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  • December 10, 2023

In Search of the Big Green Line

September 12, 2011 by Karen Swim

Long-journey

Image via Wikipedia

Fidelity Investments “Turn Here” campaign shows a green line that investors follow to stay on track. You can watch the video here: Fidelity | Turn Here. The core message of the commercials is that Fidelity gives you the direction to reach your goals. I’m sure that there are days when many of us have longed for a green line that carefully guides us down the path, telling us when to stay straight and when to turn.

hallway with doors to monks' cells at the form...

Image via Wikipedia

In business the path is a never ending hallway with doors on each side that lead to yet another hallway with more doors. A big green line would handily tell us which door to pick on any given day and avoid the occasional stumbles we have when we make the wrong choice.

If only life were that easy. We can however, map out a journey that will keep us on the right track to our personal and professional goals. Before you make your line you need a very clear starting and ending point. It sounds simplistic but far too many businesses have murky goals such as “be profitable,” or “success,” and even cloudier ideas about how they will get there. [Note: Your target market is NOT everyone with a pulse!]

 

X marks the spot ... A view looking west towar...

Image via Wikipedia

You should have a concrete destination that allows you to focus in on it with laser sharp clarity. Once you know where you’re headed, you can begin to detail how you will get there, the length of time it will take and who can help you reach the destination.

The “who” of your equation should include your target market, your organization (do you have the right people in the right positions to get you where you need to go?) mentors, advisors and experts. With these details in place you can focus on the how, what and when of your journey. How will you move from start point to destination? What tactics align with your strategy? When will you begin and how long will you remain at each stop along the way?

The clearer you are about where you want to go, the easier it will be to draw your own line. And like every good plan, you should periodically check and modify as needed.

So where will your green line take you? Feel free to share your goals in the comments and if you need help with your destination strategy let me know.

Resources:

The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly

21 Shoestring Marketing Secrets That All Small Business Owners Need to Know

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Filed Under: Business and Career Tagged With: business, small business advice, small business marketing, small business planning

Think Big, Act Practical

October 12, 2010 by Karen Swim

bunny_slippers 006
Image by cinnablythe via Flickr

In part 2 of my interview with  Solo Business Coach and Entrepreneur, Trish Lambert she tells all about her Fuzzy Bunny Slipper Contest and the lessons learned in putting together the promotion. If you missed Part I, you  can read it here.

Contests can be a great marketing tool for solo and small business owners. It’s a fun way to promote your business while giving something of value to your community. So Trish, tell us about your contest?

I have wanted to find a way to really celebrate solo business owners for some time. We should be proud of ourselves for what we achieve and how committed we are.  So I conceived the Fuzzy Bunny Slipper Contest (named after one of the elements of the Success in Sweatpants logo). It asks entrants to submit a photo and an essay that answers the question, “Why are you a solo business owner?” in a creative and interesting way. To make the effort of preparing a submission worthwhile, I’ve put together a great prize list that includes: 64G  iPad  (Grand prize), networking Blu-ray disc player(2nd prize) , and a Flip HD Mino videocam (3rd prize) . There is also a bunch of business building products and programs in each prize level, courtesy of our expert panel: Donna Amos, founder of International Association of Solopreneurs; Peter Bowerman, The Well Fed Writer; Mike Michalowicz, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur; Adam Urbanski, The Marketing Mentor and Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad.

Submissions are open until October 19. Then the entrants need to kick into high gear and get everyone they can to vote for their entry. The 12 entries with the most votes will be passed on to an impressive panel of judges, who will select the winners.

How can people enter?

Go to the Success in Sweatpants page on Facebook and go to the “Contest” tab if you have already landed on it. “Like” the page to get access to the opt in box. Fill this in, and you will get directed to the contest entry page.

Can you share some of the things you have learned from running this contest?

I am learning a lot with this contest. One thing is that you  need  to be prepared to launch a very aggressive promotion campaign.  By “aggressive” I don’t mean “in your face.” I mean that promotional activities need to start well ahead of the contest (a month is not too long a time frame) and they need to continue at a high volume every day once it is launched. I have been amazed at how much promotion is needed to get noticed by people.

Another thing is certainly thought-provoking for me. You know how we are told all the time that we need to think big, go beyond our comfort zone? I think I need to come up with an edited version of that…something along the lines of “think big, act practical.” This contest is definitely a result of big thinking: photo PLUS essay, popular vote PLUS judging panel, “sexy” prizes. And in addition, I plan to create an ebook of all the entries and a 2011 calendar of the 12 finalists. If I had it to do over again, I would have scaled this down quite a bit. Perhaps just a photo contest, with winners selected by popular vote, because I have found  that making it as big as I have has also added layers of complexity, both for me and for the entrants. I promise you that the 2011 Fuzzy Bunny Slipper Contest will be much simpler!

Any other words of wisdom for solos?

It is so very important to remember why you started this journey, because going solo is always a challenge. Always.  Sometimes the challenges are small, and sometimes the challenges loom above us. Progress can seem slow, results elusive, tasks disorganized.  And there are simply those days where nothing is right, you wonder why you went out on your own, and thoughts of spiffing up your resume and going back to the old way flash across your mind.

Remembering why you are flying solo is your anchor any time the going gets tough. When you are in the middle of one of those big challenges, getting in touch with the real reason for all this will help you get through.

And celebrate yourself. You achieve more in one day than three people do back in the corporate world, and you need to stop and acknowledge that from time to time. It takes courage and commitment to be a solo business owner, and we need to keep remembering that!

Well said Trish, thank you!

Do you have promotion or small business questions for Trish? Please feel free to add your thoughts or questions in the comments. Don’t forget to enter the contest and please tell your friends and colleagues!

Trish Lambert is a solo business coach and entrepreneur. Her coaching helps solo business owners to stop spinning their wheels and produce the right results in  their business. A fervent believer in no gimmicks, just RESULTS, she helps solos to move  forward toward their goals.

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Filed Under: Business and Career, Ideas, Marketing Tagged With: business contests, contest promotion, small business marketing, solo business owner, success in sweatpants

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