From The Publisher
Visibility - Credibility - Profitability
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isibility - Credibility - Profitability. Isn’t that what your business is all about? Let’s get serious here for a minute. You are building your business, trying to reach and serve more clients so you can make a difference in the world and make more money –RIGHT?! How are you doing that? Speaking? Blogging? Advertising? Writing a book? Applying for the Innovative Woman in Business awards (see page 3)? Becoming an Expert for Today’s Innovative Woman magazine? To grow your business, you must be VISIBLE as a CREDIBLE expert. That is what will catapult your bottom line. There are many ways to build that visibility and they all entail marketing! We have many great resources here at Today’s Innovative Woman magazine to do just that! You’ll find new articles every day on our website that help you think “outside the box”. Our articles here in this print issue are all about helping you market you and your business. Marketing is EVERYTHING you do – from posting on social media (stop ranting about personal issues; it is unbecoming of a professional) to how you introduce yourself at a live event. From the very first impression, wherever that is, you are setting yourself up for SUCCESS or failure. You’ll find lots of great resources on our site – all of our EXPERTS, our live event, our new RESOURCES page, our Innovative Marketing Intensive program…everything here at Today’s Innovative Woman magazine is designed to increase your VISIBILITY, CREDIBILITY and PROFITABILITY! Enjoy this issue and read on to create your SUCCESS!
To your SUCCESS!
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July/August 2013
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IN THIS ISSUE
11
All About You
All About Business
12 Box of Crayons
8 How to Naturally Guide Your Visitors To Take Action on Your Website
20 My Email or My Emotions 28 Are You Willing to Change Your Thinking to Create the Business You Want?
10 Smart Women Go Off-Line
All About Success
14 Are You Willing to Change Your Thinking to Thrive in Your Business
16 Dallas Success Summit
18 Is Your Branding on Target?
24 2nd Anniversary and THE ROAD TRIP!
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All About Business
How to Naturally Guide Visitors to Take Action on Your Website Three Ways to Engage Your Audience by Jennifer Bourn
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oday, the web is littered with cluttered, ugly websites, and mediocre free offers and email opt-in boxes. And, in-boxes are filled with Spam from companies they did not give permission to.
As a result, consumers are more picky about who they give their email address to. Consumers need to get to know you, make a connection, see if they resonate with your message, and get some more information before they commit to giving you their email address, buying a product, or hiring you as a client. That means slapping them in the face with a giant opt-in right when they get to your website isn’t always the best solution – and plastering your opt-in all over your site just because a marketer told you to, doesn’t work like it used to a few years ago. Here’s what is working right now: The KLTC Process. KLTC = Know, Like, Trust, CONVERSION. Visitors to your site need to naturally be lead through your content, in a way that makes sense, feels good, and tells a story. You need to guide them to take action without being pushy or “salesy”. Here’s what it looks like: Know: Visitors get to know who you are, what you do, how you can help, and why they should care. Like: Visitors discover if they like your perspective and approach, and if they resonate with your message. Trust: Visitors want to know if you’re really the expert you say you are, if others have had success, and what makes you an expert. Conversion: Visitors want to be told what to do next. It needs to be distraction-free, easy, and obvious “a no-brainer”.
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When you implement the Know, Like, Trust, Conversion approach on your website, you’ll notice that your ideal clients will self-select themselves right into your best-fit services, products, and programs; sales will be made with more ease, and your sales cycle will be shortened; and new business leads and referrals will increase!
Jennifer Bourn is the brand strategist, WordPress website designer, and graphic designer behind the award-winning branding and web design firm Bourn Creative, LLC near Sacramento, California. Bourn Creative helps successful entrepreneurs who are frustrated with their brand and website transform their marketing materials and their business into an extraordinary and lucrative brand through a combination of speaking, consulting, and done-for-you services. Learn more at www.bourncreative.com.
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All About Business
Smart Women Take Their Business Offline by Joy Chudacoff
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he other day, I was speaking with a smart woman entrepreneur and at one point she said, “Joy, I think I need to take my business off-line.” My response? “Bravo!” In today’s world, with all of its moving parts and the opportunities to build an on-line business, I sometimes see entrepreneurs leaving a valuable tool out of their marketing plan---building “off-line” relationships to create another stream of referrals. The thought of building a business “on-line”—you know sitting behind your laptop in your pajamas all day, never having to leave the house sounds really attractive to many people. This works well if you are in a products based business where the only contact you have with real people might be the UPS guy or gal. However, if you are in a servicebased business like an attorney, consultant, coach, event planner, real estate--you get the idea, then it’s essential that you have both an online and off-line presence. If you are a service provider, you are the product. I find many entrepreneurs dragging their feet on this part of the business plan and it’s the one area that can guarantee new business. Today, my business is still over 85% referral based. These referrals come from satisfied clients, speaking engagements and client attraction events that I’ve attended. Do I enjoy on-line business?
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Absolutely. However I’ve learned the value of taking my business off-line. Here are a few solutions for taking your business “off-line” to attract more of your ideal client: 1. Public Speaking – This has been the number one best way for me to build my business “off-line.” It has produced the most highly qualified referrals over the years. The audience can get a sense of who you are and your presentation can identify more clearly how you can help them. Make sure you leverage your time well by speaking to groups that are your ideal client.
2. Referral Program – Create a “referral” letter that you can send out to all of your current and past clients. Let them know that you are accepting new clients and explain how your services can benefit people they may know. You may be surprised that clients (and good
July/August 2013
friends!) can forget exactly what you do if you don’t remind them often. I’ve had prior clients get my letter and call me to begin working with me again!
If you are a woman entrepreneur in a service based business, the tips and solutions above can generate more ideal clients quickly. In fact, it can happen in as little as 30 days if you put these action steps into place right away. Successful marketing is like cooking: You need more than one ingredient to make the recipe turn out just right. Anything is possible. Everything is waiting for you.
3. Attending the “Right” Events – Getting out and attending events is key to the growth of your business. Make sure that you attend events where you truly enjoy the programs being represented and it’s essential that these events attract your ideal client as well. Let me clarify something: If you are drawn to a particular charity or fund raiser that is not well attended by your ideal client, that’s wonderful. Giving back or enjoying the spiritual growth you receive is important to your success as a human being. It’s key to pick one more venue to attend regularly so that you can also work on building your entrepreneurial dream as well.
Joy Chudacoff is Heralded as “The Coach for Women” in the millennium, Joy Chudacoff has x-ray vision when it comes to helping women discover their Big Ideas, Dreams and Goals! Joy draws on both her personal life and entrepreneurial experiences to support women in achieving better ways of living. It’s her passion, her purpose and her business. She is a Professional Certified Coach, highly skilled group leader, motivational speaker and a gifted communicator. Visit Joy’s website, SmartWomenSolutions.com, where you’ll find more articles plus information about her Women’s Success Circles, Smart Women Smart Solutions Coach Certification Programs, Speaking engagements, teleclasses and upcoming events for women. Joy can be reached at 310-454-2005 or by email, Joy@SmartWomenSolutions.com.
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All About You
Box of Crayons
by Debbie Saviano
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emember the excitement and anticipation of the beginning of school and the excursion to buy school Supplies? One item in particular out shines all others; Crayola Crayons!
Binney & Smith Company (later named Crayola LLC) first developed the crayon in 1903. The easily recognized brand of the yellow box of crayons first debuted with the No. 8 box of eight crayons. The initial colors were red, yellow, blue, green, violet, orange, brown and black. Over the years, the assortment of colors along with the Number of crayons in a box has expanded. Beginning in 1949 with the introduction of 48 colors, followed by 64 colors in 1958 and finally the big box of 96 in 1993. The brand of Crayola is cemented in the minds of young and old. When crayons are needed, the initial thought is Crayola even though there are numerous other brands available. Today, there are 120 different crayon colors including glitter, glow in the dark and even scented. Did You know it is possible to create 16 million colors from red, green and blue? Nonetheless, for the young at heart, it is only necessary to have the timeless colors of the original box of eight to activate our imaginations. • • • •
Do You remember your favorite color? Was art your favorite class in school? Did teachers instill a love and appreciation for creativity? Were you encouraged to color outside the lines?
As you prepare your marketing materials and use of colors, here is a list of the emotions and reactions researchers attach to the enduring list of eight crayons. Next time someone in your life gets out the famed box of crayons let your mind wander back to your favorite masterpiece or “Piece De Resistance”. Happy coloring!
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Debbie Saviano is a solopreneur whose daily mantra is to “help professionals take action and create an online presence by developing, nurturing and maintaining relationships.” Debbie utilizes social media to connect, network and engage with others. She is an advocate for “continuing the conversations”. Thanks to the internet highway, borders are no more; people can interact and communicate around the globe. Professionals from across the country call Debbie for her unique skill set in designing LinkedIn profiles & Pinterest platforms aimed at engagement and retention toward a target market. Debbie also provides business solutions to small businesses who seek to utilize social media to enhance their brand, improve skills of their employees, expand social proof and establish an online presence.
ATTRACT Clients Instead of Chase CLIENTS With PRECISE, CREATIVE & STRATEGIC Actions
Pam Russell Sales Transformation Strategist
www.pam-russell.com • pam@pam-russell.com 469-939-1678
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All About Business
Embrace Your Time Dollar Equation to Make Your Business Thrive by Caterina Rando, MA, MCC
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ttention! If you are a woman entrepreneur and you are like the thousands of women entrepreneurs I have coached over the years, there is one thing I know for sure. You are doing too much of what needs to be done yourself. Time to cut it out because it is costing you too much. Let’s look at how much. Everything you do in your business is either revenue producing or non-revenue producing. It is important to ask yourself, “what non-revenue producing and revenue producing activities can I get someone else on my team to do?” This is especially important to ask when non-revenue producing activities are taking away from revenue producing activities.
The Time = Dollars Equation Determine your current time equals dollars equation. This tells you the dollar cost to attribute to your time. Figure out what a day and an hour are worth in your business. For example, if your goal is to generate $10,000 a month in gross revenue and the average month has 20 business days in it, each day would be worth $500.00, and each hour of an eight hour day is worth $62.50. If you are engaged in business activities that are worth less than $62.50 an hour, like data processing, bookkeeping, proofreading, filing, then you are losing money– especially when these activities are taking away from revenue producing activities. Know your time dollar equation to be better set up to make decisions in your business.
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What is Your Time = Dollar Equation? As you know, time is money. But how much money is your time worth? Let’s figure it out right now. Answer these questions: What is your monthly revenue goal? __________ Divide that number by 20 = _________ This is what a day is worth. Divide that number by 8 = __________ This is what an hour is worth. Sometimes we can be so busy we get in the way of our own success. How can that happen? Any time we perform an activity that is not the highest and best use of our professional time, we hold back our business. Become more aware of how you spend your time, spend more of it on revenue producing activities and watch your business thrive. Caterina Rando shows ambitious women how to be loud and proud about the value they bring in order to make their businesses thrive. She is a master certified coach, business strategist and creator of the Sought After Speaker Summit http://soughtafterspeaker.com and The Business Breakthrough Summit http:// bizbreakthrough.com Check these sites for more business building ideas. You can reach Caterina at (415) 668-4535 or via email at info@caterinspeaks.com.
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All About Success
Success!
Dallas,Texas
SUCCESS Summit Dallas was a huge SUCCESS! Over 100 women registered (plus 3 men)! 2 days, tons of learning and awesome connections! Mark your calendar for SUCCESS Summit Los Angeles, September 27/28, 2013!
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Photos Courtesy of Linda Cotter Linda Cotter Designs.com
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All About Business
Is Your Brand on Target? By Linda Cotter
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reating a brand is one of the most important things you can do for your small business. So what exactly is a brand? For one thing, it is more than just a color pallet, logo and website. In simple terms, your brand is your promise to your customers or clients. It tells them what they can expect from you, your products or services, and what you are offering that is different from your competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and what people perceive you to be. There are many important factors to consider when developing your brand, or re-branding an existing company. One thing to keep in mind is the importance of knowing who your target market is. It is important to know what might resonate with them while communicating who you are. It’s a fine balance between what you like, and what the client needs to see or feel from your brand. As you consider these questions, ask yourself, are you choosing an image that speaks to customers and prospects, or are you creating a brand that speaks to only your needs? 1. What is your company’s mission statement? 2. What is the perception you want your clients to have about your business? Or if you have an established brand, how do your clients currently perceive you and your business? 3. What are the benefits and features of your business and how do they help your clients?
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4. What qualities would you like your clients to associate with your company? 5. How are you services or products unique?
If you take the time to answer these questions while keeping your clients in mind throughout your brand-building efforts, your brand will be an effective way for you to connect with your clients and prospects and keep your branding on target.
Linda Cotter is a graphic artist and fine art photographer. Her goal is to help her clients produce better results through great design. Whether it is a logo, business card or website, she incorporates each client’s unique personality and style into the design with an eye-catching flair. This creates the opportunity for them to attract the desired clients and results they are looking for. Visit Linda’s website at www.LindaCotterDesigns.com. She can be reached at (310) 486-3108 or by email at Linda@LindaCotterDesigns.com.
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All About Business
Managing My Email or by Bibi Goldstein
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here are so many areas of our life that we try to manage that we get sucked into this vortex of feeling like we never seem to get ahead. I gave you some tips earlier this year on email management and sorting, but thought it might be a good idea to try and approach some of it from an emotional perspective. I was working with a client recently who loved to, on a daily basis, let me know how many emails she had in her in-box when she got in every morning. I didn’t think much of it until one of our team asked her if she was in a competition with someone to see who had the most emails every day. Her response was very surprising; “No, but doesn’t more emails mean you’re more important”?
My Emotions
The idea that more and more people are unsubscribing to lists they have been on for years, or putting general auto-responders for their in-box to provide answers to the more frequently asked questions, completely defies how this client responded. At this point I was intrigued and started to ask more questions and found out that she doesn’t unsubscribe from lists because she feels like someone “punched her in the gut” when they unsubscribe from her list, so she couldn’t do that to someone else. Further, she went on to tell me that she responds to emails from some people before others because they’re “nicer” to her! I’m an analytical kind of person, so I decided to ask a few people and even did some “gut checks” while going through my own emails. I was actually very surprised how much my emotions played in the last two points she mentioned (I never wanted to be THAT important!, so the first one didn’t resonate with me). There was one thing that she didn’t mention that I found myself doing, which was the feeling of missing out on something if I unsubscribed from an email that potentially
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could have useful information for me in it one day. When I’m working with people to get organized they say “I want to keep this because I may need it someday”. Well, if I need it someday, I’ll just have to Google it. In the meantime, I punched a lot of guts.
Bibi started Buying Time with a friend to give everyone the opportunity to have access to support and assistance with any task. With over 22 years in the transportation/logistics industry Bibi has specific experience in space and time efficiencies through Six Sigma training for warehouses from 1,000 to 30,000+ square feet. This provided her the ability to visualize the final outcome even when the client cannot. Bibi recently co-authored “Get Organized Today” with other organizing experts hoping to reach out and help more people. Bibi can be reached at www.buyingtimellc.com.
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All About Success
Our 2nd Anniversary and The Road Trip! by Cathy Alessandra
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t began almost 17 years ago…in a suburb of Chicago, with 2 little girls under age 3 and a mom looking for things to do with them. That is how my first company began – out of my own need.
Even though I worked in the corporate world before kids, I’d always had the entrepreneurial spirit. I had begun with a couple different multi-level marketing companies but I was selling someone else’s dream and I wanted to create my own. I had started a business before having kids, making and selling dried floral arrangements at the local weekend craft fairs, but the continuous weekends quickly took the fun out of that creation. While looking for something to do with my daughters, I realized there was no local publication serving families like me – who wanted to do something local and not drive an hour for story-time. My first company began in 1995 – What’s Up For Kids. It began as a 4 page newsletter copied on colored paper and I drove around and distributed 1000 copies with my newborn son while my girls were in preschool. It quickly grew, eventually increasing distribution to 20,000 of a full color magazine and incorporating kid expos and fairs within southern California. In 2009, I began to have that entrepreneurial yearning again. My daughters were entering high school and beginning to look at colleges. I myself was moving out of the market I had served with What’s Up For Kids (parents of kids
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ages 2-12) and was in search of something new. I started on a journey of selfdiscovery – what did I want to do next and who did I want to be when I grew up? I began the National Association of Entrepreneur Moms later that year. While I had lots of “mompreneurs” joining the group, I soon discovered that I had moved past the “mompreneur” phase and I wanted to work with women who may or may not be moms, but who were serious about growing their business. In July of 2011, I launched Today’s Innovative Woman. It’s been a “road trip” – hills, peaks and valleys, roadblocks and detours, but as with any road trip, so much fun. New ideas and inspirations are like that shiny new car. And I’ve picked up so many friends along the way. I learned a few things along the drive : •
You need to know your general direction but not the final destination (it always seems to change)
•
You can’t let the roadblocks and detours stop you (there is always a way around), and
•
You need to travel the road with others (because you will get tired and it helps to talk to someone while driving.)
My road trip continues as I add new exciting stops along the way, and of course taking the detours as necessary! I’m not sure when, if ever, I’ll reach my final destination. Because for me, much of the fun is the actual journey. But then again, isn’t that the exciting part of being an entrepreneur? Thank you for being part of my journey, for being on the road trip with me, for jumping in the car and saying “let’s hit the road”. You are why I do what I do. You are why I love it so much! YOU are my inspiration to keep on truckin’! Happy 2nd anniversary to all our readers, writers, experts and advertisers. YOU are Today’s Innovative Woman!
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All About Food
TAKEand ACTION AND CREATE Arugula Ricotta Bruschetta YOUR ON LINE PRESENCE THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE
Last night we had a wonderful batch of spicy Arugula from our tiny garden that was ready to be picked. It’s my husband’s garden spot—not mine. (I do the cooking and he Pete is the gardener and bartender. Pretty nice, huh?) He keeps us well stocked with fresh herbs and tender greens. I love having fresh herbs and greens available. Not only is it more economical and fresher than anything you can find at the grocery store, it’s a great way to get the kids involved with gardening, tasting and eating. Although arugula is fantastic in salads, I love using it in sandwiches and as a topping for bruschetta and even pizza. I seasoned the ricotta with a smidge of grated garlic and scented it with lemon zest. The lemon-y, creamy ricotta was a great foil for the spicy arugula. This is a great way to start a meal or to have as a snack. You could pair this with a variety of wines, ranging from a very dry sauvignon blanc to a rich chardonnay. Arugula and Ricotta Bruschetta A handful of arugula, washed and trimmed 1-2 Tbsp. Olive Oil 2 tsp Champagne or White wine vinegar Salt and pepper to taste 1/3 cup of whole milk ricotta (I like Calabro) 1 tsp. of lemon zest ½ small clove of garlic, grated 2 tsp. lemon juice (optional, if you want a more tangy flavor) Salt and pepper to taste Grilled or toasted bread slices Combine the ricotta, garlic, lemon zest, and juice if you are using. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside. Toss the Arugula with the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. To assemble: Put a dollop of ricotta centered on your bread and top with the Arugula. Enjoy—It’s simple and delicious. Chef Phoebe loved cooking from an early age growing up outside of Portland, Maine. Her mother and aunt were accomplished self-taught cooks who welcomed curious Phoebe into their kitchens. From tapping her own maple syrup from trees in the yard to baking homemade bread, Phoebe learned at an early age about the delicious benefits of whole, natural, seasonal foods. Phoebe lives in San Francisco with her husband and their daughter. In her spare time she enjoys reading cookbooks, traveling, studying yoga practices and, of course, learning about all the latest culinary happenings from around the globe. To learn more about Chef Phoebe, visit www.studioofgoodliving.com.
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Are you frustrated with feeling like you are working so much but still broke and things are just not getting done?
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Do you have the correct business foundations set up in your business so that it can run and grow without you? Does it feel like your team just can’t get anything everything in place in time? Are you leveraging your current systems for your continued growth?
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Or are you like the many business owners I talk to that are throwing money at the wall, just trying to earn a buck?
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All About You
Are You Willing to Change Your Thinking to Create the Business You Want? by Debbie Delgado
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our current way of thinking got you here. Perhaps you’ve seen or heard this statement before, but have you ever stopped to think about it and how it applies to you? The way you think about things determines how you feel about them and what actions you take. So, for example, the way you choose to think about the current economy determines what actions you take in your business – everything from who you choose to offer your help to what investments you make to how you set your fees. And all of those decisions ultimately affect the results you will get. When you want to grow your business, or help more people, or simply create more income in your business, you will have to think differently than you have in the past! Because your current way of thinking will only get you your current results.
very profitable month for me, that I learned that most people in my industry thought December was the toughest business month because people were too distracted by Christmas to focus on their own development. So they would lay off their marketing, not offer as many programs, and sure enough, would get the result of an unprofitable month. I wasn’t thinking that way, and I had my best month of the year in December!
This brings to mind a powerful example from early in my business. It wasn’t until about halfway through December, which was a
I was thinking differently than my peers and I got much different results than they did. Was it just the thinking that created
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those results? No – it was the actions I took as a result of the way I was thinking. I was out there helping people through my workshops and talking to people about their problems and offering them my services. And they were saying yes! One of the first books I ever studied on the topic of creating wealth was Wallace Wattles’ The Science of Getting Rich. And in it, he makes the statement “There is no labor from which most people shrink as they do from that of sustained and consecutive thought; it is the hardest work in the world.” I have certainly found this to be true in my own business journey over the last 7 years! And it’s been my willingness to think differently than most that has landed me in the top 4% of coaches! Even when it feels like hard work to think differently. Even when it means that some people will reject me when I dare to think differently than they do.
What if only 3% are willing to think differently than the other 97%? Can you imagine how different your life would be if you started thinking more like the 3%? How many more people you could reach with your message? How much good you could bring to the world? Will you keep thinking the thoughts that have gotten you your current results, or is it time for a change in your thinking?
Did you know that 3% of the people make 97% of the money on this planet? Do you ever wonder why that is?
Debbie Delgado of DebbieDelgado.com helps female entrepreneurs transform their worry and frustration about their businesses into Money and Meaning! She helps women re-ignite their passion for their businesses and make more money so they can focus on serving the planet instead of worrying about their bills! Debbie has helped hundreds of women just like you step into control of their own lives and business so they never have to be at the mercy of what’s going on in the outside world again. Learn more at DebbieDelgado.com.
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Today’s Innovative Woman P.O. Box 3893, Palos Verdes, CA 90275