source: discoodoni

A friend of mine keeps as many promises as she breaks. Why are we still friends? The main reason is that the promises she makes to me aren’t important.

When she promises to meet me for coffee, I enter the time in my iPhone and then before I leave my house, I send her a text to confirm. Sometimes she remembers and sometimes she doesn’t.

While those broken promises aren’t earth-shattering and haven’t affected our friendship, if she did the same thing to her clients, her client list were dry up. To a client, any broken promise is important, so you need to do what you can to keep every promise you make.

Start with these tips.

Don’t promise what you can’t deliver

A huge corporate client with a large budget may tempt you to make promises you can’t keep, and add more to your plate than you can handle. Before you say yes to a request from a big client, take a close look at your current schedule and decide whether or not you have time to complete the job. Don’t forget to consider if you’re even the right person to handle the project. If not, recommend someone else who can help your client.

Prioritize your projects and clients

The minute you sit down at your desk each morning, make sure you have a clear idea of the tasks and projects that need your attention that day. Start by reviewing your list of ongoing projects. Bringing in new clients is important, but don’t forget about your existing clients. If a prospect calls you and you accept the project, how will the new client affect the attention and service your current clients expect? Will you be able to do a good job if you face a time crunch? You have one chance to make a first impression and if your work isn’t up to par, you’ll lose any chance of building a long-term relationship with any client.

Build in a cushion

When you promise something to a client, do your best to gauge how long it will take you to finish the project and then, if possible, add a week. That gives you extra days to make sure you deliver what you promise, when you promise it. Even if you’re the most qualified person to handle a job, yet you can’t meet your client’s deadline, you could damage your relationship with that client. And rebuilding a damaged relationship can take longer than you think.

As the old saying goes, “Promises are made to be broken,” but that doesn’t mean they should be.

What strategies do you use to make sure you keep your promises?

My sweet, adorable, perfect niece — I’m not at all biased — is at the “I’ll do it myself” stage. She doesn’t want her parents to help her do anything. My niece reminds me of the typical entrepreneur (myself included) who thinks he or she can do everything alone and do it better.

The truth is there’s no way we entrepreneurs can know everything and do everything well, but we don’t have to. There are experts nearby (virtually and in person) who are willing to share their business experience with other small business owners like us. Best of all, you can get their advice from one source: SCORE.

SCORE is a nonprofit association — it’s been around since 1964 — that provides information and support to entrepreneurs and small businesses around the country. They have 370 chapters throughout the United States and 11,200 volunteers nationwide. They’ve helped 8.4 Million Small Businesses including Vermont Teddy Bear, Vera Bradley Designs, Jelly Belly candy, and more.

SCORE offers advice from starting, managing, and growing a business, to financing and technology. They feature articles on their site from business owners around the world and offer online workshops.

The site itself is packed with information, but they also offer one-on-one help. The SCORE mentoring program matches entrepreneurs with both working and retired executives, and business owners. You can learn from retired CEOs, attorneys, business owners and other professionals who volunteer their time to help small business owners grow their businesses.

One of my favorite features on the SCORE site is the forms they offer, from business plan templates, to profit and loss forms. Why reinvent the wheel when you can get detailed forms with one click?

It’s easy to get lost in the business world, especially when you’re out there on your own. SCORE is worth checking out, and best of all, it’s free.

source: Horia Varlan

When my sons were younger, I was at the top of the volunteer list (translation: sucker). Whenever someone called me to help with an event, class project or anything else to do with school, I said yes. I did the same thing with two professional associations I was in.

One day I had a revelation. I was spending more time volunteering my time than growing my business. I’m all for helping others but eventually you have to say no more often than you say yes.

How many times have you said yes when you meant no? There are only so many hours in a day and if at some point you don’t say no, you’ll never get ahead (or get any sleep!).

Before you say yes to everything, consider a few questions.

To read the rest of my guest post on Success Your Way, click here.

A business owner I’ve known for over ten years has owned several businesses. He sold two of his businesses within two years of starting them.

His last (and current) business was almost a failure. Although he had a strong business idea and product, he grew his business too quickly. Each month he added a few employees and by the end of his first year in business, he wasn’t making enough money to cover his overhead.

At the beginning of the new year he cut his staff in half and reorganized his business. By making a few staffing changes, he has converted his company from pathetic to profitable.

As your business grows, and you have less time to spend on sales and marketing, filing, and accounting, you may need to add additional staff or hire freelancers. There are a few things to consider when hiring others full-time, part-time, or on a project-by-project basis.

Hire someone with experience

Someone who has been around the business block for years will not need much training. One advantage they have over someone less experienced is that they can bring ideas and systems to your business that you may not have considered. The only disadvantage to hiring a skilled person is that they may have bad habits that have to be unlearned.

Hire someone without experience

You’ll have to spend time training an unskilled employee, yet the advantage is that you’ll be able to train that person to fit your company’s work style. Also, they shouldn’t have any bad work habits that you have to break. My first boss after I graduated from college hired me because I had no sales experience. He had a certain way of running his sales department and he wanted to make sure I followed his sales systems.

Hire freelancers instead of full-time employees

If you don’t have the time or desire to train employees, consider hiring freelancers to handle certain projects. The advantage is that you won’t have to spend much time training that person and you’re not obligated to pay for his or her health insurance. Also, they can apply the experience they have through working with other clients, to your project.

Before you bring on a full-time employee or hire a freelancer, ask yourself what your time is worth. Decide whether paying someone to handle a project will cost less than the amount of money you can generate during that same amount of time.

And most of all, remember, you get what you pay for.

Has hiring employees or freelancers helped or hurt your business?

I think we’re better off as friends.

It’s not you, it’s me.

The timing isn’t right.

We’ve all either heard or used those excuses during a breakup in our personal life.

Breaking up is hard to do, especially when it comes to clients. But when a client has been with you from the start and your services are worth more than you’re charging, what do you do? Consider the following three options.

Gradually increase your fees

If you give your clients fair warning that you’re going to raise your rates, then your clients can make the decision to keep working with you or find someone else. If you’ve met your clients’ needs and helped them to achieve their goals, chances are they’ll stay with you and pay more for your services. If they decide to leave because of pricing, then you may need to question how much they valued your services.

Decide whether to keep current clients or try to replace them

Keep in mind that if the services you provide are worth more than what you charge, eventually you’ll resent your current clients. At the same time, consider how much time and effort it would take to find new clients and how much will it cost to market your services. If you weigh the time/cost benefit, you’ll have your answer.

Add additional services at higher prices

Ease your clients into a higher price bracket by adding additional services and charging for them. Early this year I added video consulting to my list of services. One of my clients moved to another city and wanted help with the set up and design of her new home office. We designed her office virtually, down to new light fixtures and artwork. The entire process went smoothly and she’s happy with her new workspace.

A business coach could add video consulting, weekly or monthly memberships to group masterminds, and could create new products for clients. While you’re expanding your business to provide more services and products for clients, you’ll also attract new clients.

Maintaining business relationships isn’t easy and creating new ones can be overwhelming and expensive. Rather than let your clients go because you’re not being paid what you’re worth, add additional services, gradually increase your prices and consider one more thing: announce your price increase. You may be surprised at how easily your clients will accept your new pricing.

Have you had to let go of a client because of pricing?

In my first job out of college, I sold commercial time for an AM talk radio station. Our station owned a suite at the football stadium, and during one of the games one of my co-workers was a little nervous. His biggest client was going to be there so several bottles of beer and a few too many shots of Tequila later, he needed to make a quick exit. He didn’t embarrass himself, but he could have.

He blamed it on the chicken nachos.

While it’s important to build rapport with a client, you need to make sure you keep your business relationship in line, starting with these tips.

Remember that you always represent your business

If you’re out with a friend and you do something reckless, a friend may laugh it off. But if you’re with a client, he or she may wonder whether you’re handling his or her account the same way. They may even lose faith in your ability to make good decisions on their behalf. There’s nothing wrong with having fun. Being out of control is beyond wrong.

Think before you speak

When you meet with a client, don’t get so comfortable that you start sharing secrets, insight or anything else that could compromise your business relationship. I remember having lunch with a supplier who was telling me about his company’s problems and that he was looking for a new job. My confidence in the company dropped so much that day that eventually I switched suppliers. That was a case of too much info, too fast.

Use good judgment

A client is a client, whether or not he or she is your friend. So anytime you go out, avoid letting your hair down completely. Treat your friends the same way you would a client, and don’t forget that something you do in your personal life could affect your business relationships.

The more you work with a client, the more comfortable you’ll be around him or her, and if all goes well you’ll work together for years. The key to a lasting client relationship, aside from delivering products and goods as promised and running an ethical business, is respecting the professional relationship you’ve built.

How do you avoid blurring the lines between your business and personal relationships?

Last week while I was getting a haircut, my stylist started gossiping about one of her clients. She didn’t know that her client was a friend of mine. The first chance I could get, I changed the subject. I was also careful not to share any personal information, as I knew she would share it with others.

I gossip less than I used to (it was my New Year’s resolution), but no matter what, I never gossip about clients. That topic is off limits. There are a few things to keep in mind when you work with clients.

• Watch what you share. When you share a client’s personal idiosyncrasies, their personal taste, or even the problems they may be having with their marriage, you destroy that client’s trust. The way a client sees it is if you’re trashing one client, you’ll eventually trash all of your clients, including them.

• Unless you’re paid to gossip, keep it to yourself. Entertainment editors and writers get paid to pry into the lives of celebrities by saying they’re just doing their jobs. What if you find out personal information about one of your clients? It may be tempting to share what you’ve just learned, but it’s not part of your job to tell others what you know. Instead, respect your clients’ privacy.

• Help your clients, don’t hurt them. If a client tells you something in confidence, you could rush back to your home office and share the juicy tidbit with your friends, yet that would go against most anyone’s ethical standards. Instead, keep the information to yourself and focus on what you can do to help your clients, not hurt them.

You may know more about your clients than their close friends. But when you keep personal information about your clients to yourself, your clients will feel more comfortable with you and will know that any personal information they share with you, is safe with you.

Most of the time, some things are better left unsaid.

One of my clients, a business consultant, has worked with the same clients for years. She helps a client solve a problem, the client’s business grows, and then she finds other ways to help that client again. She knows that if her clients are happy, they’ll refer her to new clients…and they do.

When your business is thriving, you may not be worrying about getting more clients. On the other hand, if you’re waiting for the phone to ring, hoping that prospects will fill out your “get more info” form, and you have more bills to pay than clients to cover them, you’re probably thinking about ways to find more clients.

You can go after new clients, which can cost time and money, or you can find new ways to serve old clients. Studies show that it’s less expensive to service an existing client than to market to a prospect.  Consider these tips before you spend more time and money trying to find new clients.

• Anticipate your clients’ needs. You don’t have to be psychic (although it wouldn’t hurt) to gauge your clients’ thoughts and concerns. Some people use intuition while others use a more direct approach: they simply ask their clients for other ways they can help them. If you ask the same question rephrased differently each time — try not to be annoying — you should get the information you’re missing.

• Be a resource to your clients. If a client asks you to do something that’s outside your area of expertise, recommend someone else. Your client will appreciate your willingness to help and when they need your help again, you should be the first person they call. Make sure you recommend someone reliable, because if they drop the ball, it reflects poorly on you.

• Create new products or services based on your clients’ needs. For years I’ve heard from clients who have moved from one part of the country to the other, but still want to work with me individually. Some weren’t able to fly me to their home offices, so I had to refer them to a colleague in their city. The light bulb finally went off and I started offering consultations via Skype. At first I didn’t think the virtual consultations would work, but they do, and have become a large chunk of my business.

Before you give up on a client who hasn’t contacted you lately, ask yourself it there are any other services you can offer them. They’ll enjoy hearing from you, you’ll enjoy reconnecting with them, and the bottom line: you’ll be able to help them again.

How have you found new ways to help old clients?

Today I’m excited to announce that after spending way too much time at Starbucks, on planes, and locked in my home office working on Organize Your Home Office for Success, the new and improved 4th edition is now available.

This is the ideal e-book (it’s also available in paperback) for entrepreneurs, home-based corporate employees, telecommuters, and stay-at-home moms and dads who need a space to manage a business or run a busy household.

How it all started

Eighteen years ago, I wrote the first edition of this book because I started getting two types of phone calls: one from business owners who wanted individual home office consultations, and the other from people who wanted suggestions for books they could use to organize their home offices on their own.

When I looked for a home office book to recommend, I couldn’t find one. It didn’t exist. There were plenty of home organizing books, but nothing that focused specifically on home offices and the challenges of working from home.

Sometimes ignorance pays off

After at least a dozen calls from home-based business owners looking for a home office book, the light bulb went off (finally). I realized I needed to be the one who wrote that book. I also knew that I was going to need a literary agent to sell it for me.

A few days later, I read an article about a literary agent who worked from home (and would understand the audience for this book). I sent her my proposal, she agreed to represent me, and within three weeks she had bids from three major publishers. Everything happened so quickly and easily.

When I look back, I realize how naive I had been to think an agent would take an unknown writer’s book and sell it to a publisher. I later found out that publishing doesn’t work that way! I’m glad I didn’t know better because fear of rejection probably would have kept me from approaching the agent.

New and improved

From the time my first book was published until now, the book has been through three revisions. Considering how much technology has affected the way we work from home, along with new challenges that those of us who work from home face, I knew it was time to do one more update, especially since the last update was in 2002.

The goal of this book is to help you organize your home office (of course), but in a way that makes sense and fits your working style. Think of it this way: I could come in, change your office, tell you to come back in, and watch as you struggle to find the papers you need, search for the notes you wrote last week, and try to make sense of your new filing system. That would be a waste of your time and mine, and the bottom line is that your home office wouldn’t stay organized because you wouldn’t have played a part in the organizing process.

When you take the time to organize your home office using proven methods in this book (the same ones I recommend to my clients and audiences), not only will your office get organized…it will stay organized.

Without sounding too infomercial-like, here’s what others are saying:

“Lisa – where have you been all my home-office life? As a ‘not naturally organized’ person who loves working at home, I’ve been ‘surviving’ my workspaces for years! Chapter 3 alone is worth the price of the book. Honestly, this book is the next best thing to having you come over and ‘get me sorted!’ As a coach to thousands of work at home professionals, I will absolutely be recommending this resource to them! I am breathing easier already!”

—Carrie Wilkerson, Author, The Barefoot Executive: The Ultimate Guide for Being Your Own Boss and Achieving Financial Freedom

“Your office is a reflection of you. If it’s a mess, then so are you. Lisa’s no-nonsense approach to decluttering your home office, will in fact declutter your entire business.”

—Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

“Filled with real-life scenarios, tips and strategies, Organize Your Home Office for Success is more than just a book, it’s a complete guide to setting yourself up to achieve work-at-home success. Lisa not only shares the pros of working from home, but she discusses the cons, and offers up solutions to some of the most common challenges that home-based workers encounter. This book is a must-read for all telecommuters and home-based entrepreneurs alike.”

– Holly Reisem Hanna, Publisher of The Work at Home Woman

“I was thrilled to read Lisa Kanarek’s newest edition to Organize Your Home Office for Success: Expert Strategies That Can Work for You, that included a chapter specifically on clearing off your desk. What’s most helpful about the book is that Lisa recognizes that when it comes to organizing, one size does not fit all and she provides a variety of tips and tools so you can use strategies that work best for you. Lisa gives you the information you need to set up a home office designed for productivity and profitability. “

— Leslie Truex, Author of The Work-At-Home Success Bible and Jobs Online: How To Find and Get Hired to a Work-At-Home Job, and Founder of Work At Home Success

Without giving away too much of the book, it definitely has a tidy ending.

Click the link below to order Organize Your Home Office for Success!

source: Ant Smith

Yesterday, I grabbed a sandwich at a deli near my house and the place was packed. While I was waiting in line, one of the employees almost knocked me over. He was busy mopping the floor and putting the rugs back, while customers tried to walk past him to pick up their orders.

The floor needed to be mopped, but did the guy have to mop during the busy lunch rush? He was doing the right thing, but his timing was off.

How is your timing? Consider these questions:

Do you follow up with clients when say you will?

A superstar realtor friend of mine has had a record year. Why? She calls her prospects back on the exact day she promises to call. When she shows that much attention to detail, the prospects are so impressed (and surprised), they hire her to represent them.

One of the few times a prospect she was working with decided to sign with another realtor, was when she responded to the prospect’s text at 3 am. The client had sent the text at dinnertime the night before and didn’t appreciate the text in the middle of the night.

Do you respond to e-mails within a few hours or a few days?

So many of us are spoiled. When we send an e-mail, we expect a response within hours (I know I do). If we wanted a response days later, we could send letters via snail mail. Who does that? Even if you don’t have the information your prospect or client wants, send him or her an e-mail to let the person know you’re still working on the project.

Do you focus on tasks that need your attention this week instead of ones that you could handle a week from now?

Whether you put off tasks because you don’t want to handle them, or you wait until the last minute to finish a project, you open yourself up to making huge mistakes. Focus on the tasks with the earliest deadlines and, while you can throw in a few easy tasks that may not due for a week, go back to the tasks you need to finish right away. Keep in mind that even though you may be busy, that doesn’t mean you’re being productive.

Do you expect clients to respond to you during the weekend?

Unless you’re a realtor or someone who has to work on the weekend, don’t expect your clients to answer your e-mails or take your calls until Monday. A friend of mine was angry with one of his clients because the client hadn’t answered my friend’s e-mail right away. He had sent the e-mail to the client after 6 pm on Friday and by Sunday night, he still hadn’t heard from him.

In life and in business, timing is everything.