I use this worksheet as part of a strategy discussion with people who are looking to get started or get moving a bit faster.  I find that the discussion usually leads us to a few immediate action items along with a stronger understanding of strategies that will be most effective.  So that’s what’s in the…

Nothing Happens Until Somebody Sells Something

Last thing in the worksheet is metrics.  You need to have a way to measure whether you’re being successful. There are lots free tools out there to make this easier.  I encourage people to think ahead of time about ‘what success looks like’ and what you wanna measure. What you want to measure is critical…

Online directories are powerful tools that are easy to overlook. There are all kinds of directories  They will not all be relevant to every business.  The trick is to find the ones that matter to you.   I’ve got a list of over a hundred of the top ones that’s included in the worksheet. If you’re…

As opposed to social media posting, which is a great thing, it’s pretty far down on my list. It’s definitely completely separate from a profile. Lots of people do the profiles, don’t get around to the social media posting for many months even years. I’m not saying that social media posting and blogging are bad. …

Social media profiles – I make a big distinction between social media profiles and social media posts. Social media profiles – Facebook, LinkedIn, those kinds of things are a great opportunity for you to have a presence on the web and tell your story.  You can have a profile without doing posts.  It’s relatively easy…

Stories are not often on the top of many lists like this. Stories are how humans learn and understand things. Way too much marketing is about telling.  Your stories allow you to communicate emotions and why they should do business with you.  That makes it much easier for people to understand and to figure out…

Your unique selling proposition is how you present yourself in a way that’s going to be totally different than everyone else. A lot of inexperienced people want to  be just like everyone else when they get started.  It makes sense, because everyone else looks successful and it is what you can see and you want…

I think that Google My Business is a really valuable resource.  Many people do not realize how valuable it is.  Google My business has evolved over the years, but basically Google is going to give you what amounts to a free website. You put all your contact information in there. You can post images and…

One of the specific things that Anastasia asked about was a domain name. “Do I need a domain name?” and they’re kind of two answers to that. The simple answer is yes, you need a domain name. I’m not sure when you need a domain name, but you need to have a plan for your…