Marketing , 1 Comment

A Buyer Persona is Your Best Customer Intel

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Because you understand that good outcomes derive from good decisions and good decisions flow from good information, I wonder if you’ve thought of tapping the customer data you already have and using it to create a most useful document known as a Buyer Persona? You’re likely familiar with the term, but do you know why they’re useful, how and why a Buyer Persona helps your business?

In short, a Buyer Persona is the ultimate customer profile. It describes a company’s ideal customers and the motivations that bring those customers to your door. The Buyer Persona confirms the business solutions your customers and prospects seek, the goals they want to achieve and problems they want to solve or avoid when they contact your company. Smart marketers recognize that a Buyer Persona increases the effectiveness of their marketing strategies, improves the ability to develop and nurture brand loyalty and can positively impact sales revenue.

The simple and elegant logic behind the Buyer Persona is that it’s much easier to promote and sell your products and services and build a favorable brand when there’s a handy reference point to remind you of who the customer is and what s/he wants to achieve when doing business with you. Utilizing your in-house data to create a Buyer Persona is an act of resourcefulness. You create the profile by recycling and recombining data you already own to produce a new resource that you can use. A Buyer Persona is the delicious meal you can make from what’s already in the fridge.

Who Buys From You?

The better you know target customers, the easier it becomes to reach them. To market and sell effectively, it’s best to learn as much as possible about your prospects and structure marketing campaigns that directly speak to them. Collecting customer information and then distilling it to formulate a Buyer Persona will be useful in numerous ways, from the marketing strategies you devise to the marketing channels you choose, the content you create, the blog or newsletter topics you publish, the case studies you write, to the products and services your company offers.

The profile should contain information that reinforces the understanding of your ideal customer’s priorities, pain points and buying patterns. Another benefit is that the Buyer Persona keeps you focused on addressing customer priorities instead of your own. The Buyer Persona for your typical customer will include his/her job title, education level, age range, industry, desired outcomes for using your category of products and/or services, goals, fears, budget range and potential for repeat business.

Also include in the profile experiences that stood out when performing project work, insights you’ve learned when negotiating a sale, info from customer invoices and other data that adds to the understanding of your ideal customer. Other helpful details are the job title of the usual decision-maker for the sale, the end user of the product or service, the average length of the sales cycle and the busy and slow seasons.

For many companies, the sales process remains the same regardless of the customer’s industry. The industries are different, but they approach finding and evaluating B2B vendors in the same way. Keep in mind the buying style of your customers as you compile and organize the information to include in the Buyer Persona. It may, or may not, make sense to to align with job titles, rather than industries, when addressing your marketing approach and sales process.

Most frequent goals or problems

You want a clear understanding of the motivations of prospective customers when they find your website and accept your call-to-action to, for example, read your blog, listen to a webinar replay, or read a case study. When you’ve documented the usual customer pain points, goals and/or motivations, you can address them. Create a Buyer Persona that will guide your website messages, marketing content, upselling offers and after-sales support. The idea is to consistently showcase your company’s expertise in providing the solutions that target customers need, always demonstrating how your product or service can solve problems.

Top level priorities

The easiest way to guarantee a sale is when your prospect is shopping for a solution that’s needed to reach a time-sensitive goal or resolve a big problem. However, there will be members of your target audience that have a problem, but are not necessarily ready to pay for the solution. As you collect data for the Buyer Persona, it’s useful to consider the prospect’s organizational imperatives and the decision-maker’s take on circumstances that would make him/ her willing, or unwilling, to allocate the resources necessary to do business.

The subtle art of qualifying prospects, e.g., recognizing window shoppers from serious buyers or learning what may worry your prospect about moving forward with your product or service, might be addressed with a list of three or four questions that can be asked when a prospect requests a consultation to obtain more information about your solutions.

Cultivating a powerful ally who is an end-user of the product or service and/or developing a relationship with the decision- maker can also move a sale along but ultimately, timing, urgency and budget are the best enablers of a sale and they are factors beyond your control.

Most common objections

Are there concerns that make prospective buyers think your solutions are not the best fit for their problem or goal? Customers may become reluctant to buy as a result of discouraging feedback from a colleague or the memory of a negative experience with a similar solution.

Diplomatically move to uncover the source of that hesitation, which may be based on a misunderstanding of some sort. Way back in the 20th century, I learned the Feel, Felt, Found method of handling objections and found it to be effective.

  • “I understand how you feel.”
  • “There have been others who’ve felt that way also.”
  • “Let me share with you what those who’ve had good luck with this solution have found”.

From there, address how your product or service will deliver the desired solution and ensure that the goal will be achieved and problem solved.

Discover trusted information channels

When they expect to make an important purchase, from which information channels do the members of your target market get recommendations? There may be numerous channels consulted and it’s a given that you cannot have impact or a presence in all of them. Instead, establish a presence in those media outlets where you’ll get visibility and credibility at an affordable price.

Knowing the social media platforms that are trusted and utilized by your target market when they investigate your category of products or services is essential. Also essential is to SEO optimize your company website to ensure it contains popular search terms that help your company appear in searches. Your website is the primary source of information about your products and services. Make sure that you post and call attention to inbound marketing reources— e-books, case studies, white papers, blog archive, newsletter archive and earned articles in which you and the company have been featured.

 Identify their buying process

Also known as the buyer’s journey, in the Buyer Persona you can detail the steps that prospects take to evaluate product or service options as they decide what will be the best fit for their needs. So that you will maximize the power of your inbound marketing resources, that is, the case studies, links to a webinar in which you appeared and other relevant information, investigate which resources that prospective buyers require at every step of the evaluation process.

For example, newsletter and blog posts may be persuasive at the midpoint of the journey but a case study or an especially persuasive customer testimonial may be most helpful in the final stage of decision-making. To correctly identify your target customers and reach them with compelling messages and content, know the reasons why they choose your solution, the perceived barriers to purchase and how your solution will improve their lives.

 Craft Your Message

Once you can see in your mind’s eye your ideal target customer and therefore know who you’re talking to, you can align and personalize your company’s brand voice and marketing messages with that vision. Your marketing campaigns will feature content that feels authentic and will resonate. When you know who your Buyer Persona and understand your customer’s goals, organizational imperatives, priorities, worries, itrusted nformation channels and buying process, you can develop sales and marketing strategies tailored to just those people who you know are an excellent fit for your company.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Il viturno (The Vitruvian Man). Drawing by Leonardo da Vinci circa 1490.

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More than Noise: PR Takes Your Brand to the Top

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There are several ingredients in a recipe that results in the creation of a successful business and a good reputation is surely one of them. Reputation, more commonly known as the brand these days, is also comprised of several ingredients and a savvy public relations strategy is one way you can influence the perception of your entity’s brand reputation.

A well-conceived and executed public relations campaign has long been recognized as one of the most powerful strategies available for building a successful brand reputation. The goal of PR is to shape and manage a brand’s reputation and credibility by employing selected media outlets to reach target audiences and cultivate a favorable impression of the brand. Because the perception of a company’s brand influences the degree of success that it achieves, a favorable brand reputation will help position a company to grow and prosper.

Launch a PR campaign for yourself and/or your company by contacting selected media outlets and sending information about an activity in which you (and by extension the company) will participate, or another story line that may interest the outlet’s readers, viewers, or listeners. In a written document known as a press, or news, release, include the basic facts of your story, a brief bio of yourself and your company and a professional-looking photo of yourself. In a day or two, follow-up with the recipient of the press release to gauge the interest level in the story and the possibility of its inclusion in a future issue or broadcast.

An effective PR strategy

By using a strategy of targeted messaging campaigns designed for print media, digital outlets including webinars, videos, or podcasts, speaking engagements and other personal appearances, plus the interaction encouraged by social media engagement, companies and individuals have numerous options for enhancing the perception of their brand within the target audience. Effective and consistently orchestrated PR campaigns create conditions for brand awareness and loyalty to take root over time.

To structure an effective PR campaign specific objectives, messages that resonate and media outlets that are trusted by the target audience and appropriate for your campaign messages and objectives, are critical factors. Knowing target audience motivations for using your company’s products or services provides the campaign talking points. You can tailor PR messages around themes that align the brand narrative with important concerns of the audience. Make sure that your PR messages are clear, concise and consistent across all media outlets used.

A persuasive brand narrative

An important feature in a successful PR campaign is developing a brand narrative that engages your target audience while also differentiating your company (and you) from competitors. To be persuasive, the brand narrative must be perceived as authentic. Drafting a persuasive brand narrative requires that you first identify and define the core values, vision and mission of your organization and second, that you understand what target audience members expect to achieve or solve when they use your company’s products or services. Showcasing the unique qualities and value proposition that distinguish the company, individual, or product from competitors is also integral to developing a persuasive brand narrative.

Again, the brand narrative must feel authentic to the target audience. Authenticity in PR messages enables the development of lasting relationships by building trust through communications that reflect the individual’s or organization’s values. A consistently communicated brand narrative can eventually come to embody the brand reputation. In that way, effective PR becomes the secret sauce that enhances your company’s reputation and renown in a noise-filled, hyper-competitive business landscape.

What is newsworthy?

Regardless of the size of your business, obtaining (positive) media attention is possible and highly recommended. Editors, publishers and hosts choose the stories or guests they’ll spotlight based on who and what can be expected to generate an audience. The best way to determine newsworthiness is to consider the media outlet’s audience and what might be of interest to them. Will your story or information grab their attention? Below are typical factors that impact editorial decisions.

Impact. A story or person that appeals to many readers, viewers, or listeners and is therefore expected to attract a sizeable audience or many clicks is considered impactful. Estimate the impact that your story will have on the media outlet’s audience.

Human interest. Connecting with the audience emotionally is an effective way to bring attention to a story. A story or guest that is relatable has the power to attract a good audience.

Relevance. How important will your story be to the audience? In your press release and in the first sentence of your talk or article, can you share one or two surprising, if not shocking, facts that will grab audience attention?

Prominence. If prominent people or organizations do business with you and your company, media gatekeepers may assume that their audience wants to learn how you captured the attention of VIPs and that could lead them to include your story.

Timeliness. Your information or story will be more readily accepted if the action will either take place in the near future, or happened recently.

Scale PR for small business

The best PR can’t be bought (without a generous budget), but affordable and effective PR strategies and tactics can be designed to fit within most budgets. Social media has found a place in PR because the medium allows brands to interact directly with the target audience, encouraging an immediacy and relatability that audiences find authentic and conducive to building sustainable brand loyalty.

Be advised that incorporating social media into your PR campaigns is most effective when you follow regular posting schedules designed to keep fans and followers engaged and informed with meaningful content. Your postings may include updates on a talk you’ll give, a webinar you’ll host or participate in, best practices updates for your products or services, your most recent blog or newsletter post, or your thoughts or experiences about trends in your industry.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Ron Galella. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and celebrity photographer Ron Galella on Madison Avenue in New York City (1971).

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Navigating Difficult Business Conditions

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As business conditions in the US and the world continue to deteriorate, it becomes increasingly important for business owners to devise and implement strategies to shield their entity as much as possible from the economic fallout. When the going gets tough, the smart start planning. In general, encouraging sales revenue and figuring out which expenses can be trimmed are primary ingredients of your business survival recipe. There are other actions you are also advised to consider.

Review financials

Reviewing and interpreting your financial data enables you to make wise decisions that will protect your company. To understand which protective strategies may be sensible and possible for your entity, the planning process begins by first consulting your financial data. Refer to the overview of the big three financial statements in the April 18 post. Trust the story the data tells you and plan accordingly.

The Cash–flow Statement shows the ebb and flow of money through your business and allows you to predict when the most cash will be available and when cash will be at a low point. The tidal flow of money is critical to surviving a business slowdown. The Income (Profit & Loss) Statement reveals which products, services and other activities are most lucrative and you’ll want that information, too, as you construct the plan. On the Balance Sheet, you’ll find company assets, liabilities and outstanding debts or loans. Now you can determine where the business stands financially and how the possibility of decreased revenue could affect you. Your survival plan will start to take shape.

Study the previous 24-36 months of business performance history and use that information to project 24-36 months into a future that will be colored by a degree of turbulence. Each month, monitor relevant KPI (key performance indicator) values that reflect income and expenses, including:

  • top line revenues (gross sales)
  • accounts receivable (outstanding invoices)
  • accounts payable (bills owed by the business)
  • payroll (W2 and 1099NEC)
  • rent
  • utilities
  • software subscriptions
  • taxes

It is imperative that you’ll be able to cover accounts payable obligations and payroll for employees and/or Freelance outsourced help. You do that by doing whatever possible to ensure that accounts receivable are paid on schedule. Invoice on time and include a line that states payment is due upon its receipt. In reality, an invoice that is 45 or fewer days old isn’t past due. However it’s always in your interest, particularly when business is slow, to collect receivables quickly, to promote the timely payment of what’s payable.

Create action plan

Planning for an expected economic slowdown is how to prepare your business for survival. Don’t wait until you’re underwater. To power difficult a difficult business climate, business owners are advised to take a view from 30,000 feet look at the operation. See the suggestions below for tried-and-true recommendations that could help you save the day. If you have the money, it’s also a very smart idea to create an emergency fund and purchase business interruption insurance, to cushion the blow if disaster strikes. Who could have predicted either the events of September 11, 2001, or the arrival of the coronavirus and the subsequent months-long shutdown?

Trim operating expenses

Trimming operating expenses is an obvious and effective way to soften the impact of a sluggish economy. Examine your budget and reduce or eliminate paying for what you don’t need. Also, pick up the phone and attempt to negotiate lower credit card and/ or loan interest payments, cell phone rate and more favorable vendor contract terms (if your payment record is good). Marketing automation and other software as a service subscriptions might also be lowered by a modest amount each month.

Business travel, maintaining membership in certain business or professional organizations and attending certain conferences and trade shows may be expenses that you should continue, if possible, if the ROI is good. Don’t bite your nose off to spite your face. If you can cut even $50/ month your accounts payable tab, it’s a victory.

 Prioritize customer retention

It’s been convincingly demonstrated that it costs 5x more of your valuable time and money to bring in a new client than it does to retain the client you already have. Your relationship with existing clients will be an important asset during turbulent times. Keep them coming back by not only offering the products and services that deliver the solutions they need, but also by providing the customer experience they value.

Invite feedback, sometimes by finding opportunities where conversation with your clients can take place or by sending out a quick survey, maybe with your next invoice, so that you can learn how clients feel about doing business with your organization. Client feedback may alert you to problems that need your attention, information that is crucial. Inviting feedback also demonstrates that customer satisfaction is a priority at your company and it further enhances the customer experience.

Focus on best-sellers

In an economic downturn, promoting your best-selling products and services is a prudent strategy for both attracting new clients and maintaining current clients. Let the top line revenue on your P&L be your guide. Furthermore, support your top line by ramping up your customer retention strategy (or create one). Next, evaluate and optimize the customer experience your company provides as well, including after-sale support. Make the most of every touch point.

Revamp leadgen marketing

Don’t let tough economic times diminish your brand’s success. Instead, reassess your marketing strategies to stay ahead of the competition. If you’re working with a tighter budget, narrow marketing focus to enhance customer loyalty and encourage retention. Energize social media presence and digital marketing solutions to increase your brand’s visibility. Keep your finger on the pulse of the latest trends in marketing to tap into what’s capturing the attention of your target audience.

If you or a friend are adept at shooting and editing visually-engaging short videos, revitalize your marketing on YouTube (if your A/V skills are good), TikTok, or Instagram. They key is getting creative in your marketing messages to stand apart from competitors. By all means necessary, during the adverse economic conditions (and also when things improve), stay visible, watch your financials, be agile, look viable stay relevant and be cautiously optimistic.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image © Susan Doyle (pictured), founder and owner of Go Paddle in County Wexford, Ireland is an avid kayaker, coach, outdoor educator and a paddling ambassador for Canoeing Ireland through the Bridge the Gap program.

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Staying Alive: KPIs Make the Difference

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You’ll recall the overview of the 5 stages of growth that businesses of every type or size experience, if they survive, as discussed in the April 11 post. Today we’ll explore how three standard financial statements can help business owners maintain the health of their venture and position it to survive long enough to pass through the growth stages and grow as intended. Actionable data—Key Performance Indicators— are waiting for you in those financial statements and the numbers will show you how to best manage your entity.

Math might not be your strength but little by little, you can learn to recognize and interpret the numbers and allow your KPIs to do their job and function as guard rails that will make you an astute decision-maker. Running a business is all about making informed decisions that help your business operate efficiently and grow successfully. Just as your primary care physician monitors numeric values associated with certain of your bodily functions—-vital signs, your personal KPIs—-you do the same for your business.

Because 70% of businesses will fail after 10 years and you don’t want it to happen to you, let that scary thought motivate you to keep both hands on the wheel and manage your business wisely. There are many factors to evaluate, including your client list and the sales of your products and/ or services, but today’s focus is the financial management that your monthly or quarterly bookkeeping statements allow you to do. BTW, those statements also make preparing your quarterly and annual tax forms are more efficient and less stressful process.

Basic 3 financial statements

  • Income (P & L) statement. The income statement, also known as the profit & loss statement, is also known as the profit-and-loss statement. It sums up the money you collected from operations plus any other gains, as well as the money spent over a specific period of time. The basic formula is: Net Income = (Total Revenue + Gains) – (Total Expenses + Losses). You want your net income to be positive.
  • Cash-flow statement. The cash flow statement shows whether your business can pay its bills. This will give you a sense of where your business’ cash will come from and where it will be spent. Here you can also see customers that may “slow pay” to decide if they are putting your cash position in jeopardy.
  • Balance sheet. Your balance sheet summarizes your company’s assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity (or investment in the business), providing a snapshot of the financial health of the business at a point in time.

Trend analysis

Looking for trends can help you determine which products or services to promote, keep in stock, or stop selling altogether. Certain of your products or services may sell more frequently during some seasons and less frequently during other times of the year. Special promotions, perhaps advertised by way of email marketing and social media, is just one smart decision that examining sales trends can lead you to make. Another smart decision you might make is to initiate a demand pricing strategy and increase the prices of popular products or services during the time of year that they sell the most.

Get an unfiltered look at what clients prefer to buy on the top line of your P&L, Gross Sales Revenue. While many obsess over the bottom line, because it shows the total revenue earned (or lost) for the month, quarter, or year, the top line should not be ignored. When the top line shows healthy sales, it’s obvious that you’re doing something right. After that, it’s a matter of controlling expenses. Keep an eye on the trends in top line sales data, it is instructive.

Analyze and interpret

Also monitor your expenses, fixed and variable. Fixed (operating) expenses include office rent, W2 payroll wages and utilities. Variable expenses are often sales related, such as marketing and professional development. Increasing expenses may mean that you’ll have to alter some other part of your business (for instance, increasing prices when expenses grow). If certain clients are making late payments , potentially causing you to make late payments to your creditors, consider requiring late or slow payers to make a deposit of at 25% or so on the project you’ll do and/ or increase your project fee for late paying clients.

As you become more proficient in your understanding of financial data and interpretation, you can also calculate and follow certain financial ratios that can provide guidance. On your Balance Sheet you can calculate Net Working Capital, which is your current assets less your current liabilities. This is the amount of money you can use to operate the business day-to-day and invest in growth.

The Current Ratio equals current assets divided by current liabilities. In general, a ratio of one (1) or less indicates that there is not enough available capital to pay your expenses, which is a real problem. If your Debt-to-Equity Ratio (total liabilities divided by total assets) is greater than one (1), it is understood that the business is carrying too much debt—literally at a dollar to dollar ratio. Credit card debt and perhaps also other borrowing as a means to grow your business or pay expenses is bound to cause lending institutions to see your company as a credit risk. Direct your resources to paying down debt.

Bookkeeping software

If you have few transactions in a typical month, you may prefer to record client financial activity in Excel and send invoices in PDF format. If you have several client bills/ month you may prefer to install bookkeeping software. Freelancers and small business owners tend to work with small business specific, cloud, industry specific, or open source software.

Bookkeeping/ accounting software usually fulfills several functions in addition to generating the basic financial statements on a monthly or quarterly basis. You’ll also receive a collection of services that may also include invoicing, inventory management, payroll, financial reports and customer relations management features such as tracking client interactions, sales history and maintaining contact info. To compare features and monthly costs of several software services, click https://www.business.org/finance/accounting/best-bookkeeping-software/

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: This photo is from an album Elstner Hilton compiled in Japan between 1914 and 1918.

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The 5 Stages of Small Business Growth

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The question that everyone who’s ever launched a business has wanted an answer to is, what is the formula, the recipe, that when followed will result in a sustainably profitable enterprise? Furthermore, how does a business owner avoid the landmines that can tank the enterprise?

In 1983 Neil Churchill (1927-2010), former Professor Emeritus of of entrepreneurship at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France and visiting professor at the Anderson School at UCLA and Virginia Lewis, a senior research associate at the Caruth Institute of Southern Methodist University, conducted an intriguing study that examined and (indirectly) answered the question. Specifically, Churchill and Lewis examined small businesses and, despite the obvious differences that distinguish every business and every entrepreneur or solopreneur who goes into business—B2B, B2C, products, services, business model, target markets, level of owner’s expertise, experience and funding— identified patterns of success and problems that typically occur in small businesses. Unfortunately, the two were not able to write the recipe for a secret sauce, but they did identify and categorize growth stages and difficulties that can arise in those growth stages, information that is actionable and highly valuable.

You might say that Churchill and Lewis created a map that can help you find the path to success for your business idea and also help you side-step common pitfalls. I’m happy to share a few take-aways from the study and provide the link to the original research. https://site-453261.mozfiles.com/files/453261/Harvard_Business_Review_-_The_5_Stages_Of_Small_Business_Growth.pdf

While every business venture is an unique entity, with some having potential for enormous profitability and (most) others that only sputter along, hobbled by obstacles that frequently include some combination of insufficient funding, an unrealistic business model, or a limited number of customers who are inclined to purchase its products and services, there are foundational similarities throughout the spectrum of possible outcomes. In a study of a range of business types ,one that documents which actions or circumstances encourage positive results and which lead to unfortunate outcomes, patterns become visible.

First, the research showed that all businesses evolve through identifiable stages in their life cycle. Second, it was discovered that certain successes, challenges and decisions that must be made are typically associated with the different life cycle growth stages. When business owners know what to expect throughout the business life cycle, they can prepare themselves and the company to maximize what is likely to go well, if only by skillfully navigating through what is likely to cause problems.

In other words, a company’s development stage determines the leadership and managerial skill and pivotal decisions that promote success and avoid problems. The type of business that you’re operating will influence which factors will eventually appear. An awareness of the development stage of the business, as well as the most logical future plans for that stage, enables business owners and managers to make informed choices and prepare themselves and the company for the inevitable challenges. Below are typical circumstances that pertain to business owners and the entity as the business life cycle adapts over time.

The four factors that relate to the business owner:

  1. Owner’s goals for himself /herself and for the business.
  2. Owner’s operational abilities in doing important jobs such as marketing, inventing, selling, producing and managing distribution.
  3. Owner’s managerial ability and willingness to delegate responsibility and to manage the activities of others.
  4. Owner’s strategic abilities for looking beyond the present and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the company with his or her goals.

The four factors that relate to the business:

  1. Financial resources, including cash on hand and borrowing power.
  2. Personnel resources, financial prowess, quality of strategic relationships and other human capital, particularly at the management and staff levels.
  3. Systems resources, in terms of the degree of sophistication of both information and planning and control systems.
  4. Business resources, including customer relations, market share, supplier relations, manufacturing and distribution processes, technology and reputation, all of which give the company a position in its industry and market.

Stage I: Existence

Basic survival is the objective in the earliest stage of the company. The primary goals of the owner(s) are acquiring customers, delivering the product or service in a way that satisfies customers and providing pleasant and efficient customer service.

Other key objectives of the owner(s) are:

  • Doing what is necessary to make the entity become a viable business.
  • Successfully expanding beyond one or two important customers to a much broader customer base.
  • Having sufficient capital available to finance the considerable cash demands of the start-up phase.

At this fledgling stage, the owner does everything and if there are employees, the owner directly supervises them. Systems and formal planning are minimal to nonexistent. The company strategy is to survive. The owner is the business, s/he performs all important functions. Many early stage entities never gain sufficient customer base nor product/service demand to become viable. If that is the case, the owner is forced to close the business when the money runs out. Companies that are lucky enough to survive Stage I will graduate to Stage II entities.

Stage II: Survival.

Businesses that survive to enter Stage II can be considered viable. They’ve attracted enough customers to generate the necessary sales revenue and customers are satisfied with the products and/or services offered. The most likely problem that surfaces in the transition from Stage I to Stage II is the balance between revenues and expenses. The owners’ primary objectives are:

  • In the short run, generate enough cash to break even and cover the repair, renewal, or replacement of subscription software or other services and capital assets /equipment as they wear out or expire.
  • At a minimum, generate enough cash-flow to stay in business and finance growth to a size that is sufficiently large, given our industry and market niche, to earn an economic return on our assets and labor. In other words, can you make enough money to make staying in business make sense?

Additionally, the Stage II company may have a small number of employees, often supervised by a sales manager or a general foreman. Alternatively (or simultaneously), there may be outsourcing of certain functions—bookkeeping, accounting, HR. payroll, IT network management, for example. The business owner(s) remains in charge of major decisions and the foreman or sales manager may have limited decision-making authority. Survival of the business remains the overwhelming goal.

While in the Survival Stage, the enterprise may grow in size and profitability and graduate to Stage III. Or, as many companies do, it may remain in Stage II for some time, earning modest profits on invested time and capital. Such businesses may eventually close when the owner gives up or retires. “Mom and pop” stores are in this category, as are manufacturing businesses that cannot attract a buyer for their product or process sold as they hoped. Some of these marginal businesses have developed enough economic viability to eventually be sold, usually at a slight loss. Or the entity may fail completely.

Stage III: Success.

The decision facing owners at this stage is whether to leverage the company’s achievements and strategize to grow, or maintain the stable and profitable success that has been attained. Business is good and to handle more complex functions, the first professional staff members will be hired, often a controller in the office or a production manager, perhaps administrative or sales employees may be hired as well. Basic financial, marketing and production systems are in place. Planning in the form of operational budgets supports vital business strategies and action plans. The owner and, to a lesser extent, the company managers, are advised to monitor the performance of business strategies to maintain desired profit margin.

The question becomes, will the owner(s) decide to promote growth and pursue the attainment of a substage III-G company, or will the owner(s) completely or partially step away from intensive involvement in the company and transition to substage III-D company?

Substage III: Disengagement

In the Success-Disengagement substage, the company has attained economic viability, has a sufficient customer base and product-market penetration to reasonably ensure financial success and earning average to above-average profits. The company can remain at this stage almost indefinitely, as long as a catastrophic external event (like a pandemic shutdown of business?) doesn’t erode its customer base, or ineffective management and poor decision-making doesn’t diminish its competitive abilities.

When disengagement is the choice, it is often driven by a wish to start a new enterprise, or simply to (finally) participate in hobbies and other outside interests while maintaining the business as is. If the company can continue to navigate the inevitable business environment changes, the owner can either continue in substage III-D, sell the entity at a profit, or at some point elect to once again pursue a growth trajectory. For franchise holders, this last option would require the purchase of additional franchises locations.

Substage III: Growth

In the Success-Growth substage, the owner consolidates the company and utilizes its resources to stimulate accelerated growth, typically using accumulated business cash and borrowing the amount needed to finance growth. Maintaining optimal business profitability is key, so that it will not deplete cash (the lender will be looking). Having on board talented and dedicated company managers to meet the needs of the growing business is another must-do. This second task requires hiring managers with an eye to the company’s future rather than its current condition.

The right business systems should be in place to provide the operational needs that a larger entity will require as growth proceeds. Proper budgeting and the development and execution of strategic planning is critical. The owner(s) are intensely involved in all aspects of the company’s affairs, in contrast to the disengagement stage.

If the growth plan is successful, the III-G company proceeds to Stage IV Take-off. If the III-G company is unsuccessful, the missteps might be detected in time to make a smooth landing in substage III-D. If not, a return to Stage II Survival may be possible, in lieu of bankruptcy or a distress sale.

Stage IV: Take-off

In this stage the key problems are how to grow rapidly and how to finance that growth. The most important questions, then, are in the following areas:

Delegation. Can the owner(s) delegate responsibility to the appropriate staff or Freelance outside experts to improve the managerial effectiveness of a fast-growing and increasingly complex enterprise? Further, will the action be true delegation with controls on performance and a willingness to see mistakes made, or will it be abdication, as is so often the case?

Cash. Will there be enough to satisfy the great demands growth brings (often requiring a willingness on the owner’s part to tolerate a high debt-equity ratio) and a cash-flow that is not eroded by inadequate expense controls or ill-advised investments brought about by owner impatience?.

This is a pivotal period in a company’s life. If the owner rises to the challenges of a growing company, both financially and managerially, it can become a big business. If not, it can usually be sold—at a profit—provided the owner recognizes his or her limitations soon enough. Too often, those who bring the business to the Success Stage are unsuccessful in Stage IV, either because they try to grow too fast and run out of cash (the owner falls victim to the omnipotence syndrome), or are unable to delegate effectively enough to make the company work (the omniscience syndrome).

Stage V: Maturity The most important responsibilities the owner has at Stage V is to first, preserve and encourage the continuation of the substage III-G growth and second, to retain the advantages of small size, meaning a nimble response to the economic landscape and maintaining the owners’ entrepreneurial spirit.

The organization must install a management team and operational processes that will eliminate the inefficiencies that growth can produce and simultaneously professionalize the company operations by use of tools such as budgeting, strategic planning, staff training and standard cost management systems—and do this without inhibiting its entrepreneurial qualities.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Abdul and Aisha Tedros, owners of Oasis Coffee & Tea Shop in Phoenix, AZ, ranked #11 on the Yelp Top 100 coffee shops list in the U.S.and Canada.

Administrative , , 2 Comments

Survey: Freelancing in America 2023

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Freelance Forward, the annual survey conducted by Upwork, the largest Freelancing marketplace in the world, was released in December 2022. The survey of 3,000 American workers age 18 and above was conducted online September 21, 2022 – October 7, 2022. The survey demographics consisted of 1,164 Freelancers and 1,836 of the traditionally employed. Results of the landmark annual survey of Freelance workers continues to demonstrate the pronounced impact the cohort has on the American and global economies.

Year-over-year the number of Freelancers grows nationally (and internationally). According to the Upwork survey, there are 60 million part-time and full-time Freelancers in the country, comprising 39% of the U.S. labor force and in 2022, we contributed $1.35+ trillion to the U.S. economy. It is predicted that by 2027, Freelancers will comprise at least 51% of the American workforce.

In 2022, 51% of Freelancers, nearly 31 million, provided knowledge economy services, including., computer programming, software development, social media marketing, graphic arts, website development, IT, finance and business consulting. 23% of Freelancers hold a bachelor’s degree and 26% have earned a postgraduate degree.

The high tech and fintech sectors employ the largest number of Freelancers and they are also the highest earners. On average, men in those sectors earn up to four times more than their female counterparts.

68% of Freelancers have more than one employer or contract project (think more than one client). The diversified income streams make you are less vulnerable to the whims and fortunes of a single employer, unlike those who hold a traditional job. Freelancing, at least for some, is less risky than W2 employment. As was documented in the Upwork survey, most Freelancers see more opportunities available in the post-pandemic economy, with 76% concluding that they have more contracts available today than were available before the coronavirus shutdown.

The perceived increase in opportunities to work probably explains why Freelancers have a positive outlook regarding their income potential and contract opportunities. 77% of Freelancers feel optimistic about their anticipated 2023 earnings and 80% are optimistic about this year’s contract assignment opportunities. Moreover, 61% said that they make as much as or more money than they would if working for a traditional employer. 43% of Freelancers have increased their hourly rates or project fees over the last year, in response to increased demand or economic conditions.

Freelancers pivotal for small business

You may be happy to know that Freelancers are a great resource for small businesses. We provide on demand, only when needed, cost-effective expertise and assistance that helps small business owners to operate more efficiently and maximize revenue and profitability.

Survey results verify that small business owners and leaders are pleased with their experiences working with Freelance professionals and many plan to continue or increase their hiring of Freelancers in the future. In fact, 48% of U.S. businesses of every size hired at least one Freelancer in 2018.

  • 70% of SMBs in the U.S. have worked with freelancers at least once
  • 81% of these companies plan to hire freelancers again
  • 83% agree that freelancers have greatly helped their business

Major Global Freelancing Platforms

Below see a list of popular Freelancing platforms that are a conduit for your hard work, expertise and resourcefulness, wherever a good internet signal exists. Check out the full report https://www.upwork.com/research/freelance-forward-2022 .

  • Flexiple
  • Upwork
  • Turing.com
  • Freelancer.com
  • PeoplePerHour
  • SimplyHired
  • Toptal
  • TaskRabbit
  • 99Designs
  • Fiverr
  • LinkedIn
  • Designhill

Thanks for reading and Happy Easter,

Kim

Marketing , Leave a comment

10 Tips to Energize Email Marketing

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Email marketing remains an effective and valuable practice that deserves a place in the marketing strategy of Freelancers and other small business owners. If you haven’t explored email marketing as a way to promote your venture, read on and learn why you will reap benefits from developing email marketing campaigns and how to maximize their success.

Data supplied by Statista, the Germany-based marketing info giant, reports that an estimated 4.3+ billion citizens of planet Earth use email. Maybe that’s why email marketing continues to be central to our business and personal lives? Email marketing campaigns will help you to promote your products and services, acquire new customers or retain current customers, increase your venture’s annual revenue and position yourself as a thought leader and expert in your field.

Email marketing remains one of the most effective forms of outbound marketing, whether you send email appeals and announcements to prospects and current customers or publish a company blog or newsletter. According to data from the e-commerce company Oberlo, 81% of small business owners use email marketing as their primary method of customer acquisition and 80% use email marketing outreach to support customer retention. Marketing researchers have calculated that email marketing campaigns generate an average ROI of $43 for every $1.00 spent. In 2022, B2B and B2C email marketing campaigns combined generated $9.62B in sales revenues.

  1. Update your list. Review your address list each month and follow-up on all emails that “bounce,” that is, are returned. Verify and update the address or delete the name.
  2. Personalize greeting. Your readers likely have little use for a emails that are addressed to no one in particular and reek of spam. Impersonal mailings are not endearing and are usually deleted. Your email marketing distribution service has the capability to personally address the communications you send.
  3. Opt-in, opt-out, sign-up. To grow your database, make it easy for those who’d like to follow you and/or subscribe to your emails by making your sign-up/ opt-in link visible. On the other hand, those who’d rather not receive your mailings should be able to easily decline them. The unsubscribe/ opt-out link is usually placed at the end of the email.
  4. Customize templates. Represent and promote the value of your brand by having a custom template designed for your marketing communications. The cost is modest and will give your campaigns a professional look that is immediately recognizable to your audience. Choose a template design that is uncluttered and visually cohesive. Also, since more than half of the audience will view your emails on a mobile device, confirm that your marketing service uses responsive design.
  5. Relevant content. Know the topics that will interest your readers. Stay current in your knowledge of national and local developments by regularly reading nationally focused business publications and the business section of your local newspaper. Furthermore, it’s helpful to create a marketing calendar, because some topics are seasonal and your information should be timely so that it will be useful. In other words, if your email will discuss taxes, keep in mind the filing dates for quarterly and annual taxes. As well, keep in mind the Pareto principle, best known as the 80/20 rule, to keep audience engagement high. Make about 80% of your content educational and no more than 20% self-promotional. In time, your audience will come to trust you as a source of helpful information, which will keep them opening your emails. Your emails are about the reading audience and not about you.
  6. Tempting subject line. Give readers an incentive to open your emails by creating subject lines that command attention. The subject line is the most important element of a marketing email. If it’s not compelling, your email will be swiftly deleted. A good subject line often arouses curiosity or surprise. It may even shock recipients, or make them laugh. A well-crafted subject line makes recipients want to go further and find out what you have to say.
  7. Interactive extras. Every so often, give readers something unexpected and interesting to see or do as they skim through your content. Devise a one or two question survey to let them tell you how they feel about an issue. Not only will you get to know them better, they’ll appreciate that you value their opinions. A 60-90 second audio and/ or video clip that showcases something they’ll find useful is another good tactic. Including an image that ties into the message and purpose of the email is yet another good idea. Limiting extras to a maximum of two is suggested, to avoid clutter or sensory overload.
  8. Social media teasers. Before emails are sent, post a line or two of content on social media as a way to cross promote and expand the audience for your mailings. Let social media visitors know that the content is exclusive to your email list and use this incentive to increase sign-ups.
  9. One irresistible call-to-action. The purpose of your emails is to convince readers to do something—-hire you, watch your webinar, read your case study, come out to meet you and hear you speak. If email recipients don’t know what you want them to do within 20 seconds of opening your email, whether that’s visiting a page, calling a phone number, or completing a form, they will most likely click and delete.
  10. Consistent schedule. Whether you send a newsletter, blog post, or marketing letters once a quarter, once a month, or once a week—-every Tuesday at 11:00 AM Eastern or the 15th of every month—-be consistent. Predictability breeds trust.

FYI, as of March 5, 2023, data supplied by the email marketing company Constant Contact reported on email open rates in various industries and a sampling is below. As of January 2023, the combined B2B and B2C sales conversion rate of email marketing campaigns was 8.17%.

  • Administrative support—billing, phone answering—29.1%
  • Business consulting—marketing, advertising, management–28.3%
  • Financial services—accounting, bookkeeping, insurance–27.1%
  • Technology services–19.3%
  • Health & wellness–home care, nutrition, dental, medical–35.3%
  • Cleaning, contractors, landscaping–38.6%

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Invented by Edward E. Kleinschmidt in 1914, the high speed teletype machine allowed users to both send and receive typed messages and was a major breakthrough in telecommunications technology. The picture shows teletype machines being used in England during WWII.

Sales , , Leave a comment

Unspoken Desires: What B2B Clients Really Want

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The punchline of today’s story is that your clients say one thing and mean another. Surprise! Those of you who sell or provide B2B products or services know that prospects present themselves to Freelancers and sales reps as dispassionate decision-makers who demand value and aim to minimize costs as they operate in the harsh realities of tech company lay-offs, bank failures, inflation, war and the lingering aftershocks of the coronavirus shutdown. Oh, and they’d also like the products or services they buy to save them time, because time is money.

However Ron Friedman, PhD, a psychologist who studies human motivation, surveyed 2,128 office workers in the U.S, U.K, France, Germany, Spain and Italy discovered some additional, unspoken, motivations of office workers who purchase B2B products or services.

Friedman and his team found that B2B customers favor interactions that cater to certain psychological needs, even when satisfying those needs costs the company more money and time. The findings suggest that what humans really want are choice (control, power), meaningful connections with others (relatedness) and opportunities to grow skills that are important to them (mastery).

Let’s dive in to get more insights and understand how you can leverage these unspoken motivations as you and your prospective clients discuss your products and services.

Choice trumps problem-solving

When Friedman’s study subjects were asked if they prefer to discuss and potentially buy from a B2B services provider a single solution that can solve their problem or help achieve their goal, or be offered two or more potential solutions that they must evaluate and then select their preferred remedy, the ability to choose won out.

When a prospect is presented with a single, presumably effective, solution that’s expected to resolve the goal or problem at issue, time is automatically saved. Still, 58% of Friedman’s study subjects preferred the opportunity to choose and, it seems, the power that came with it. The ability to choose was considered desirable, even when going through the selection process did not provide additional benefits, e.g., better results or money and time saved.

Connection overrules time

Most prospects didn’t mind that extra time was spent to review and evaluate the available options that guide their choice of a solution. Although waiting for a human being to reply to an email or pick up the phone might require twice the time and provided no other benefits (in either case, participants were assured their problem would be solved), waiting twice as long to speak with a human being was preferred by nearly three-quarters of participants (74%).

Furthermore, respondents much prefer to know who they’re doing business with. When asked to rate what they consider to be satisfactory or unsatisfactory customer service delivered by the sales reps and other service providers they interact with, study subjects rated just 33% of vendors they didn’t really know as providing “satisfactory” service, but 70% of vendors who received “satisfactory” ratings were known personally by the respondents. In other words, the experience of close connection and impressions of good service are linked.

Experiences that expand horizons

Human beings enjoy learning new skills and being exposed to new experiences. It makes life interesting and expands our horizons. It’s good for self-esteem. Keep that affinity for learning in mind as you discuss your product or service with prospects as you simultaneously show respect for their expertise.

The process of acknowledging the prospect’s skill set, I.e., mastery, and providing a learning opportunity starts when you offer the choice of potential solutions to the problem or pathways to achieving the goal, as noted above.

When you are hired to work on a project (another empowering choice that the prospect, now a client, gets to make) and carrying out the client’s preferred solution, you can as well satisfy the (unspoken) desire to learn by giving him/her an inside look at how you apply the solution and make it work. For your client, this can appeal to the desire to keep his/her skills up to date in a rapidly changing economy and workplace.

What might these findings tell us about the rising popularity of marketing automation? Freelancers and other business owners have used the software to facilitate engagement and bring in point-of- service online sales. New and returning clients have gravitated to contactless interactions where, other than choice, psychological motives are not addressed.

Since 70% of Friedman’s survey respondents feel positively about customer service interactions when they are handled by someone they know, that does leave 30% who are OK working with someone they don’t know (contactless engagement). Also, the power of choice remains, which is an important factor for most.

Finally, prospects who explore your products and services on your website or social media platforms always have the option to contact you (or your team) and initiate direct conversations when choice, connection that may lead to relatedness and learning opportunities that expand mastery can take place.

Thanks for reading and welcome spring!

Kim

Image: © Netflix/ Mark Bourdillon. L-R Matt Lucas, Prue Leith, Paul Hollywood and Noel Fielding of The Great British Baking Show illustrate our unspoken desires.

Sales , , Leave a comment

Speed Date: How to Connect With Clients Faster

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Time is money and relationships matter. Those sometimes conflicting realities must be confronted when, for example, you meet someone who may become a prospective client by chance, maybe at a business association meeting or even at a backyard barbecue. Somehow you two start talking and along with names and what brought each of you to the event, what each of you does for a living is revealed and it’s an aha! moment. As luck would have it, your new acquaintance is looking for a talented Freelancer with your kind of expertise to get an upcoming project done. Excellent!—now how do you connect quickly and start the process of establishing trust and rapport with someone you’ve only just met?

Building a relationship that you’d like to expand to include business requires finesse. It may be off-putting to appear to rush things but if you don’t move it along, your opportunity to do business may stall out.

Because you’ve only just met, each of you is an unknown quantity to the other. You’ve shared only cursory information but a spark has been ignited. The next step a successful Freelancer takes is to swiftly move to build a connection with this intriguing person. Happily, there are a few effective and easily executed hacks that in short order can help you steer the relationship in the right direction and avoid a cringeworthy scene as you do.

1. Repeat after me

Your prospect wants to know that you understand what s/he needs your product or service to deliver. There are simple and intuitive ways to convey that you “get it” as you and your prospect discuss the possibility of doing business.

One good way is to confirm that you’re on the same wavelength is to incorporate, that is, repeat, a few key words or short phrases that your prospect uses to describe what s/he wants to achieve. Do that and you’ll communicate to the prospect that you two literally speak the same language.

2. Feel their pain

Empathy is an essential component of every healthy relationship. When your goal is to fast- track a serendipitous meeting and build it into a mutually beneficial experience, acknowledge the urgency, excitement, importance, concern and/ or stress that motivates your prospect to seek a solution and demonstrate that you not only understand what s/he wants to achieve, and why, but you also validate his/her reasoning and judgment.

What motivates your prospect to obtain a solution and address the matter may be a problem to solve or a success to celebrate. While in conversation, your job is to affirm good news or encourage a prospect who faces a challenge. Either way, describe how your product or service can expertly and efficiently either save the day or maximize a happy occasion.

3. Sum it up

Confirm your understanding of what your prospect would like to achieve with the assistance of your products or services and you’ll boost the prospect’s confidence as you do. The budding relationship will strengthen as your prospect’s confidence, trust and comfort level grows. Sum up the points made by yourself and the prospect, distilling and paraphrasing what each of you has said, and confirm that you see the big picture of what your prospect has in mind and your capability to fulfill the objectives.

If for some reason either of you has misinterpreted or omitted some relevant information, a correction and reconfirmation can be quickly made. Showing the prospect that you’ve listened and understand his/ her priorities, concerns and goals is, BTW, a compliment and a sign of respect. Your prospect will know that s/he has been heard and that his/her feelings, judgment, priorities and goals are valued.

4. Next steps

While your prospect is basking in the glow of having found a capable, trustworthy, good-natured problem-solver who appears to be someone with whom s/ he can connect and work successfully, suggest that the two of you schedule a face2face or video meeting. It is in your interest to move the process steadily forward and into substantive talks. You have business to discuss!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: In 1977, actress Marlo Thomas was invited to be interviewed on The Phil Donahue (talk) Show. I watched the episode and it was something to see! No doubt about it, Phil and Marlo connected in a live broadcast from Chicago. The couple married in 1980. They live in Manhattan.

Professional Development , Leave a comment

Board Service Is A Win-Win

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Creating and recognizing networking opportunities is a subject often addressed in this column, as regular readers know. One networking method that’s been less frequently discussed is serving on a not-for-profit organization board of directors or committee. I’ve served on half dozen boards over the years and have found the experiences to be rewarding, especially in terms of professional development and filling my network with smart, fun and interesting people. If time allows, I recommend that you consider serving on a board. To confirm that your role will be a good fit, you might first volunteer to provide day-of help at a special event sponsored by an organization whose mission is meaningful to you. If the volunteer experiment goes well, then inquire about joining a committee before making a commitment to join the board.

Serving on a not-for-profit board of directors or committee can potentially bring long-lasting personal and professional benefits. It’s a decision that you’re unlikely to regret. The ability to help an organization realize its vision and mission is tremendously rewarding. Service as a not-for-profit board or committee member inevitably involve responsibilities that teach you how other organizations operate. Board and committee service or other pro bono work can also enable you to develop or reclaim competencies either within or outside of your primary skill set. Board members are sure to learn more about marketing, governance, finance, branding, recruiting and managing volunteers. In some instances, your board or committee may embark on a project on behalf of the organization that calls for members to meet or collaborate with local politicians or community leaders.

Prospective clients, especially those who adhere to the growing corporate social responsibility movement, will be pleased to see your record of board service and other pro bono activities when they review your curriculum vitae, bio, or social media profiles. You may discover that you can “do well by doing good.”

When seriously considering board or committee service, remember to ask questions that clarify what will be expected of you. For example, ask how often, when and where board meetings are held and whether there will be business to conduct between meetings. You’ll also want to confirm the length of your term.

Since fundraising is a standard part of not-for-profit organizations, board members are almost always expected to participate in fundraising in some fashion. That often starts with a financial contribution that may have a suggested minimum amount.

Be aware that not-for-profit boards sometimes look for additional members because there are problems in the organization. Other motivating factors may be a pending major fundraising campaign or big project that’s on the horizon. Make it a point to have a frank discussion with a board member whom you trust about any current or past problems within the organization or with other board members. You’ll also want to know if the organization is financially healthy and whether there are any pending lawsuits.

There are caveats—-walk in with your eyes open. The benefits of board service typically include:

1. Exercise team working skills: Offer to chair a committee and you’ll quickly position yourself as a leader. Not only will fellow board and committee members appreciate your initiative, but you’ll also be able to fine-tune your group dynamics competencies as you work to motivate people who are not being paid to fulfill their roles so that your committee goals will be achieved. It’s called volunteer management and it is a subtle art!

2. Improve decision-making skills: It seems as though the appearance of the coronavirus and the subsequent year-long (or thereabouts) shutdown has caused nearly every organization to reassess and regroup because customers, donors and patrons have reevaluated their priorities. Inflation and the threat of recession have in some cases eroded the donor base and/or the patron or customer bases. Organizations must be nimble and resourceful. Leadership teams, staff and board, must understand risk management—risks to take and risks to avoid. Smart decision-making has never been more important.

3. Sharpen financial management skills: As a board member, you are responsible for the organization’s fiscal health. The ability to analyze the monthly financial documents and interpret the story that they reveal is a critical skill. Parsing the financials in board meetings, even if you are “only” listening to the board’s finance committee chair or treasurer giving reports, will improve your ability to understand and interpret your own businesses’ financial documents and improve the financial management and oversight at your own venture.

4. Gain the confidence to fund raise: In not-for-profit organizations, donor cultivation is a must. Many people, however, are uncomfortable with asking for money. Remember that recruiting donations is no different than asking for a customer’s business. It’s all about believing in your organization’s mission and relying on that trust and confidence to coax yourself into asking a donor to make a financial commitment to the cause.

5. Revitalize seldom used skills and develop new ones: Doing what you know is the most natural way to demonstrate your value to the board or committee, but it’s an exciting growth opportunity when you dare to try new things. Board or committee service is a safe place to take chances, something we cannot often do in our paid professions. Stepping into a role that requires you to reactivate a seldom-used skill or learn a new competency that you find interesting will enhance your commitment to and enjoyment of your board or committee service. Just do it!

6. Building relationships and networking

In your tenure as a board of directors or committee member you are almost guaranteed to meet successful and interesting professionals, some active and some retired. Your fellow board and committee members may hold, or have held, mid-level or senior positions in the for-profit or not-for-profit sectors. Others may be Freelance solopreneurs or entrepreneurs who launched and operate their own enterprise.

With your fellow board and committee members, you will discuss routine business, puzzle through decisions that solve problems, strategize to take advantage of opportunities and in general, work collaboratively to keep the organization relevant and preparing for the future. As this happens, you business acumen, judgment, resourcefulness, creativity, work ethic and EQ will be on display.

A fellow board or committee member may grow to trust you enough to introduce you to a colleague who is in need of your skill set, whether as a Freelance consultant or a full- time employee. You may do the same for another board or committee member. Boards are all about building relationships and that is the primary gateway to success.

Thanks for reading,

Kim