Booked Solid Women

I have spent the better part of the last eight years in the company of women business owners. The one overall common theme among us is that most of us have a really hard time marketing and promoting their businesses. Nor do we  know how to self-promote.

As girls, were never taught how to brag about ourselves. We play in a cooperative manner and are more concerned with inclusion, relationships and how everyone in a group is getting along rather than about winning or losing. While this is an incredibly valuable skill and women are known to be better relationship builders, we often do ourselves a disservice when trying to compete in a world where both sexes are competing.

Note that women are starting businesses at 2-3 times the rate of men, yet no more than 10% ever hit the $1 million mark. Add the fact that women employees earn only $.77 for every dollar a man earns. I believe big part of the reason for these statistics is that many women simply lack the confidence to ask for what they need. Ladies, the first step to confidence building is as simple as learning to like yourself.

 Jennifer Read Hawthorne, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul, believes that learning to like and even love oneself is a lifelong process. “You can surround yourself with competent leaders, but you can never really compensate for low self-esteem. Sooner or later, you will be discovered.” Hawthorne recommends several tactics for boosting self-esteem:

1. MAKE SURE YOUR BUSINESS IS YOUR PASSION. Your low self-esteem could be tied to not following your heart.

2. ASSOCIATE WITH PEOPLE WHO SEEM GENUINELY HAPPY. Happy people are usually at peace with themselves.

3. ASK FOR HELP. Don’t try to work on your issues alone.

Warwick agrees it’s important for women to pursue their passions and also believes women need to manage their expectations. The perspective that “only perfection is good enough” limits our advancement in both business and life. Once we accept that perfection is not the norm, we can have the freedom to take risks, make mistakes, and pursue our dreams.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-NEWSLETTER OR WEBSITE? You are welcome to, as long as you include this blurb with it: “Marketing and PR expert, Cindy Earl, publishes the ‘Corner Your Market’ monthly e-newsletter with 1,700 subscribers. If you are ready to start attracting more ideal clients and have more fun, money and freedom in your business, get YOUR free Quick Start Marketing Kit now at: www.cymcleveland.com.” 

Cindy Earl is president and CEO of Corner Your Market and CindyEarl.com. Both companies are dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and service professionals attract all the ideal clients they want and live the freedom-based lives they desire, with more time, money and joy. Cindy is a respected marketing and PR expert and a Book Yourself Solid Certified business coach. You can learn more about Cindy at www.cymcleveland.com and www.cindyearl.com.

Cleveland Book Yourself Solid Workshop Rescheduled for Friday, July 17

Corporate College East, 9 am – 5 pm

For more info and to register: www.cymcleveland.com/BookYourselfSolidWorkshop.htm

I’ve become frustrated that many of the self-employed women I know are not making the income they desire because they are not attracting enough high-value, high-paying ideal clients. I want to change that in a big way. I also know that so many women business owners who will profit from mastering the Book Yourself Solid (BYS) small business marketing system and I want to make that happen.

Book Yourself Solid is a flawless lead generation and client attraction system designed for self-employed service professionals and solo-entrepreneurs. This simple three-part system, created by mega-best-selling author and marketing guru Michael Port, will help you build the most profitable, meaningful and absolutely booked solid business, even if you hate marketing and selling.

Here are two low-cost solutions I’ve come up with:

1. I am putting together a group of 8-10 really cool women to work with me as a group in a 90-day Book Yourself Solid Group Coaching Intensive, and 
2. I am planning the first-ever Book Yourself Solid 2-Day Workshop in Cleveland on May 15-16 (watch for details coming soon!).

 
The 90-Day Group Coaching Intensive Kicks-Off April 15 

Participate in 90-days of mastering the premier marketing and lead generation system designed for solo-professionals. We meet as a group (on the phone) for one hour, once a week for 90-days. In each weekly teleconference, we will work on one aspect of the Book Yourself Solid sales and marketing system.

I’ve found this way of working amazing! You will be a part of a small mastermind group of other talented, like-minded women to help you master the material and help you on your jouney.
 
The group call will be on Wednesdays from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. starting April 15 (or if the group prefers a different time, we can change it).
 
Quickly, here is a rundown of what the program will look like…

I’ve designed it as a 90-day experience, so that you can get maximum results in minimum time.

• Meet weekly by teleconference with your group
• Keep on track with exercises from the 80-page workbook which accompanies the workshop
• You will have access to me any time, by e-mail, over the 90-days for questions and advice, plus you will have the support of your group each step of the way.

The Book Yourself Solid Curriculum

Week One:
The Red Velvet Rope Policy

Would you like to dump the dud clients and work only with your ideal clients? People who inspire you to do your best work? The Red Velvet Rope Policy can show you how.
 
Week Two:
Why People Buy What You’re Selling
Do you know why people buy what you are selling? Learn to identify your target market, understand the urgent needs and compelling desires of your target market, how to offer investable opportunities, and how to demonstrate the features and benefits of your products and services.
 
Week Three:
How to Develop a Personal Brand
A personal brand will help clearly and consistently define, express, and communicate who you are, whom you serve and why you do it. Personal branding is far more than just what you do – it is you, uniquely you.
 
Week Four:
How to Talk About What You Do Without Sounding Bland or Boring

One of the primary reasons that small businesses fail is that they struggle to articulate – in a clear and compelling way – exactly what solutions and benefits they offer. Learn how to talk about what you do without the traditional “elevator speech”.
 
Week Five:
Building Trust and Credibility
Having a successful business requires that you are considered credible in your marketplace, that you are perceived as likeable, and that you earn the trust of the people you are selling to. Learn how to become a credible expert in your field, build relationships that build trust over time and how to have authentic sales conversations that get results.
 
Week Six:
Super Simple Selling
Like it or not, if you are in business, you are a salesperson. However, if you are like most solo-professionals, the sales process may make you feel uncomfortable. Learn to shift your thinking about sales and an easier selling system that is more about your clients and less about you.
 
Week Seven:
The Power of Information Products
Nothing increases your credibility like creating your own products and programs designed to serve your target market’s needs and desires. People love to buy packaged learning.  Learn just how easy it can be to create your own signature information products.
 
Weeks Eight – Twelve:
The Book Yourself Solid 7 Core Self Promotion Strategies
 

The Book Yourself Solid Networking Strategy
The Book Yourself Solid Direct Outreach Strategy 
The Book Yourself Solid Referral Strategy
The Book Yourself Solid Keep-in-Touch Strategy
The Book Yourself Solid Writing Strategy
The Book Yourself Solid Speaking/Demonstrating Strategy
The Book Yourself Solid Web Strategy 
 
This group will start on April 15. Oh, wait, I forgot to mention the investment. I’ve cut the rate in half for my email subscribers. It’s just 3 payments of $249 for the entire 90-day program (normally $1,495). Ready to sign up?

Send an email to cearl@cymcleveland.com.
 

When designing your sales cycle, which is really just a process for building trust over time, you need to know the following 6 things first:

1. Who is your target client or customer?
2. What are they looking for (i.e. how do you solve their problem)?
3. When do they look for you?
4. Where do they look for you?
5. Why you? (FYI, in the BYS system, this is your “why you do it statement”)
6. How do you want them to engage with you? (i.e. what is the first thing you want them to do? For example, you may want them to visit your website and sign up for your e-newsletter).

For all of you who called in for the Booked Solid Women tele-conference today, my apologies that I was not there on the call for you. I was having technical difficulties and could not get on the call for some reason. Very frustrating! I am really sorry.

Our next call is February 24 at 11 am EST. I promise to figure out the problem and will be there on the next call for sure.

Thanks for your ongoing support!
Cindy

Thanks again to my good friend, Neen James, for joining us on Tuesday’s Booked Solid Women call. Neen shared some tips and strategies to be more productive every day. Several tips she shared helped me tremendously:

Here is a great article from Neen to get you started on being more productive….

How to Make This Your Most Productive Year Ever
by Neen James

Each year we start the year thinking about our goals, our job, our health, all the ‘new’ routines and commitments we make to ourselves to make this our best year yet… but two weeks into January all our planning and resolution goes out the window! You can make this your best year ever by applying some of these simple ideas (and print this article, keep it handy and re-read to keep you on track).

Make a date. Make time in your schedule to find a quiet, comfortable location to set your goals. I spend a morning at my favorite local cafe in January every year to review my goals and set new ones for the year ahead. Find a local restaurant or café and spend time doing the same – support your local businesses.

Take five. Create five categories for which to set goals: physical, educational, spiritual, financial, and relational. By setting goals for each of these areas of your life, you will be taking a balanced approach and not neglecting any important aspects of your life.

Use it or lose it! I recently read – people who spend a thousand dollars or more each year on their personal development will increase their business by 20 percent. Read more books, attend Chamber of Commerce or industry workshops, attend a business card exchanges, listen to CDs in your car, do online courses or enroll at college or university. Keep your brain active.

Make time. Eliminate time-robbers from your day – make a list of all the things you do that rob you of your time, such as watching too much TV, running errands inefficiently, checking and responding to your email too often, making long phone calls, waiting in traffic and even other people. Focus on controlling your time – organizing your day efficiently and getting rid of the things in your life that are not a high priority.

Out of sight, out of mind. Remove your in-tray from your desk or get rid of it all together if you can! Keep it out of sight so the contents don’t distract you and so that people don’t drop new items into it without you noticing.

Unplug. Schedule one TV-free night each week. Switch off the TV and instead listen to your favorite music, play a board or card game, read a book, enjoy a quiet meal by candle light (alone or with someone whose company you love), go on a date in one of your local restaurants or soak in a bath. Start to be aware of your television viewing habits and make a point of only watching programs that you truly enjoy and stop wasting precious time in front of the TV.

Manage your reading. Create a reading file and put it in your briefcase. If you don’t already have one, start a reading file and carry it with you on your way home. You can get through a surprising amount of reading while on public transport to and from work and while waiting in a line.

Find a mentor. When you identify the person you believe would be a suitable mentor, spend some time watching them in action. Ask around to find out what other people’s opinion of your chosen mentor are and find out all you can about their achievements, beliefs, values and way of operating. This will give you insight into them before you approach them about mentoring you.

Schedule email time. Email messages popping into your inbox all day long can be an enormous distraction, particularly if your email is set to alert you every time new mail arrives. To check in on your emails and respond to them as they arrive not only distracts you from whatever tasks or projects you are working on but can rob you of an entire day, responding to other people’s needs while your own are neglected. Schedule a couple or a few times each day to check and respond to emails rather than constantly looking-in on your inbox or being bounced there by your email program with every new message.

Your signature. Use your email program to create an email signature block that will automatically attach to all of your outgoing messages; it’s a little like an email letterhead. It saves you the effort of including your contact information every time and brings a professional touch to your communications. You might simply include your name, business name, contact details and website or you might also include a sentence or two about your business, a special promotion you are running with a link to your website, or even a favorite funny or inspirational quote.

Spring clean. Schedule time to clean out your email regularly, once a month should be enough to keep you on top of it. Empty your deleted items and any unnecessary sent items, and go through any completed project or task folders and ensure that anything you are keeping is essential to your records. Cleaning out your email will ensure you are managing your email files and disk space effectively.

Set up systems. When using filing cabinets, decide how you will allocate your space to make it easiest to locate your files: for example, rather than mixing all your files together you might decide to keep current customer files in one drawer and potential customer files and marketing information in a separate drawer, or you might choose to store current projects in one drawer and research and reference information in another, or you might decide to file everything in alphabetical order – you get the idea – look at the type of files you have and decide how to logically divide them into categories. Then, label the front of each drawer with the type of files it contains.

Choose to be amazing! It’s as simple as making a commitment to yourself every morning that you will have an amazing day. Remember, life is not a dress rehearsal – we only get one performance, so let’s give it our best!

Neen James, MBA is an International Productivity Expert: by looking at how they spend their time and energy – and where they focus their attention – Neen helps people to rocket-charge their productivity and performance. A dynamic speaker, author and corporate educator, Neen demonstrates how boosting your productivity can help you achieve amazing things. With her unique voice (Aussie accent), sense of fun and uncommon common-sense, Neen delivers a powerful lesson in productivity. Find out more and subscribe to Neen’s free monthly ezine at http://www.neenjames.com