How to use Blogging to turn Ideas into $$$$s

Posted by Roberta Budvietas on Feb 20, 2013 in Business, Promotion | 6 comments

Blogging helps you turn your ideas into $$$$s.

Blogging is a promotional tools that allows you to tell the story about your idea and still ask for the order. It is usually a subtle form of advertising but more importantly what it offers your reader is the opportunity to connect with you and see you as a person interested in helping them solve their problem.

In a blog, you can tell stories of how your product or service works. You can show video, do podcasts or just provide information that helps build a relationship. But a powerful tool for blogging is learning to Guest Blog. Over the last few months, I have been learning the importance of  Guest Blogging from Jon Morrow.

Guest blogging can take several forms:

1. You can be invited to guest blog. I have been privileged to guest blog with wonderful people like Lynn Brown of Learn It 2 Earn It plus several other Facebook friends.
   • This usually means that your friend believes your content will be benefit their readers.
   • You can volunteer to write blogs for your friends if your content fits their content and then they invite you to contribute.
   • You can join sites that allow you to share unique blogs.
2. Ask to guest post. There are dozens of posts on the market that depend on guest posters to post on their blog. Jon Morrow  is one of the most successful in teaching how to do this. You can find out more by clicking the link at the side.
   • And Jon’s Headline Hacks is a tool I use almost every day when I write blogs, landing pages, sales pages, articles or chapters for a book or a presentation. They are FABULOUS and FREE.
     
3. Submit posts just as you would articles. While this is strictly not guest blogging, if someone searches Squidoo or Mashable and finds your blog then it has the same effect as a guest post just less directed and focused. You can submit your post to groups and if your headline is good enough or your friends are helping you, they will share your post, comment on your post or just generally help build your credibility. In 2009, I joined a group on Facebook that helped me take the blogs on Get out of Stuck Excel from an Alexa ranking of 5 million to under 1 million. Unfortunately since then, it has gone back up to over 1 million. (But working on that).

Why Guest Blog?

Thousands of blogs are posted EVERY HOUR of the day. Take a look at some of the infographics on Pinterest to see some of the infographics and numbers, especially the content Marketing Explosion Infographic.

This blog’s readership grows every day but blogs like Firepole Marketing, Copyblogger, Problogger or Stepcase Lifehack to mention just a small number grow even more because a blog with thousands of followers has a bigger pool to pull followers from.

Learn about Guest Blogging.

Blog on your own website.

Blog on organisational and association websites (but make sure you follow their rules).

TELL the WORLD about how your product or service Helps

Blogging is replacing many different off-line communication tools. Blogging allows you to tell your story and help people LOVE YOU or your product!

Blogging is one of the least expensive ways of testing an idea, promoting your idea and building the fan base to have people FOLLOW and BUY your products or services.

Will you blog today? In the comment box, promote your blog and I promise to comment on your blog link.

Enjoy today

Roberta Budvietas

Funds, Trust and Angels

Posted by Roberta Budvietas on Jan 15, 2013 in Business | 0 comments

Angel funding schemes, crowd sourcing  conventional loans and shares are a few ways to raise money that will help you take your ideas to $$$$s. But what do you know about community funding schemes? Are they an avenue when the bank turns you down?

 The Dragon’s Den

In several countries a television program called the Dragon’s Den was created to help product designers and service operators find funding. The contestants pitched their idea to five rich successful business people who then decided either to invest in the business or not. The investment always meant a shareholding in the company and the dragon’s often took on a powerful position as a director and mentor to the business.

Many contestants failed to gain any funding for several reasons. These included:

Dragons’ Den (Photo credit: dullhunk)

• They wanted funding to support themselves while they developed the product
• They refused to give up control of their business to the dragon’s for the investment
• They had no real plan to develop the market for the product.

Yes it was a program for entertainment but what it also did was point out that if you wanted investment in your business, you needed to be prepared to work you butt off for nothing, you needed an understanding of the market needs for your product and you needed to have a plan to for what the money would be used for and the return on investment as a result.

And remember that the investment is returned with interest as agreed at the time of the signing of the documents.

Angel Fund Loan Schemes

Angel investors are usually affluent individuals who put capital into a start up business. Sometimes they take ownership equity or some other debt instrument.

There is usually some form of accountability for the business owner borrowing the money and the angel or the collective investing often have some performance accountability until the debt is repaid or forgiven due to the business failing.

Crowd Funding

This results when there is a collective effort of individuals who network to support the efforts of other people. Crowd funding is often used to support causes as well as start up businesses or development of some free product (software or inventions).

Recently crowd funding has been achieved by selling small amounts of equity in a business to many investors. This has resulted in legislation on the administration and accountability for this investment in many countries.

Money, Trust and Accountability

Whatever the source of the funds are for the business to start or grow, the common theme is preparation and plans.

•  There must be a purpose for the money that benefits the prospective clients and the community.
• The person receiving the money must be prepared to report back on what is happening with the money
• Each side (lender and borrower) trusts that the money will be used as stated and will be returned with some form of interest (real or social)
• Records must be kept and available for reporting back as requested.

Whatever form of funding a business receives, it makes a difference.

 It can help people who have never been accountable before to take responsibility.

 It can increase the self esteem of the borrower because someone else believes in them and their ability to carry out the plan

 It makes a difference in a community because the community takes on the responsibility for giving a helping hand to others in the community to increase their independence and ability to earn an income for themselves by their efforts.

 Often the amount of money is small but the trust in handing out the funds is a blessing that only an angel can give. It touches the pocket and the soul, the mind and the heart.

Do you have any angel stories in your life? Please share them in the comments and if you believe we need more angels to help business,  share this story and ask others what they need and what they would give.

To your growth

Roberta Budvietas

3 Things Stopping Your Business Growth

Posted by Roberta Budvietas on Jan 9, 2013 in Business, Buyer Experience, Purpose | 0 comments

Everyone want to grow their business a bit each year. Right?

• After all, everything costs more each year so we need more income.
• Our desires increase so we need more revenue.
• And most of us just want MORE because we want more.

But do you know the 3 things that may be preventing your business from growing?

A Tale of Lost Vision

Once upon a time there was a business that had enjoyed a steady growth each year. They had more clients and made more and more money each year. They began to focus on new markets and they succeeded more. They took some shortcuts and cut some corners and made even more money.

And then one day the market changed.

And when it changed they discovered that their shortcuts and sloppy service reduced their competitiveness. They discovered that their lack of investment in staff and the loss of the vision by the General Manager and the Director, meant their staff generally just wanted to do as little as possible to collect their pay check each week.

And after 20 years in business, the business limped to its demise. From a successful small business it suddenly was no more. It’s assets were stripped and it faded into “has been land”.

Another Tale of Lost Focus

There was a brilliant man who developed a camera back in 1888 which changed the way we capture images forever. As a result of this invention a company was born and grew and grew and grew.

The company grew in areas that were not related to film and cameras. It purchased several companies totally unrelated to image and films.

Then the market made a shift to digital and the company no longer was the innovator but found itself running hard to catch up with the changes in image capture and storage.

And last year, this 110+ year old company declared bankruptcy. It stopped because it stopped focusing on the needs of its original clientelle.

A Tale of  Shiny Object Syndrome

This tale is about a self employed person who keeps looking at the next shiny object to solve their problem. They have spent hundreds (thousands) of dollars on products, training, software packages and dozens of other different tools to build a business. They have downloaded hundreds of eBooks, whitepapers and other educational material.

Of the materials and resources and contact people they have met, they have NEVER completed any program to implementation.

On any given day, three or four new promises are presented to them and at least once a week, they buy the next object. 

They have done hours of training, have certificates for completing training but what they never seem to complete is implementing it into their business and then looking at how the next shiny object will enhance their business.

They keep looking for the shortcut, the answer to a prayer that will magically flip the switch and make the money flow. They know what to do. They advise others what to do but they FAIL to do it themselves.

And as a result, they survive and persist but they never thrive and grow. And while most of the time they have fun. the financial burden can become wearisome and holiday time never mind sick time, just never happens for them.

What Stops Growth?

1. People without vision, passion and purpose. People who lose their way and forget what buyer needs they are meeting.
2. People who forget to focus on what they do well. People who think of the business growth rather than their buyer needs and the market changes as technology changes the way needs are met.
3. People who look at the shiny object or the next quick fix. Growth is slowed radically when you are constantly looking for the next solution and never fully implement or follow through on the most recent. A good mentor or coach can help you chose the right path and stick to it. But the challenge for many business people is to have the flexibility to consider new ways with the discipline to implement their strategy and plans and meet their current target market‘s needs fully.

While there are more things stopping growth, these three are often the keys.

To grow you business you need to:

• Keep your vision and purpose alive. Fuel your passion to meet the needs of your clients and the community you work in.
• Keep focused on the needs of the people you serve. And remember their needs keep changing so be agile but focused.
• Implement one thing at a time. And listen to the people you hire to support you. Ask them questions. Challenge their thinking and together you can both grow. But first implement and incorporate the whole. Do one thing well instead of 10 things poorly.

Grow, turn your ideas into $$$$s and always have some fun, earn some funds and stay fit, agile and alert. Life is lived on purpose and today is the one that really counts so make it a good one.

To your success

Roberta Budvietas

Skyfall, Duty and Your business

Posted by Roberta Budvietas on Dec 11, 2012 in Business, Buyer Experience, Marketing, Mindset, Needs | 2 comments

An Aston Martin DB5 as seen in Goldfinger. Expensive items are often part of a glamorous lifestyle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

No one cares about your business except you but if you fail to do your duty to care about your prospects, clients and customers, you will lose your business.

Have you seen the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall? The movie pits duty and loyalty against technology and greed to show the audience that there still is a place for old fashioned values and service.

What is Service?

Listening to an audio tape in Teaching Sells this morning, Sonia Simone reminded me that unless our business helps people achieve what they want and makes a difference for them, our prospects are unlikely to buy from us. Our clients and prospects do not care about us. So service is about taking care of the needs and wants of others and making a difference for them.

• Service is not servitude.
• Service is not enslavement.
• Service is genuinely offering another person the fulfillment of their desire within the scope of your offering.

BUT

Business is about exchange of service. You get something and you give something.

I meet Your need or want but you meet mine too. The exchange keeps the whole thing working. Without the exchange NOTHING works.

What is the duty of a business?

James Bond never does things in a conventional manner. He is never obedient. He never does what is expected but he understands that his duty as an 007 is to protect the realm and so he does whatever he believes is right to eliminate the bad guys, He does his best every time. He never regrets. And he keeps his word. He never assumes only calculates the odds and looks at the patterns and trends. And he never takes anything personally. And that means he rarely if ever doubts himself and his ability to serve Queen and country.

But…

James also knows that the people giving the orders are not always right. He knows that he often has different information than his bosses and he weighs up the information given with his experience and strives to achieve the objective. He responds to the situation.

In business, you need to respond to the situation.

The recipe for business success involves a pinch of responsiveness, a smidgen of  anticipation and a healthy dose of preparedness and flexibility. Mix together with keeping your word, doing your best, assuming nothing and taking nothing personally and remember that regret is unprofessional (according to M) and even when things fail to go according to your plan, you will sleep well and enjoy life.

What next for your business?

2013 is days away. But your future starts today.

• Your future is about doing duty and serving clients, making a difference in their lives.
• Your business will survive because you meet the needs of your clients and make a difference to them.
• Your business will thrive and prosper because you offer something that makes a difference to your clients lives.
• Your future is about doing your best, being impeccable with your word and continually learning, adapting and moving forward.

Roberta Budvietas

What do you want to earn?

Posted by Roberta Budvietas on Sep 10, 2012 in Behavior, Budgets, Business, Buyer Experience, Cashflow, Planning, Vision | 4 comments

What you want to earn and what you earn are often very different for many people.

To earn anything means that you need to do something, say something, produce something or talk to someone. There is always a correlation:-

effort  = income

There will be times when the income may seem disproportional to the effort you put in though.

There will be many times when you work very hard and seem to achieve nothing. Oh and before you tell me that winning a lottery or another game of chance, think – you have to buy the ticket or enter the contest.

So let’s look at what you want to earn in your business.

You need to do some research and you also need to do some personal mindset work.

1. Look at what other similar businesses earn. Keep in mind that the revenue in must also cover the cost of the goods you sold, some of your expenses and the related taxes.
2. Look at how comfortable you are at charging that rate. If you feel that the norm in industry is comfortable for you to charge than see what happens if you increase that by 10%. Unless you believe that the rates are too high for your target niche, try never to charge less.
3. Look at what you were earning as an employee and how that income supported your lifestyle. In your own business will this be adequate for you or do you need to earn more? If you need to earn more, what more will you deliver to your clients?
4. And finally, look at what your clients can afford to pay. If the people you want to deal with can afford what you want to earn, then charge them that price but unless you can find clients who are able to pay you what you want to earn then you will never earn it.
5. And finally, figure out if there are enough hours in the day to deliver what you want to earn. If you are the sole deliverer of your service and your service delivery model requires you to produce the goods, then you are limited by the time you have available to deliver. For example – If you get paid $20.00 per hour and can only work 5 hours per day 4 days per week, you can only earn 20*5*4= 400 per week out of which you will have to pay costs and tax.

Take some time to figure out what you want to earn and then create a sales forecast and a cashflow forecast to see if you are VIABLE.  It always surprises people when they do the numbers how hard it is to earn what they want.

In the comments let me know if you are earning what you want and what you are doing about changing the situation.

To your well-being

Roberta Budvietas