Don’t Be Afraid To Hire A Business Consultant

Yesterday, I was interviewing guest expert Jim Norris on a teleseminar on the subject of creating your own Peer Advisory Board. And he made an interesting but right-on-target statement that, “In larger businesses, hiring consultants and contractors to improve your business or strategies is perfectly normal and accepted. But most entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and small business owners see that as a sign of weakness or failure.”

Maybe that’s because hiring a consultant is often a last ditch effort to save your business when what you’ve been doing hasn’t worked. Really, getting help from experts, coaches, consultants and other experienced entrepreneurs should be part of your formula for success right from the start (Let’s face it, very few entrepreneurs know much about actually running and growing a successful business when we first start out!).

It might also be, in part, due to most entrepreneurs’ inherent do-it-yourself ethos. It’s their business, and they’re going to do it their way. As a result, many would rather use the trial-by-fire method and see for themselves than take anyone’s advice.

That’s just silly. Trying to reinvent a perfectly good wheel is nothing but a waste of time. It’s better to find someone with experience who can show you exactly what works and what doesn’t. Then you can always tweak it to suit your needs.

Finally, I think there are some entrepreneurs who just don’t want to admit they’re struggling—even to a coach or consultant. It’s that whole “fake it ‘til you make it” mentality taken way, way too far.

Okay people…If you’re struggling to grow your business, you have got to get over these issues…Ideally before you’re exhausted, out of cash, and on the verge of giving up!!

Because asking for help is not a sign of weakness or failure. It’s a sign of intelligence and forthcoming success. And it’s the best way to shortcut the process and skip a lot of the struggle.

I know every time I’ve hired a coach or consultant, or signed up for a high-priced training session, my business has taken a huge leap forward!

While it’s awesome if you can afford to hire a consultant or business coach on an ongoing basis, not every entrepreneur can. So below are five ways to get help that range from free to serious investment. All can be worthwhile. But you do often get what you pay for.

1)      Create your own, structured Mastermind Group or Peer Advisory Board that meets regularly to offer each other advice and support

2)      Join an existing business support or mastermind group

3)      Meet regularly with another entrepreneur at a similar stage in business to exchange ideas, or even co-work (get together to work on your own separate projects so you have someone to give you feedback and bounce ideas off of)

4)      Hire an experienced consultant or coach with a proven track record for just one hour to help you gain clarity, get answers, and create a plan for going forward

5)      Invest in a multi-week group coaching program

Submit Articles For More Traffic

Need more, targeted, Website traffic? These days pay-per-click advertising has gotten prohibitively expensive. And competition for search engine rankings is tough.

While social networking can be a terrific way to drive traffic it requires a clear strategy and a whole lot of work. That’s why I love submitting articles to online databases (and social networking sites where possible!). It doesn’t take much time or cost a thing. And the people who read your articles and click through to your site have already decide they like what you have to say.

Plus, other people can republish your articles as long as they include your author attribution. That means more eyeballs on reading your work and more links back to your site. All good things for increasing Website traffic, both in terms of numbers and quality.

You can start with big, generalist sites like ezinearticles.com. But to find the best sites for you, Google “online article submission sites + your main topic”.

Submit Articles For More Traffic

Need more, targeted, Website traffic? These days pay-per-click advertising has gotten prohibitively expensive. And competition for search engine rankings is tough.

While social networking can be a terrific way to drive traffic it requires a clear strategy and a whole lot of work. That’s why I love submitting articles to online databases (and social networking sites where possible!). It doesn’t take much time or cost a thing. And the people who read your articles and click through to your site have already decide they like what you have to say.

Plus, other people can republish your articles as long as they include your author attribution. That means more eyeballs on reading your work and more links back to your site. All good things for increasing Website traffic, both in terms of numbers and quality.

You can start with big, generalist sites like ezinearticles.com. But to find the best sites for you, Google “online article submission sites + your main topic”.

Is Your Headline Creative Enough?

When you only have at best a couple seconds to catch and keep someone’s attention on your Website, a good Home page headline is critical. What’s yours?

If it’s “Welcome to Our Site” you are definitely missing out. The best headlines identify the target market, promise a benefit they really want, and create enough curiosity to convince them to keep reading.

You don’t need or want to get creative with this. Because you don’t want prospects to have to think about your headline. You want them to understand right away how you can help them solve a problem, fill a want or achieve a goal.

Here’s a winner that’s anything but creative: “Corns gone in 5 days or your money back.”

In fact, it’s often best to use a proven headline as a template but change it to suit your products or services.

Take the well known headline selling piano lessons “They all laughed when I sat down at the piano…But when I started to play.” This could be tweaked for my Asian Cooking School client to “They all laughed when I invited them over for an authentic Thai feast…Then they tasted the food!”

5 Easy Ways to Upsell Your Products and Services

By Stacy Karacostas -

5 Easy Ways to Upsell Your Products and Services

1) If you sell and ship products, put an ad or coupon for a related product or an upgrade in the box.

2) Send new clients a thank you card with a promotion for or mention of one of your other services.

3) Put a sign up in your store or office announcing a new offering or special deal. Just make sure it doesn’t get lost in the clutter. And ideally train your staff to point it out.

4) Send targeted follow-up emails to clients or customers offering them a related product or service (you can do this automatically with a good email autoresponder and shopping cart)

5) On your Website, offer an added discount for buying two products or services together (Amazon does a great job of this by always offering a second book on the same subject below your main selection).

Remember, upselling is really just a matter of offering something else your customer is likely to want, based on what they’re buying now. Simple as that.

You’re doing your clients a HUGE disservice if you don’t tell them you have something else they may want or need. And you’re leaving money on the table in your own business.