8 Actions For A Startup Business – #5 Take Courses and Webinars

Feb 142012
 

You take courses for at least two reasons to learn and to meet people. Keep learning! Keep networking!

Kinds of Courses

  1. “Live” Course. This is just as it says. You’re in a seminar or course with a group of people in a physical place like a hotel. Pros: networking with people, “personalized” attention from instructor Cons: cost – your time to get there, parking and fuel, no free “recording” of the course.
  2. Telecourses (phone courses) or Webinars These are a new use of an existing technology – phones or computers. Pros: recording of the sessions if you have to miss one, cheaper, no travel time for you or the instructor, no cost for parking, can get a replay if you’re not available, you can use your laptop computer for webinars Cons: networking with other participants is difficult or impossible, you may be at a client and therefore no access to long distance or computers, difficult to get to someplace with wireless access for webinars

You can see that both types have their pros and cons. For me who can’t travel as easily since my stroke (if a seminar is in town I either have to pay for a taxi or find another participant to give me a ride) the telecourses and webinars are perfect. I can take several each year and I never have to leave home. Thank goodness for technology:-) But choose for yourself.

Why Take Courses?

  1. Well, as a lifelong learner I believe in education and learning. So you should never stop learning. Even if it’s a free teleclass as long as the advertising of the speaker’s next course they’re offering is kept to a minimum, sign up for them. The good news is that all teleclasses are recorded. The bad news is that the slides used in a webinar aren’t always available.
  2. Networking is the first kind of marketing I always suggest. At a live seminar you can choose the other students you wish to and talk with them or set up to meet them. You also have an opportunity to meet the instructor in person (skype takes care of that if you take a telecourse).

How do hear about them?

Ask the same people you asked about what newsletter to subscribe to (#3 in my list of 8 actions) and books to read (#4 in my list of 8 actions). I’ll repeat them here.

  • Ask your mentor and your coach which ones they go to or listen to. Ask them which ones they would recommend. Have a list of what’s offered that you’re considering.
  • Read websites and go to the ones the business owners suggest.
  • Ask other women at networking events.
  • Check out the ones the writers/ owners of the newsletters you subscribe offer.

 

Remember to check them out before you spend the money. Take a free teleclass they give. Make a list of what matters to YOU. Make sure professional development costs are in your planning budget.

Early in 2011, I  took a group coaching program/ telecourse for 10 weeks from Tsufit  – “Step Into Spotlight Live” at  http://tsufit.com/blog/ and it was very productive. Often I’m called a “marketing expert” and that’s because I keep learning – through books, newsletters, telecourses and conferences. But I learn the most from YOU – my students and followers. YOU ask the questions and if I know I tell you the answer. If I don’t know I tell you and then search to learn it and then tell YOU :-)

That’s how it works. It’s okay to not know the answer. Just ask … then you’ll know :-)

What don’t you know? Ask here and I’ll give you answer AND so will others!

8 Actions For A Startup Business – #4 Read Books

Feb 102012
 

Reading is wonderful. I’ve always loved to read – anything :-) Buying books is one of my only my booksaddictions. So entering a bookstore is a “dream come true” for me. I was so happy when they first opened coffee shops IN bookstores. Now I can start reading what I’ve bought. But enough about me.

Have passion for your business topic and love to learn.

You can learn a lot from books. Recently I decided I wanted to learn more more about a concept called neuromarketing. I had the name of several books so when I had the opportunity to go a bookstore I could scan them and decide which ones were for me. I ended up buying two of them.

Forms of books.

It used to be that there were two forms for books – hardcover and paperback. I know you could also get “books on tape” or books with large fonts. Now there are also ebooks. More authors are making sure their book besides being on paper is also an ebook.

It’s really difficult to choose an ereader because each book chain has its own. But that’s another post.

What should you read?

  • It goes without saying that you need to read books about your topic. It’s professional development (here in Canada you can deduct Professional Developments books and not just courses) or Research and Development and it should be ongoing. So if you took a course and think you can stop learning then you can’t.
  • Go beyond your topic. Stay at the leading edge. That’s why I’m reading books about “neuromarketing”.
  • Read about how to start a business and how to market. Remember that you can’t know too much.

Where can you learn what you should read?

 

Tell me what books you’re reading. As you know, I love to know about them :-) Share the titles with everyone!

8 Actions For A Startup Business – #3 Subscribe To Newsletters

Feb 082012
 

OK. You’ve chosen a mentor and hired a coach. What else should you do.

Do you remember when all newsletters were printed on paper and came by mail? I do. In the 80s when I co-owned an Apple computer store in Toronto, we had a one page one. It was even before desktop publishing. We would type it (on computer), print one, give that to a printer, tell him how many copies to make, pick them up, fold and stuff them in envelopes, put a label for each customer on the envelope (Yes. We had a database program.), put a stamp on each and go to either a mailbox or the post office to mail them. WHEW! No wonder we were one of the few companies that did them :-)

Ezine or newsletter? What are they called?

newsletterThey’re now electronic and are called either ezines (pronounced like magazine) or newsletters. Some businesses still have a paper one partly because their clients don’t have/ use/ know computers. We use them because it’s “free” to start and postage (at least here in Canada. As of January 1, 2012 it costs 61 cents to mail inside Canada) is too expensive.

Why subscribe to newsletters?

There are several reasons and each newsletter ALWAYS has a way to unsubscribe. It’s the law in Canada and the U.S. So subscribe to several for now. You can always unsubscribe.

Get several that are run by people in your business (your competitors). Here’s what to look for:

  • do they publish in text or in html (the “pretty looking” format) and do they give you a choice
  • what do they write about (you may want to write on their topics)
  • do YOU learn something (you should always be learning and this one way)
  • do they give you solid information or do they just advertise their products (the rule of thumb is 80% knowledge and 20% sales)

How do you know which newsletters to subscribe to?

  • Ask your mentor and your coach what they subscribe to. That’s why I had you get a mentor and a coach to start.
  • Read websites and go to the ones the business owners suggest.
  • Ask other women at networking events.

 

Well. What newsletters do YOU subscribe to and why? Tell everyone so they know. I get ones about blogging, about marketing to women, about small businesses, about PR, about networking events here in Toronto, …. You can see that I subscribe to many.

Every once in a while I “clear the clutter” and unsubscribe to a few. How do I decide? Well for me they’re often ones I don’t read any more.

8 Actions For A Startup Business – #2 Hire A Coach

Feb 032012
 

What is a coach and how is it different from a consultant?

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines them this way .. “a coach instructs or trains. … a consultant gives professional advice or services; an expert.”

That doesn’t really help you, though does it? A coach can and should be expert too. But what matters is that the coach is a teacher who is also your cheerleader and trains you so you can do it yourself and the consultant gives you advice and possibly does something for you.

You’ll eventually need a consultant but you need a business coach first.

Why should you have a business coach?

This is your first business, isn’t it? You were very good at your job and may have moved up through the ranks. You may have worked for a large corporation that had multiple offices. But this may be the first time you’ve had your own business and you probably don’t know what to do.

Don’t worry. If you hire the right coach, you will.

A coach knows the right question to ask. A session with a coach could be a mini “steeping” (like tea) session where you shut out the world and just steep and reflect inwardly.

Who is the RIGHT coach and how do you find her/ him?

Here are some ideas.

  1. Make a list of these: who you are (do you ask a lot of questions?), how you’d like to work (daily or weekly, by phone or in person), how you learn (are you visual, auditory or kinesthetic?).
  2. talk to friends or colleagues who have their own business and ask who they used. Would they use them again? Refer them?
  3. If you don’t know anyone with their own business call a “stranger” who has a successful business that’s similar to the kind you want to begin and and ask them.
  4. Ask your mentor. That’s why you you get one first :-)
  5. Make an appointment with several people who are coaches. Many have a free session. See who “fits” with you.

REMEMBER …

  • it’s YOUR decision. YOU choose them not vice versa.
  • You’ll have a lot of no’s before you have a “yes”
  • Trust your feelings.

Let me know what happens. If you’re already in business then what criteria did YOU use to choose YOUR coach?

8 Actions For A Startup Business – #1 Have A Mentor

Jan 272012
 

This is the first post on 8 actions to take for your startup business. The very first thing to do is to find a mentor.

What is a mentor?
Many people have them in their jobs – someone experienced and trustworthy who already does the job one aspires to. I’d add wise. My Oxford dictionary defines wise as “… having … or showing experience and knowledge judiciously applied; sagacious … sensible; discreet …”

In business the same thing applies – have a mentor.

Kinds of mentors
1. Unreachable (for now) but someone who you aspire to be like. Use Oprah as an example. You may want to be like her – a successful and well known business woman who does everything with integrity. You would like to meet her but assume you’re too “unknown” for her (for now).

2. Someone nearby who you could contact. The TV show “The View” today had each of the hosts talking with their mentor. That person followed them through the years, always believed in them and their dream, gave them advice in a kind and gentle way, helped them up when they were down, and felt pride (and showed it) in each accomplishment along their path.

Qualities of a mentor
Reachable
Helpful
Believe you can do it and tell you to your face
Trustworthy
Wise
Someone you aspire to be like
Gives you advice in a kind and gentle way

 

You really need a mentor when you have a startup business. I aspired to be like Mark Victor Hansen for marketing and Jack Canfield for self esteem. They’re remembered best as co-authors of the Chicken Soup book series. In 1982 I met each of them. They each helped me in their own ways and today if I call they call back.

That’s what a mentor is. Do YOU have one yet? Who did you choose?

© 2012 Trudy Van Buskirk – Business and Marketing Coaching for Boomer Women Business Owners Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha