we have a guest post from our expert partner in coywriting: anne maybus from clever streak, answering one of our reader questions...

I am getting a website designed and I need to write an 'about me' page. I have no idea what to write! I don't just want to write who I am, what I do etc. I really want my customers to identify with me and see how I can help them, why my business is perfect for them.

 “Hello there.  I’ve just checked out your website and it looks pretty good.  You’ve got what I want at the price I want to pay:  but so did the last site…and the one before that.  Why should I shop with you?”

That’s the question your ‘about’ page needs to answer.  Why you? Why here?  Why now?

Have you checked your stats lately?   If you already have some sort of ’about’ page you might be surprised to see how many people visit it.  On my own site, the page is one of the most frequently visited of all my pages.  That’s because people want to know who is behind the business and whether they like and trust me enough to put their business into my hands.

I’ve written quite a few ‘about’ pages in my time and it’s usually an uphill battle with the business owner.  What they want is not really an ‘about us’ page – it’s an ‘about my business’ page.  The main problem with that is that unless you are an established brand, the page is not going to help convert visitors into customers.  Some people will shop with you regardless, but the thing that turns most visitors into clients is human connection.

If you want people to connect and identify with you, you’ll have to expose yourself to them.  It’s you they want, not the business.

Show your human side.

Tell your readers a story.   Stories about yourself, your background, your hobbies and even your reasons for starting the business will all reveal something that gives people a chance to identify with you.  You don’t have to go into great or very personal detail but give them enough to know that you are a real person with a real life.  Be honest and authentic.

Skip the business bits.

People don’t need to know about your business and what it does.  They have found you through searching for a specific thing so they already know what you do.  They have checked out your home page where your key message should be and they don’t need to read it again here.  This page isn’t about sales.  It’s about letting them meet you as they would if you were in a bricks and mortar store. 

Show off.

If there was ever a place that was designed for some showing off, this is it.  Show off your knowledge and your skills.  Talk about your awards or where you have appeared.  Use testimonials.  Use whatever you’ve got to show how and why you are an expert at what you do.  One of the best things you can do is to tell a story about one of your successes.  Talk about why the client came to you, what they needed, how you helped and what difference you made in their life.  That gives the reader another way to identify with you through relating to your client. 

This is the proof people are looking for; it’s the reasoning they will use to support their emotionally based decision to shop with you.  They might love you, but they can’t really go telling that to their friends without sounding weird, can they?

Match your readers.

This calls for some judgement on your part.  You know the people in your target market and what they will expect or tolerate from you.  If you are working business-to-business you probably don’t want to expose as much of yourself as you would if you were working in a creative or humanitarian field.

For example, Think Geek has a brilliant page and it works because it appeals to their quirky, gadget loving clients.  But can you imagine finding that style of page on a financial planning site?  You’d have clients running for the hills clutching their cash to their chests as they went.  Match your ‘reveal’ to your clients’ expectations.

The most important thing to remember about your ‘about’ page is that it is a tool for your business and you need to work it well.  Don’t be afraid to show people who you really are.  That’s why they came to the page in the first place.  Give them what they want and do it your way. 

Anne Maybus has a mission to banish the dullness from business writing. She believes that your business deserves to have personality shining out of every word. She writes content that catches your reader by the eye and pulls them pupil-first into the wonderful world of your business. Visit cleverstreak.com and on facebook and twitter too.

do you have a question about copyrwriting? post it in the comments below or send an email to build a little biz.

do what you love

i recently gave myself a new title. i am an ‘unstucktor’. i help people get unstuck. it’s what i do best.

in my work as an unstucktor, i hear the same thing over and over again from my people.

“i started this biz because i love making my thing. but i hate figuring out all of this biz stuff. i just want to enjoy making my thing, and stop worrying about the boring/painful stuff.”

or

“i know that if i want my biz to take off i have to do all the things everyone says i need to do, but there is so much to do/learn/figure out/consider! i don’t know where to start.”

or

“i know i am supposed to be _________ (fill in the blank… blogging, on twitter, on facebook, making a newsletter, finding partners, going to markets, on etsy… whatever) but i don’t think i am doing it right. it’s not really working."

does this sound like you? it sounds like me. yep, i have those same thoughts.

so i will share with you what i share with all of my people...

do what you love.

screw what everyone says you should do.

screw what everyone else is doing that you feel like you should do too.

screw what all of the posts/books/experts say is the right way to do it.

instead, do what you love.

• if you hate facebook, stop doing it.
• if you despise going to markets and setting up stalls, don’t do it anymore.
• if you dislike conversing by email, pick up the phone and call people instead.
• if you don’t enjoy writing blog posts, then find other things to share on your blog.
• if you are sick of churning out low priced items to compete and want to concentrate on custom high-end designs, then only do that.
• if you can’t be bothered with business cards, tri-fold brochures, flyers, newsletters or whatever other marketing materials that make your head hurt, then do something else instead.

seriously. if there is something right now that you can’t stand doing, then stop doing it.

whatever rule you read that every small business needs in order to succeed, i want to you give yourself permission right now to question the rules.

instead, think about what you LOVE about making/selling/marketing your thing.

• what tasks get you excited?
• which do you put up to the top of the to do list every time?
• what ideas keep you up at night from excitement?

now look at those things. what is it about them that you love?

perhaps you get to:

• express your creativity
• play around on the computer
• organize, sort, order, fiddle
• interact with other people
• write stories
• work with images
• make something by hand
• be goofy, silly, crazy, funky

try to find the common theme between the tasks you love doing. now apply that to the tasks you hate doing. for example:

if you hate being online but love chatting on the phone or in person, then focus your marketing strategies on talking with people in real life. concentrate on in-person sales, fostering word of mouth, honouring existing customers… whatever allows you to deal with people face to face.

if you hate designing stuff on the computer but love crafting/painting/scrapbooking etc. by hand, then make some handmade marketing materials: scrapbook your flyer and get copies printed, make unique business cards that you are excited to hand out. hell, why not create a story board instead of a word doc for your business plan.

if you just want to make your thing and sell it via your own website, then stop wasting time at markets, finding wholesalers, taking private orders, or on etsy/made-it. focus all of your time/financial resources into making your website kickass & getting it seen by the right people.

if you like the idea of a blog or a newsletter or a facebook page, but hate the ‘common way’ of doing these things, then figure out how to do it your way, a way that you will enjoy. there are so many options out there: tell stories, play games, answer questions, ask questions, share images, have contests, get fan submissions, share links, make videos, share music, tell jokes, share quotes…

give yourself permission to stop doing things you hate about your biz.

instead:

• be you – only do stuff that is completely, 100% YOU.
• get creative – think of ways you can do things in a way that will be fun for you. apply what you love to what you have to do.

the bonus of this plan is that your brand will be more clear, you will stand out because your biz will be different than all of the others, and you will attract loyalty & trust because of your authenticity.

it’s win-win.

you get to do what you love. and people will love what you do.

sounds pretty damn good to me!

(ps - this plan gives you complete permission to ignore a huge portion of what i share here. seriously. if the suggestion, advice or tips do not fit with what you love, ignore them. better yet, get creative and apply the advice to fit what you love to do!)

(pps - if you need help getting unstuck, or want some personalized advice in figuring out what you love or how to apply that to your biz tasks, i can help with that. click here.)