Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Dealing With Business Setbacks

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I got an email recently asking for some advice. The question is one that I think all of us face from time to time, especially with a new business or during lean times, so I thought it would be a good idea to share the question and my response with you. Details have been changed for privacy reasons, but the problem is universal.

I am feeling so discouraged right now. I spent a lot of time over the past month trying to sign a new client. There was a proposal followed by questions, meetings, emails, conference calls and more questions. Just when I thought I had the job, I found out it went to someone else.

I was counting on this work and really put everything I had into it. I really need the money I would have made. What do I do now? I don’t have any other prospects. I feel frustrated and sad and I just want to quit.

Wow. Been there, done that. We have all had times when things didn’t go our way. Sometimes big things, like this. Rejection at any time can feel like you were punched in the stomach, and it is especially hard to take when you really need the work (and the money–mostly the money!).
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Why Aren’t You Doing This?

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why-notRecently, a client told me that she is worried her husband will lose his job. Although her business is profitable, they depend on both incomes and couldn’t get by on her current income alone.

As we talked about what actions she could take to prepare for this possibility, she mentioned a few things she believes she could easily do to dramatically increase her income if her husband is laid off. This caused me to ask, “Why aren’t you doing those things now?” She didn’t have an answer at first, and finally said, “Well, I guess because I don’t have to do them. We make enough money right now.”

It is easy to get comfortable with where you are, and not make improvements until an outside force pushes us into it. That doesn’t mean that you have to do anything and everything to chase the almighty dollar, but if there are things you can do to make yourself and your family more financially secure, shouldn’t you at least consider doing them? Maybe some of them aren’t right or will overwhelm you, but even if there are just a few things you can do that will increase your income without messing up your life, shouldn’t you do them?

Pay special attention to things you can do that will generate recurring income. If there is something you can do once and get paid again and again, why not start there? Examples might include publishing a book or ebook, setting up a membership site, or licensing something you created.

Don’t wait for a crisis to strike before you step up and start doing the things you should be doing now.

Set Yourself Apart from the Crowd

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Marketers are a dime a dozen. There are so many people flooding onto the Internet to try to make money – and the poor economy only increased the flow. Too many people see the Internet as the path to easy riches, and the desperation makes them rush into a sloppy bid to make money.

They aren’t thinking about longevity – they’ll think about that later. Unfortunately, their reputation will be carved in stone by that time – sometimes with plenty of blemishes to ensure no one will ever trust them – or that they will simply be ignored.

If you go into business, do it with a promise to yourself that you’ll make a splash. That you’ll set out to be known for something. What that “something” is will be different to everyone.
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Would You Buy Your Business?

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Amazon ImageYou’ve got a huge pile of money and you are looking to make it grow by investing in a business. There are hundreds of thousands of potential businesses that you could invest in. Think about the return that you would like to get on that money. A percentage dividends annually? Double the value of your equity in 3 years? Whatever it may be, you will be considering whether or not a potential business is going to reach that financial goal you have with your pile of money.

Now, forget about all your hard work and attachments: Would you buy your own business? The weeks and months following my experience on Shark Tank, I realized that I would NOT buy my own business. Why? Because the return wasn’t there. At least, how it was at the time.

That hard reality completely changed the way I viewed my business and set fire to a growth pattern that is making it a worthwhile investment.
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The High ROI Hour

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If you were to write down all of the things you do in a typical day, what might that list look like? You would probably be surprised to realize how much time you spend on tasks that do not make money for you. For example, in a typical day you might spend one hour on email, two hours on client work, one hour on invoicing and bookkeeping, one hour on the telephone, one hour on social networking and other online activities, and the other two hours…who knows where they went.

Based on that list, two hours were spent on actual paying work. The rest was administrative, overhead and wasted time. Although some of those other tasks are necessary (It doesn’t pay to do the work if you do not invoice and get paid for it.) it may be possible to have them done by someone other than you. Or you may be able to set up a more efficient system so you spend less time on those tasks.

Here is the really important part: [Read more…]