BizCoachDeb's BizBuzz -

Archive for October, 2008

Over the last couple months, I’ve become passionate about WordPress. I can thank Doug Wray, because having attended a class of his on the subject, he simplified a couple things that were vexing me, plus revealed how fun it was to build both blogs and websites using this great tool. Ever since, I’ve been singing the praises of WP, making some client sites and blogs, plus trying to help some adventurous people along the way. I’ve learned a couple key things I feel are worthy pieces to the puzzle; hopefully they will help lessen your learning curve.

First, This Important Message
This is just a nugget that helps me so I don’t blow up my own site: have a backup or test site in which you deploy and fiddle with things like plugins and changes to the css and php files. I use mine before using anything on my “real sites” and it’s saved me a lot of aggravation and embarrassment. I tweak it to death or I kick it to the curb, and my visitors are never the wiser because it all happened on a “pseudo” site.   The rest of the story...

This is the crux of several client issues that I’ve been working through this week: While each client has a great idea, all of it is in their head, on sticky notes, and buried in emails and notepads – not exactly the formula for success, as there’s no structure. Three times this week alone I’ve been asked to work up a coaching plan and marketing plan, but each time when I ask, “Do you have a business plan?”, I get a blank stare or response followed by, “Do I really need one, I’m not taking a loan to start this venture.” For some budding entrepreneurs, they believe putting a shingle out is good enough or “if I have a nice brochure, people will gobble up my widgets.” Not so fast! When you’re taking a long journey, most will agree you need a roadmap. Business adventures are exactly the same, and your business plan is that map; without it, you can expect aimless, misdirected results, not to mention a considerable waste of your startup resources.   The rest of the story...

There’s no mystery to the fact that hard work usually pays off with good things. Even Samuel Goldwyn said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” I believe this translates into many things in our daily lives, not just our work. The flip side of that is overdoing it, losing sleep, and for me and many other creatives, not enough breaks in the day or work week, resulting in burn out and a lack of “ah ha” moments.  If you’re like me, I will sometimes work so hard, so late, that even the greatest or simplest idea or solution seems just out of reach; but some how, as if by magic, if I let go and get to bed, the answer is usually revealed in the morning. Okay, so it’s not magic, but more a function of the cognitive unconscious that allows us to tap that creative storehouse.   The rest of the story...

Nearly reserving this commentary for another post, a marketing postcard arrived to me in the mail today and reminded what a pet peeve this is: When you have a domain name, why on earth would you not propagate it by using it in your email? This has vexed me for as long as I’ve used email. The answer I typically get from clients is, “it’s just easier” or “I’ve had the other for so long.” Neither are good enough reasons to take the focus off your brand. When you use those freebie Comcast, Hotmail, Yahoo, or Gmail accounts as the “go to” email address, you really diminish the capacity for your own domain name to become popular or even recognizable. If you are real want to build your brand and your identity, your email address is the easiest place to start.   The rest of the story...

If you’re like me, you’re disappointed when a resource or business you like doesn’t have any social media reach, where they connect with you where YOU are. From a business perspective, this is just one more lost opportunity to connect with a client.  From a relationship building standpoint, the relationship barely exists. Case in point:  How In their October 2008 edition, page 12, outline all these “online resources”, but they are all tied directly to their own website. With such tethering, it tells me they’ve really limited the reach they could have. Why no Twitter, why no Facebook? They have an online forum and a blog, but to me, that’s just standard outreach that should be expected. Even their own “Online Promotions” section never even mentions social media.   The rest of the story...