Marketing, Technology / Office , , Leave a comment

Time to Redesign Your Website?

by

Have you become disappointed with your website, or are you merely bored? Have you been visiting the websites of your colleagues and contemporaries and thinking about how you may want to do a website makeover? Think carefully about your goals before making a decision.

What would I like the site to do for my business?

Ultimately, a website gives information about your products and services and communicates how doing business with you can benefit those who would become your customers. Your job is to develop a website that gives prospects the confidence to explore more seriously the idea of working with you. Whatever is on your site—text, audio, or visual—must support that action.

Older websites are likely to be static, rather than interactive. That means in order to update the site with new information, it’s necessary to pay a web developer to make  changes in text, photos, videos and lay-out. As a result, static websites often do not reflect much of what is happening now.

Some Freelancers depend upon their websites to pre-qualify prospects through the use of an online contact form.  Rather than posting your email and telephone number on the “contact us” page, there is instead a form for interested parties to complete, so that they will receive a call-back. Serious shoppers only, please!

Content marketing will be featured on the website.  Freelancers who produce a weekly blog or monthly newsletter typically include the link on their website.  Your social media platforms will likewise be accessible through your website, as will videos, webinars and podcasts that feature you in a starring or supporting role.  Case studies to help prospective clients envision how your insights and expertise might help their organization resolve challenges and achieve goals may be posted to the site as well.

How is my site under-performing?

Much depends upon the information you’d like your website to provide to interested parties. Your site can be a one-page affair that is basically an online business card.  You may list three or four services, a photo,  a 3-minute video clip of you in action (or not) and contact info and that may be quite enough to convince prospects that you are a capable professional worthy of consideration.  But maybe you would like to have a much more active and engaging site?

Up-to-date products and services list

If you’ve substantively altered—simplified, upgraded, expanded, or eliminated— the services and products that you provide, let your website reflect what is current.  As well, old content and photos might be replaced and updated with an accurate depiction of how you bring value to clients today.

Can I accurately measure how prospects respond to my site?

This step can be the key to your website design.  If you are serious about updating your site,  contact an analytics service and sign up to obtain data that will guide the development of your website.  There are a number of modestly priced website analytics services available and Google has a level that offers free analytics. Collect three or four months of data before you act.

To begin with, you’ll learn how many visitors the site receives each month and the pages that are most often visited. Now you’ll know what visitors want to know. You’ll also learn which pages are least often visited and if there are pages that are quickly abandoned for other pages, or seem to cause visitors to exit your site.  If you decide to update your website, ask your developer to build-in analytics or integration features, so that data will be yours at no extra charge, post-upgrade.

Is the site mobile-friendly? 

I write or edit three newsletters and the analytics for each consistently shows that about 50% of readers use mobile devices (smart phone or tablet) to read them. The other half use either desk models or laptops. Don’t frustrate your visitors,  make sure that your site is optimized for mobile.  Both interactive and static websites can be mobile optimized.

How’s the technology?

Recently, I met a truly brilliant MIT educated web developer named Al.  He showed me the site of a nationally known not-for-profit organization that on its website has an inoperable “donate now” button on the landing page.  It is imperative that all links and buttons on your website perform as intended on all types of devices.  Audio features must produce sound; videos must play; documents must download; ecommerce transactions must be secure.

“About us”

Trot out your brand story.  Connect with site visitors and concisely tell them what motivated you to start your business, how you developed your expertise, your vision and the company mission.  Share your guiding principles as the founder and business leader and discuss how that is reflected in your business practices.  Finally, let it be known that you love what you do and value the opportunity to work with clients. Recommended length of the text might be 200 words.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Technology / Office , Leave a comment

Publish or Perish

by

Today, Friends, I have for you the wild and wooly tale that will explain why I have not posted for the last four weeks,  after reaching out to you every single Tuesday since I opened this blog in June 2009.  Be advised that I was not in Sardinia living la dolce vita.  I’ll present the tale in chapters, since the action centers on writing.

Chapter  One opens on July 12.  I was ready to publish bright and early at 8:00 AM,  when I discovered that I could not access my account.  Wordpress had locked me out.  Neither could I reset my password, because it’s connected to an email account that has been overstuffed with messages for two years and frozen by the provider until I get ambitious and do some deleting.

A frantic search of the forums brought me to an email address wherein I could access a live person and learn why my blog was locked. I was told that in 2012 (!), LinkedIn had a data breach (I remember being asked to change that account password),  so four years later WordPress leaps into action and shuts down all WordPress members who have LinkedIn accounts (millions, I would imagine).

When I politely asked why WordPress members who affiliate with LinkedIn simply did not receive an email to advise us to adjust our passwords within, say, the next two logins to prevent being locked out, I received no answer.  Oh, and if I couldn’t access the appropriate email account, I could always refer back to the original URL link to this blog that is contained in an email that was sent to me by WordPress seven years ago.  Find a seven-year old email? Are they serious?

So there I was, with a post all ready for you, Friend, and no way to publish.  Apparently, the folks at WordPress felt it would be fun to lock the account on publishing day  (and I’m certain that was by design; now you know why I hate techies).  But maybe my blocked WordPress account was a blessing in disguise, because since early June, I’ve been immersed in a book editing project that has taken over my life and that opens Chapter Two.

The book is about a women’s club that is celebrating its 125th anniversary.  The author, a club member,  is an academic who’s written in the neighborhood of two dozen books. The book tells the history of the club against the backdrop of certain social, economic and political events that happened since its founding in 1890: the Gilded Age (think of today’s billionaires and income inequality); the Progressive Age (a reaction to the Gilded Age; think Bernie Sanders’ run for the presidency); the fight for women’s suffrage (a woman running for president); and the rise of women’s colleges and clubs (Lean In ). I was brought in to be the photo editor, but I was as well the de facto developmental editor and copy editor, because the book needed both and there was no one else to do it.  This is a self-publishing project.

In Chapter Three, I take on the role of publisher in addition to being three editors rolled into one.  The club is the official publisher in this venture,  but guess who’s done all the publishing house work? I even wore the hat of literary lawyer when on the fourth Saturday of July,  I sat at my computer reading up on intellectual property and copyright law and then ordered those two long sets of numbers that legally must appear on the copyright page of every book published, plus the bar code.  I also submitted the book to the Library of Congress (that is usually done before publication, so that you get to list the catalogue number on the title page) and two days later was so happy to learn that the title was accepted.

Chapter Four is the tale of my various editing functions.  I learned that developmental editing is surgery: get into those sentences and paragraphs and realign or remove until the story is a good one and flows smoothly.  Copy editing (and its little sister, proofreading) ensures that sentence structure is correct and spelling and punctuation are accurate.  Photo editing entails finding photos for the book that illustrate and support the story and then submitting them to the author for approval.

No, Friend, I was most definitely not sunning and swimming in Sardinia with the beautiful people.  Instead,  I was Googling the names of historical figures who were named in the book and filling in quick descriptions of who they were, so that readers could better understand the story the author wanted to tell because the author, a history writer, apparently didn’t feel that such explanations were necessary.

I also searched for the given names of some two dozen women mentioned in the book who were known only as Mrs. HIM (as the author puts it).  Why the author neglected to give proper credit to those amazing trailblazing women,  I’ll never understand. There were only two names that I could not find: Mrs. Clarence Burns,  a well-bred, high-achieving lady who once lived at 1 West 83rd Street in Manhattan and who in 1903 wrote a cheeky little article entitled Prominent Clubwomen Must be Good Housekeepers  that appeared in Collier’s Magazine.

The other unnamed woman was Madame (de) Sumichrast, one half of a social-climbing couple who were leaders of the Victorian Club of Boston (him) and the Victorian League in London (her).  The surname they shared was originally Sumichrast,  but they saw fit to add the  “de”  when he was named to the faculty of Harvard University’s French Department.

Madame de Sumichrast lectured in French literature at least once at Harvard, meaning that she was a highly educated woman,  but she must have felt it proper for a wife to subsume her identity in deference to her husband’s,  as did Mrs. Burns.  So frustrating, so sad.  Not even the magnificent Sophia Smith Library at Smith College, which has a comprehensive collection of information on women’s organizations, was able to uncover the identities of those two women.

However, a librarian at the Sophia Smith Collection most generously found and sent to me a 1905 photo of the officers of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, three of whose members were founders of the club that is the subject of the book.  What an excellent photo it is,  one of  nine superb vintage photos that I brought to the book in my role as photo editor.

Chapter Five, like the first chapter, holds frustration.  Wordpress is the villain of Chapter One and the book’s author is the antagonist in Chapter Five.  As I noted,  the book is a self-publishing project and that means all hands on deck.  The author,  unfortunately, did not see it that way.  When there was copy editing work to do, or when the request to register the book’s copyright was made, she simply refused to respond to emails.  When she did step in to do some work, she was controlling and obstructionist.  Too much time was spent needlessly rewriting the photo captions, for example.  A photo entitled Christmas greetings 1939, and captioned in that way by me, had to be rewritten to read Christmas 1939. The Notes page that I was asked to create, labeled Notes at the center top of an otherwise blank page, as is the custom,  was deemed insufficient and so the author spent precious time rewriting it to include her name and that of the book.

But, on the first Saturday of August at just after 7:00 PM,  I received from the book designer the PDF to upload to the self-publishing website. The book’s formatting was checked electronically and found to be fine and on Sunday, I ordered a physical proof. We’re on our way to printing enough copies to have ready for the September 18 book launch party. Hooray!

As Epilogue, I hope that this story is useful for those of you who’ve been thinking about self-publishing a book that will help you to promote your brand and services. Self-publishing houses will provide assistance with cover design.  Hire an independent copy editor.  To legally register your book, go first to the ISBN website and also buy your bar code there.  Separately register the book’s copyright at http://ipfilings.net.

Thanks for reading and I’m delighted to be back!

Kim

 

Marketing, Professional Development ,

Those Who Can, Teach

by

What’s a proven way for Freelance consulting service providers to demonstrate expertise, distinguish yourself from the many “me, too” competitors; position yourself as a thought leader; and work against being perceived as a commodity? Teaching! The old proverb, “Those who can, do and those who can’t, teach” doesn’t hold up in the 21st century marketplace.

Teaching is the smartest-ever marketing activity.  You get paid to do it, so along with being an effective marketing activity, teaching simultaneously benefits your cash-flow.  If that’s not enough, through teaching you will become a better speaker and better able to promote yourself as a keynote or a panel moderator.  In horse racing, they call that a trifecta!

First, let’s consider what you might teach.  Ideally,  you’ll teach a subject related to your business.  Artists since Michelangelo (at least) have taught art classes.  Authors of best-selling books are usually able to join a university faculty, where they earn steady money teaching creative writing classes.  Prize-winning journalists often teach journalism at colleges and universities, which is a superb addition to their CV.

In 2006,  I created five 90 minute sales skills workshops that I presented at an adult learning center (the nation’s oldest adult learning center, BTW) and two years after that, based on my teaching experience and curriculum development skills,  I was invited to teach an 18 week business plan writing course at a Small Business Association-affiliated women’s business development center.

When that assignment ended two years later, I developed a six-hour business plan writing workshop that I continue to present two or three times a year at the adult learning center where my teaching career began.  I’ve also developed a 90 minute networking skills workshop and a six-hour strategic planning how-to workshop that are occasionally presented.

Second, you may need to acquire or improve your teaching skills.  My recommendation is that you learn both curriculum development and gain or improve your teaching skills by writing a proposal to teach some aspect of your professional expertise at an adult learning center, library, or some other organization that offers workshops to the public for free or at a modest cost.  The proposals I’ve written for workshops became my lesson plans.

Third, identify a place to teach.  As noted, adult learning centers and libraries are good possibilities.  Explore the requirements of teaching and peruse the types of courses that are scheduled.  Read the instructor bios—I’ll bet most are Freelancers.  If you’ve earned a master’s degree and you have a minimum of five years of teaching experience, you may be able to teach at a local university.  Adjunct (that is, part-time, non-tenure track) teaching is great if you can get it,  but the market has become quite competitive.  I’ve taught a couple of semesters at a special seminar series, but I’ve been unable to secure any more adjunct work in the past five years, I’m sorry to say.

Once you’ve developed a workshop and learned how to successfully present it,  consider taking it online in a YouTube video.  E-learning is a growing field and becoming proficient in presenting an online course is to your benefit.  Schools are transferring ever more courses to an online format and if you have the know-how, you will be a more attractive candidate for those disappearing adjunct opportunities.

Web developers are able to teach students how to build a website.  Freelance bookkeepers can teach other Freelancers how to use Quickbooks.  Marketers can teach the basics of social media marketing.  Landscape artists can teach homeowners how to choose shrubbery and flowering plants for their yards,  or how to create and maintain a window box filled with lovely plants.  Developing proficiency in the ancient and noble art of teaching delivers numerous tangible and intangible benefits to Freelancers and their students.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

 

 

 

Professional Development , , , Leave a comment

Vive la Difference: Coaches and Consultants

by

Freelance professionals are external consultants who bring agile talent to mission-critical special projects at thousands of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations throughout the world.  Freelance consultants play an increasing role in many organizations, providing vital ad hoc staffing as full-time work forces contract.  We are highly effective,  reliable and adaptable.  We work alone, usually from a home office, and that keeps our operating expenses low and our billable rates affordable.

We are disciplined self-starters who treasure our independence, but there is a downside. Every once in a while, it would be helpful to have team members in the office with us.  We have no one readily available to duck out and have a quick cup of coffee with, no one to help parse a tricky question or lend a sympathetic ear when we hit a rough patch.  We most likely have a support system of colleagues and friends,  but they are not on site and may not have the wherewithal to help us address some of our most important questions.

As a result, many Freelancers consult with a professional to help sort through the array of challenges and decisions that we all eventually face.  Working with the right coach or consultant can bring many benefits to one’s business or personal life.  You may feel the need to receive some expert guidance, but wonder which type of specialist you should hire?

Follow the wisdom of the late management guru Peter Drucker and ask (yourself) questions that will reveal the right answer. Before you call in a specialist, clarify your desires or dilemmas, at least superficially.

For example, you may have a time management problem that results in a work overload that undermines your ability to have a social life.  Your task is to determine its source.  Might you need to hire a bookkeeper to compile the monthly financials, or an administrative assistant to do your billing, or some other professional to take certain tasks off your plate? To resolve business matters,  a business consultant is the go-to person.

If your time management problem results from your inability to set boundaries and understand that you cannot say yes to everyone, which then results in a work overload that undermines your ability to have a social life, then it will be useful to see a business coach to help you to identify priorities and establish boundaries.

Let’s take a look at the focus of each specialty. A business coach will:

  • Help you to enhance competencies you already have and help to bring out the best in you.
  • Help you to identify your passions, acknowledge what motivates you and then brainstorm with you to discover avenues for their expression.
  • Acknowledge and remedy a fear of success, fear of failure, or self-sabotage that you may fall victim to.
  • Provide encouragement and accountability to ensure follow-through of the action plan that the two of you develop.

OUTCOME: An action plan that addresses business and personal development goals and strategies.

A business consultant will:

  • Work with you to assess business strengths and weaknesses and evaluate its preparedness to take advantage of opportunities and overcome obstacles.
  • Improve the viability of the business and position it for growth, scalability and sustainability.  Operational efficiencies, strategy development, the business model, customer acquisition and retention, packaging of services, strategic partnership possibilities, the marketing message, niche market development, pricing, technology needs, staffing and customer service protocols are among the areas that will be examined and evaluated.
  • Work  with you to set reasonable short and long-term goals and objectives for the business, devise strategies and create action plans and time tables to ensure that strategies are implemented.  Follow-up and further consulting services to support and enable your plans can be arranged.

OUTCOME: SMART goals for your business and a way to make them happen.

So which do you need? A coach is like a partner and a consultant is like an adviser. If working on aspects of your personal life, that is if behaviors are the issue, then a business coach may be the better choice, at least initially.  But if you would like to grow and optimize your business , then a business consultant is the way to get the best results.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

 

Survival Strategies , , , , Leave a comment

Getting and Giving Advice: Who to Ask, Frame the Question

by

We’re back with more thoughts and suggestions regarding how to navigate the matter of business advice, giving or receiving.  Previous posts have explored how to effectively give advice and the importance of using tact when advice is offered.  In this post, we’ll examine how to obtain business advice for ourselves.  As you might guess, it’s a delicate process.

Getting and Giving Advice: Skill Set

Getting and Giving Advice: Tact

First, if you are in need of advice, then there is either a problem or an opportunity that you must address (or ignore).  You are concerned and maybe even scared.  You are stressed and making decisions when stressed is seldom a good idea.  Stress impairs judgment and therefore increases the potential for an undesirable outcome.  Nevertheless, you recognize that another perspective could help you to sort things out. Who are you going to trust?

Yes, trust is a big factor when seeking advice. You must trust that person’s expertise and since confidentiality is likely involved, you must feel confident in the person’s ethics and practice of discretion.  You do not want someone who is unqualified to give the advice and neither do you want your private affairs indiscriminately shared.

Let’s start by helping you to identify a good advice prospect.  You may know more than one person who appears to own the experience and expertise that should make him/ her a good candidate,  but who should you approach?  Here are guidelines to assist your decision.

First, avoid asking someone who has competitive advantages that are significantly beyond your reach. If the person is prone to unusually good luck, or has a wealthy and influential family or spouse, then do not ask the individual for advice.  S/he may have built a highly profitable business, but because fate smiles on all of his/her endeavors,  s/he has faced no real obstacles.  Such persons cannot solve problems, because they’ve never had the need to do so.  They’ve never borne the consequences of either bad luck or their mistakes.

Second, look a little more at how the prospect has garnered  success.  Whether it was a fast climb to the top or slow, someone who has taken an unusual path has probably encountered an array of unexpected obstacles and opportunities that had to be conquered or exploited along the way.  Of necessity, that person has challenged assumptions, rethought the status quo and has the courage to move forward  when more conventional types might hesitate. As a result, that person has learned to be quite resourceful and could have real wisdom to share with you.

Next, confirm your advice prospect’s expertise in your area of need.  Just because someone has climbed the corporate ladder or built a million dollar plus company does not mean that the person is an expert in all disciplines.  A talent for strategy development is probably a strong point across the board,  but most people are strongest in either finance, operations, sales or marketing. Further, it’s been my observation that the intelligence possessed by computer geeks is very deep and very narrow, rendering them useful for IT questions only.  I would be reluctant to trust many of them to go the grocery store to buy bread and milk in a snowstorm.

Now, let’s consider the right way to ask for the advice.  As the late management guru Peter Drucker noted,  one will not find the fight answer unless the right question is asked.  Advice experts recommend that you NOT ask your prospect what you should do in your situation,  because s/he may get insulted if you decide to ignore their advice and follow another route.  Instead, ask if s/he has ever faced a situation like yours and if so, what did s/he do or say in response?

WRONG: “I feel that a big wholesaler is being unfair about the payment terms extended to me. What should I do”?

RIGHT:     ” Have you ever dealt with a big wholesaler who you felt was unfair about the payment terms extended to you? Were you able to do anything about it”?

Finally, you need access to your preferred advice candidate. It’s preferable to approach someone you are already acquainted with and that is the best reason for taking the time to establish business and social relationships.  The person who can most effectively guide you might be in the gym with you,  or at church, or at the lunch table at a symposium. Asking for detailed advice from someone you’ve just shaken hands with is awkward.

Ask your advice question, beginning with your clarifying question to verify expertise, in person if possible.  Your specific advice question can be asked in a follow-up telephone call if there is no time to address it on the spot, or if privacy is an issue.  Good luck!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

 

Marketing , , , , Leave a comment

Credible + Capable = Contract

by

Pitching to prospects is stressful and time-consuming, but there is such a thrill when we meet the right person and get invited to discuss a project. With much anticipation, valuable time and energy are directed to preparing for the meeting and if we are asked to do so, preparing as well a proposal that details how we would achieve the client’s goals.

It is unspeakably frustrating when a proposal is rejected or worse, when we never hear from that prospect again.  It is imperative that Freelancers practice appropriate risk management and take steps to improve our client acquisition rate and minimize negative outcomes.

Client endorsements

Recommendations by satisfied customers are trust-building votes of confidence for you.  A referral made by someone known and respected by the prospective client is the ideal endorsement. Word-of-mouth is always the best advertisement.

LinkedIn recommendations are lukewarm.  Testimonials that appear on your website are more powerful, especially those given by a prestige client.  Better still is to ask a client if s/he would be willing to speak with a prospect to give a reference for you and discuss the project you worked on.

Samples of your work

Create a portfolio of case studies or other samples of your work to provide some show and tell for prospective clients.  They deserve the opportunity to view and evaluate your work, so that they can envision the match-up between the results they must achieve and the solutions that you would deliver.  Curate your portfolio of work samples and case studies well,  by choosing projects that demonstrate your expertise and value.  A good portfolio will also help to justify your (premium) pricing structure.

Online presence

It is the 21st century and prospects expect all professionals to have an online presence.  Before deciding to contact a Freelancer or any other professional that one might hire, an online search is typically conducted.  Prospects want to get a sense of who you are and confirm that you are legitimate.

Overwhelmingly, Freelance consultants have a website, but there are those rare individuals who have been able to build a successful client list without this marketing tool. Whether or not you have a website, further cultivate your online presence through social media or post press releases online to announce  your speaking and teaching engagements, participation in charity events, or any awards you may have received. Writing a newsletter or blog, building a mailing list and sharing on social media platforms is also useful, as is guest blogging. Develop and maintain a positive online presence that is designed to win over prospects.

Communicate value-added

The ultimate reason that clients hire Freelance consultants is that they are convinced that these individuals will bring significant value to the project and will make the hiring manager look smart in front of his/her superiors and peers.  Merely describing your products and services is no longer sufficient to get yourself hired in this hyper-competitive marketplace, where in most cases there are numerous highly qualified professionals who are available and hungry for billable hours.

Communicating your unique value is the only way to get hired and that must be demonstrated in numerous ways.  Like a trial lawyer, layer on examples of the varied aspects of your value and let the preponderance of evidence in your favor pile up.  In clear and concise terms, present the case of how you will make the client’s job easier, save the organization money, position the organization to make money, or ensure that the organization achieves important goals.

Politely persistent

Once a prospect has expressed an interest to meet and  discuss doing business,  or to confirm whether or not you will be awarded a project after you have had a meeting, there are two possible actions:

1). Active pursuit, when you send one or more emails to either encourage setting up a meeting or to learn the outcome of a hiring decision.

2). Passively waiting for the prospect to contact you.

According to experts, neither approach is useful.  I’ll bet your own lived experience speaks to that fact.  Definitely, you don’t want to come across as pushy, since pressure tactics are  a big turn off.  Conversely, you cannot afford to allow assignments to fall through the cracks because you did not follow-up and help to shine a light on the pending project. You need a way to diplomatically keep your proposal on the front burner.

A useful tactic is to telephone or text the prospect three or four days after you’ve sent your proposal, to confirm that it has been received.  You may also ask when s/he would like to begin the project work.  Open the door a little wider and suggest that you would be happy to start work ASAP on some urgent action item, so that the deadline will be comfortably reached.

Freelance consultants have two jobs: finding projects and then completing those projects.  Our ability to survive financially is directly tied to this process.  As organizations continue to shrink  full-time workforces,  the number of Freelance consultants grows every day.  In order to compete successfully, a Freelancer must always be positioned to regularly sign clients and generate adequate revenue.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

Business Strategy , , , Leave a comment

Client Retention Means Exceeding Expectations

by

Client retention and referrals are the best ways to build a good client list. Earlier in the year,  one of my clients referred to me a colleague who is in a closely related business.  I was so happy!  While working with clients new and long-term,  my mission is to do an excellent job and exceed expectations, so that I will create the conditions for a long relationship and the receipt of referrals.

The two clients are friends,  yet very different in working style.  The first is laid back and easy to deal with.  The new client, to be honest, has not yet developed trust in my abilities. There is a tendency to be more hands-on than I would expect and to assume that things may not have been done correctly on my part.  I’m not sure of the source of the client’s anxiety, but I’ve decided to view the matter as a learning opportunity that will keep me in top form.  I will be pushed to do my best work and have the opportunity to go into trust and credibility building mode.

I started on the client retention path by first learning who had referred me and then sending a thank you email.  Prior to that,  the client had received December holiday cards, as it is my custom is to send holiday cards to all clients I’ve worked with in the previous five years.

Regarding the new client,  my objective is to help that individual relax and know that I’m in control and will make him/her look smart and capable in the eyes of superiors and peers.  I’ve written previously about how to establish a good relationship with difficult and demanding clients. https://freelancetheconsultantsdiary.wordpress.com/2015/12/08/how-to-manage-a-difficult-client/

Other tips include:

Be prepared

If you know that you’ll be asked to address a certain problem that the client must resolve, or you must make make recommendations about how the client might capitalize on an expected opportunity, do your homework and come to the meeting brimming with practical ideas and insightful questions.

Listen to the client

Listen and learn how the client views matters from his/her perspective, whether it’s how to implement the solution for the project you’re working on,  how to resolve a customer service glitch, or any other matter that is presented.  Show that you value the client’s opinions.

Respect the client’s ideas and suggestions

You may not have all the answers. The client’s lived experience matters.  Be open to incorporating the client’s ideas into your proposed solution.  Always agree with the client and validate his/her choices. Subtly adapt his/her suggested strategy into something that you know will be more effective, when necessary.  If the client mentions that another consultant has handled a similar project in a different way,  listen up and learn. You may receive valuable information on how to improve your business practices.

Communicate constantly

Misunderstandings cause relationships to fray and misunderstandings occur when communication is unclear and insufficient.  Meetings may be infrequent, but emails are a way to report on (in writing!) your many successes toward achieving the objectives and goals of the project.  I keep my clients apprised of what I’m doing.  This custom also helps when it’s time to send an invoice and billable hours must be justified.  What I don’t want is a client who questions why I’m claiming so many hours.  Moreover, if the client feels that some aspect of the project scope should be expanded or diminished,  adjustments can be made in a timely fashion.

Get it in writing

Take meeting notes and within 48 hours post-meeting, send an email to confirm what has been discussed and agreed-upon. Include project specs, the fee structure, the payment schedule, project milestones, the deliverables and the due dates.

Client retention is the foundation of every business.  It takes less time and effort to retain a client than to pursue and acquire a new one. Furthermore,  long-term clients are much more likely to bestow on you that ultimate affirmation, a referral.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

Business Plan , , , Leave a comment

Understanding Break-Even Financial Analysis

by

Most business owners are familiar with the big three financial control documents: the Income (Profit & Loss) Statement; Cash-Flow Statement (or projection, when used for budget planning); and Balance Sheet. Those three statements are compiled monthly, quarterly and annually. They give useful insight into the fiscal health of the company. The smart business owner consults these statements each month, teases out the story that is revealed and makes decisions accordingly.

A fourth financial document, the Break-Even Analysis, provides forecasting information. The Break-Even is used when a new product or service will be introduced, or when a capital improvement or other upgrade is scheduled to be made.  The Break-Even indicates the amount of sales revenue the product or service must generate to cover the roll-out costs associated with its introduction or acquisition and therefore, positioned to become a decision that pays off.  A Break-Even is also generated when a new business venture is launched. The Break-Even allows the business leader to predict how long losses must be sustained and how to anticipate cash-flow comditions and management in response.

Break-Even is achieved when revenues = expenses; the business is neither making nor losing money. Business expenses are of two types, Fixed and Variable. Fixed Costs are the standard monthly operating costs and they are not impacted by sales revenue generated.  Office space rent, insurance, utilities and payroll are Fixed Costs.

Variable Costs are largely tied to sales: product acquisition or manufacturing costs, inventory purchases, the cost of materials used to manufacture the products sold and all aspects of marketing and selling costs.  As sales increase, Variable Costs increase proportionately, because more product must be purchased or manufactured to be available for sale.  Total Expenses = Fixed + Variable Costs, as recorded on the Income Statement.

When calculating expenses, it is standard to determine the relationship of Variable Costs to sales revenues.  The Variable Cost amount is divided by the number of product units sold,  yielding the Variable Cost per Unit.  In other words,  Variable Costs = units sold  X  variable cost per unit.  For the purpose of calculating Break-Even,  Total Expenses = Fixed Costs + Variable Costs (expressed as units sold  X  variable cost per unit). As always, sales revenues = unit price  X  number of units sold.

The Break-Even Point is reached when

Price  X  Units Sold = (Units  Sold  X  Variable Cost/Unit) + Fixed Costs

The difference between selling price per unit and the variable cost per unit sold reveals the amount that can be applied to Fixed Costs each time a unit is sold.  Think of it this way: if monthly Fixed Costs are $2000 and the average price of your product units sold is $2, with an average Variable Cost of $1 each,  when you sell a unit, you earn $1 to apply to Fixed Costs. With monthly Fixed Costs of $2000, Break-Even is reached when the business sells 2000 units per month.

Knowing how many units must be sold each month to achieve Break-Even is essential for effective financial management of the venture.  One can also calculate Break-Even in terms of dollars that must be generated each month.  In this example, Break-Even Revenue is achieved at $4000 in monthly sales, since the sales price is $2/unit and 2000 units must be sold each month to cover expenses.

A basic knowledge of the process of business financial calculations and the ability to interpret the data generated are must-have skills for all business owners and Freelance consultants. While it is true that one’s bookkeeper or accountant will perform the Break-Even on Quickbooks by plugging in numbers derived from the Income Statement,  it is always in your best interest to understand how the calculations are made and how to make sense of what the financial documents reveal.

When it is proposed that a new product or service might be sold, which might be the development of a new workshop to propose and teach or some other intangible service, a Break-Even Analysis will indicate how many units must be sold, billable hours generated, or classes must be taught before the production costs will be re-couped and the new offering will be positioned to generate ROI.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

Survival Strategies , Leave a comment

Vacations Are Good For Business

by

The Memorial Day Weekend is approaching and with it the start of summer and the most popular vacation season. Perhaps it is the legacy of the Puritan work ethic that has caused the mixed feelings that many in the U.S. have towards the tradition of taking time off to relax and unwind. There are many of us who feel that stepping away from work responsibilities now and again signals a lack of discipline or commitment to our jobs. Many of us brag about the number of hours we work each day and more is always better.

U.S. companies on the whole are stingy about granting paid time off,  as compared to their peers in Europe and Latin America.  Even Great Britain, original birthplace of the Puritans, gives three paid days off at Christmas, while the U.S. companies usually grant only one.  Easter is the most important holiday on the Christian calendar, but in predominantly Christian USA, there is no longer a paid holiday for Easter Monday.  In contrast, paid holidays for Good Friday and Easter Monday are standard in Latin America and Europe.

The Center For Economic and Policy Research reports that 25% of U.S. workers receive no paid time off of any kind—sick time, holiday, or vacation time.  An increasing number of companies that employ primarily low-wage workers restrict the number of hours that their employees receive, to keep benefits out of reach for as many as possible.

U.S. workers are ourselves complicit in the anti-time off practice.  According to the jobs and recruiting site Glassdoor, 75% of employees who are eligible to receive paid vacation time do not use all of their time in a given year. However, there may be a method to the madness, sadly. The global forecasting organization Oxford Economics (part of Oxford University) found that 13% of managers were less likely to promote staff who use all of their vacation days and that employees who take off fewer days on average earn nearly 3% more pay than employees who use all vacation time granted.

Let us tally the costs that the nose-to-the-grindstone approach has on our physical and psychological well-being  Even Sigmund Freud recommended that we take vacations. He and his family were known to travel every summer. https://freelancetheconsultantsdiary.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/dr-Freud-and-the-interpretation-of-your-vacation

Gradually, the hidden price of excessive work is being acknowledged.  Numerous studies have demonstrated that forcing oneself to work days on end,  sometimes at a furious pace,  is ultimately counter-productive.  Workaholic behavior has been linked to decreased productivity and creativity; insufficient slee,  poor nutrition and obesity; negative stress; burn-out and mental health issues.  Some business leaders have headed the warning signs.

Ron Hastings, CEO of Netflix and author of Freedom and Responsibility (2009), is considered the thought leader of a trend that advocates for offering unlimited vacation time to employees.  He believes that leaders should trust their employees to make wise decisions about when and how much vacation time to take, that balances the company’s’ needs and their personal needs.

Full Contact, a Denver software company, now offers a $7500 bonus to employees if they actually leave town when on vacation.  Conditions apply.  Those employees must refrain from using tech gadgets such as mobile phones or computers and refrain also from sending emails and texts.  Employees cannot work while on vacation.

Finally, Jim Moffat, CEO of mega consulting firm Deloitte extols the benefits of vacations,  stating “By taking a break from day-to-day operations, not only was I spending more much-needed time with my family, but also I was able to focus on the bigger picture of where we (Deloitte) were and where our business was going.”

Are you convinced yet? It’s not so easy for small business owners and Freelance consultants to take time off, but make it a point to get out of town for a weekend trip or two this summer, if possible. Your clients will be better served when you are rested and ready to deliver the solutions that they need.

Happy Memorial Day,

Kim

 

Business Strategy , Leave a comment

Becoming Agile

by

Agile innovation first swept through the information technology sector and greatly increased success rates in software development, improved quality and speed to market. Agile management techniques are now spreading to many other industries and Freelance consultants ought to be aware of what is involved, both as regards the ways our clients and prospects may buy into agile practices and how we might incorporate certain aspects into our own consultancies.

More than in the recent past, business ventures large and small operate in a highly dynamic environments.  Customer priorities and technological advancements are known to change rapidly.  Keeping a finger on the pulse of new developments and innovating or adapting  as necessary  the line of products and services offered,  marketing buzz words used in marketing content, sales strategies employed or distribution channels utilized are how organizations thrive and grow.  But what does agile mean in practice?

Agile does not mean doing the usual thing, only faster. Darrell Rigby, a partner at Bain & Company consulting and Hirotaka Takeuchi, professor of strategy at the Harvard Business School and CEO of Scrum, Inc., a consulting and training firm, describe agile business practices as containing the following elements:

Scrum. Creative and adaptive teamwork that solves complex problems.

Lean development.  Focuses on the continual elimination of waste.

Kanban.  Focuses on reducing lead times and the amount of time to complete a process.

Along with IT,  agile management practices are particularly well-suited to strategic planning activities, marketing projects, resource allocation decisions and supply chain challenges.  Sales and accounting, for example, are not a natural fit for agile, according to experienced practitioners. In sum, agile works best where complex problems can be broken down into modules and assigned to specific teams.

When solutions to the problem are unknown, product specifications could be subject to change, the scope of the work to be done is not precisely known, cross-functional collaboration is presumed to be vital and time to market is sensitive are the ideal conditions in which to apply agile innovation or methods.

For independent Freelance consultants and small business owners agile will have a different meaning, but it may be useful nonetheless.  Small business owners can surely incorporate agile methods into their organizations and see improved functioning.  Freelancers may be more apt to use agile as a marketing buzz word that communicates to clients and prospects that we are on the cutting edge of forward-thinking business practices and in tune with their priorities.  Freelancers who are themselves agile will be trustworthy external talent who bring ROI to organizations for whom we work.

Thanks for reading,

Kim