When it's Time to Rebrand Your business is up-leveling. You're starting to see some real success, and that old "My friend's brother has a pirated copy of Photoshop" logo is no longer working for you. You need a polished BRAND, not just a "starter" logo. if your business is growing and seeing some success, it's time for a rebrand. Your business is pivoting into something new. You've decided that you'd like to move away from fitness coaching, and become more of a wholistic lifestyle coach - but your brand is all fitness related. If you're changing focus, it's time for a rebrand. Your business has evolved. You may not want to completely change what it is you do, but over the course of your business' life you've naturally added and removed services/products. Your business is ... Continue Reading
How Much Should a WordPress Website Cost?
I was at a client meeting a few months ago. It was going well. We spent some time going over her project, figuring out what was needed and how to accomplish it. We 'meshed' and I was excited about working with her, and I think that she was excited too. Until we started to discuss pricing. I explained the amount of work that would go into building her website, it was quite large with a lot of pages, and although it wasn't feature-heavy, it was quite design heavy requiring a fair amount of custom graphics. Unfortunately, her budget didn't line up with the project scope. Not that unusual. Normally, I would reiterate the amount of work involved, and explain how translates into the price I delivered. At that point we usually discuss options, and if I can, I will point her towards the steps ... Continue Reading
Don’t be a Weird Barista – How to Ask for Money
Imagine. You are at the coffee shop buying a cup of coffee. You place your order, and the barista just stands there and stares at you. What do you do next? Do you put the money in the drawer yourself, and start pouring your own coffee? Do you stand there waiting forever? Do you leave and go to another coffee shop? Uncomfortable, right? That's what it's like when you don't ask for money. You're like that strange barista, just standing there staring, hoping that your customer can 'guess' the next step. Don't be a weird barista. Not asking for money clearly and with confidence, pushes the discomfort to your clients. It makes your issue, the client's issue. So how do you ask for money? Bring money up early in the conversation. Trust me, your clients expect to pay for your services, ... Continue Reading
How to Write a Kick-Butt Intro Email
Creating partnerships with complementary businesses can help promote and build both of your businesses. But breaking the ice, and telling them what you do without sounding salesy can be tricky. You know that you're a good fit, but in order to connect you need them to see it too. Here is a template that I use to help build my intro emails for collaborating with other businesses. How do I know them? How did I learn about their business? Include a compliment, and list some details so it's clear that you really are familiar with their work, and you're not just sending them a form email. I heard your interview on the Business Babes podcast, about your jewelry design business, and your opinion on stylish clothing was so right! I loved how you thought that great clothing can really improve ... Continue Reading
25 Free Ways to Market Your Business
Marketing on a shoe-string budget can be challenging. Check out this list of 25 free things you can do to market your business and jump-start your marketing efforts. Post a free Ad on your local online free classifieds website (Craigslist, Kijiji, etc...) Write a Blog Post and Share it on all of your social media pages. Be sure to include a compelling, and "shareable" image. Give new life to old content. Promote an old blog post on your social media pages, and new blog posts. Join and take part in Facebook groups relevant to your niche. Avoid straight-up advertising. Instead, focus on providing valuable content, and taking part in conversations. Create an info-graphic. Check out Canva if you need some help designing one. Build your list. Add an optin form to your website, and ... Continue Reading
My Favorite Free Business Tools
Starting, and running a business can get expensive. Finding a few free tools that work with your business can really help. These are a few of my favorite free business tools. Gmail Boomerang - Schedule your emails in Gmail. Docracy - Free resource for contracts. A great place to start planning for meeting with your lawyer. Pexels - The best free stock photos complied from around the web (be sure to check licensing on individual pics). You Can Book Me - Client booking calendar. Start with a free plan and work your way up as your business grows. Google Apps: Docs, Sheets, and Slides for Business documents. Google Hangouts for group calls. Google Drive for file sharing. Good Hangout on Air - Free Webinars. Skype for free video calls. Canva - Free graphic design ... Continue Reading
Reconciling Your Web Design Dreams With Your Budget
Budget. There, I've said it. The elephant in the room: money, clams, moola. I get it, you're just starting out, you have big dreams, and a small pocket-book. That's cool. No, really. Challenges like this help you to grow your business using creativity, flexibility and ingenuity. And that's great! But what to do when your "eyes are bigger than your stomach?" When you want ALL THE STUFF, but Don't have ALL THE MONEY? I'll tell you just what to do. 1. Dream - Create a Wish List You have an idea of what you want, features you dream about. You want a booking calendar, newsletter optin, estore, membership area, animations, blog, recipes area.......etc..... You might not be able to have everything, but these dreams and desires help you to figure out what it is that you truly want and need. They ... Continue Reading
New Freebie: Printable Coloring Page
Need to take a break from your busy day? Grab some pencil crayons, and download this new freebie: a mandala-inspired printable coloring page. Signup below to gain access to the freebies page, where you can download this new freebie. ... Continue Reading
10 Things Every Author Website Should Have
Having a great website is so important in your book marketing efforts. The main goal is to connect to your ideal readers, the ones who sing your praises and love your work. Give your readers and fans an easy and fun place to learn more about your work (have they missed any of your books? What is the next book in the series?), live a bit in your world, and link up with other fans. 1) Great Homepage Your first impression sets the tone for your entire site (no pressure, right?). Your site's design should reflect the mood of your books, and immediately answer your readers most pressing questions, like: What type of books do you write? (this should be obvious, like, super obvious. You write novels about zombies there has better be pictures of zombies front and center on your ... Continue Reading
3 Things You Can Do to Instantly Elevate Your Coaching Website
1) Add Your Photo As a coach, You are the face of your business (both literally and figuratively), so show off that smiling face. Your clients want to connect with a real person, someone who isn't afraid to step out from behind the screen and stand behind their work. Showing your face adds credibility and a face to put to your message. As you know, being a coach requires some real confidence so don't be shy, be yourself and add some personality to that pic. 2) Make it Super Clear What it is You Do, and Who You Do it For Coaching is such a broad service. There are coaches for just about every situation. You might be clear on what it is you offer (...and what coaching actually is). But I bet your potential clients aren't sure what you are offering, and if you are the perfect fit for their ... Continue Reading
Building Your Online Author Media Kit
So, you've written a book, the first step to your publishing empire, and you are fired up to start promoting the stuffing out of it. You've put up a website, sent out a press release, and started talking about your awesome book on social media. Hey, you might have have even had new business cards with the job title "author" right next to your name. So, what's missing? You still need a media kit (AKA Press Kit). What's an Author Media Kit (AKA Press Kit)? A media kit is a collection of relevant information about you and your books. It's meant to provide an easy to find reference for the media (Bloggers, Reviewers, Journalists, Retailers, Event Coordinators (for book signings) etc...) so that they can easily (and quickly) find key information (that their, and your, audience would be ... Continue Reading
How to Choose the Right Colors for Your Logo
One of the most important aspect of your brand is your Logo. It is the face of your business, and representation of what your business stands for, and color plays key role. Sometimes the color of the logo transcends the logo itself (think of Barbie, or McDonald's golden arches). So how do you choose the perfect colors out of almost limitless color combinations? Here are a few aspects to consider: Mood There is no question that colors evoke a certain mood. Choosing the right colors can tell your customers a lot about how you want your business perceived. Understanding the psychology behind colors can help you choose the right colors to tell your story. Red: Passion, energy, anger, love, aggressiveness, intensity Yellow: Joy, sunshine, happiness, energy, fresh, sunshine Blue: ... Continue Reading
How I Revamped my Web Design Workflow
When I started this business, I was pretty naive. I thought that I would be free to design until my hearts content, customers would just magically appear, and the business side of running my business would just sort itself out. I never expected how hard it would be to figure out how to approach and organize projects. Without a a clear step by step process, I was rebuilding my workflow for each and every client, my client experiences were inconsistent, and I was wasting so much time redoing every step. I decided that I needed a change, this is how I did it: 1) Evaluate my Current Workflow I wrote down every step I took, from first inquiry to launch date. I discovered that my workflow was not always consistent. I decided that in order to offer great customer experience, each step needed ... Continue Reading
Author & Book Websites: Q&A
Do I need a website? Yes. A lot of authors recommend using social media to promote their books, and this is great! Social media is an easy way to keep your readers updated, but it's not a great place to provide more in-depth information. Your website creates a "hub" where your reader can easily find more information about you, your works, and find all of your social media pages. A website is also a great place to start when sharing updates with your readers, there are many ways to take a blog post, for example, and share that post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc... making your social media marketing easier and more streamlined. What should I include on my website? An author bio Your latest or featured project A list of your works (and links on where to buy them) Contact ... Continue Reading
Is it Time to Redesign Your Website?
If you are like other small businesses, you have had your website since the beginning. If your business had been around for a while, then your website could be getting a little outdated. But how do you know if it's time for a redesign? Here's how: 1.) Reevaluate your Target Market. If your business has been open for awhile, then you know that things have changed. You have expanded, refocused your brand, maybe found your niche. Well, your customers may have changed too. Now is a good time to take a look at who your current customers are. Ask your "front line" employees, talk to your customers, take a "bird's eye view" of your customer demographics and see if you can narrow down your current target market. 2.) Get a Feel For How Your Current Customers Use Your Website Get an idea of how ... Continue Reading