Building Your Brand Archives - Page 6 of 8

35 ‘New Media’ Marketing Tips, from Top ‘New Media’ Experts!

September 24, 2012 by Chris 74 Comments

I’ve been knocked sideways by how fast some entrepreneurs create, launch and catapult a business to success in recent years.

They seem to be fully immersed in the New Business Manifesto way of life!

All you need to do is flick through the pages of Entrepreneur magazine, or tune into ‘Tech Stars’ on Bloomberg to see how the movers and shakers of the new economy are getting shit done in todays business world.

As an entrepreneur, it’s incredibly exciting to see!

So, I decided to go out and grab ahold of the people that are making a difference in what they are doing in the business world, and more importantly HOW they’re doing it. What follows, in no particular order, is their answers to one very simple question.

I’ll kick things off, if thats okay with you…

…

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Get Smart – 3 Things Entrepreneurs Should Hand Over to the Experts!

April 28, 2012 by Chris 46 Comments

As entrepreneurs we have a thousand ideas a minute and not enough hours in the day to think about ’em!

If you’re just starting out, bootstrapping, growing – you’re no doubt doing long hours and tiring yourself out. That’s okay. It’s expected. A lot of the time you ARE the only one that can take care of a certain task, or project. However, a lot of the time there are certain tasks that you shouldn’t even be thinking about getting involved with (unless you’re an expert in that particular subject).

Today, I thought it might be good to look into this a little more.

Here are my ‘Top 3 Things’ that Remarkable Entrepreneurs should certainly leave to the people that do them every day for a living. By having this type of ‘Delegation Mindset’ we can a) work a few less hours, and b) genuinely get better quality work output.

When you’re done reading, I’d love to hear what else you think startup business owners shouldn’t be attempting themselves, instead delegating to the pro’s.

#1 – Any type of Graphic Design or Web Design / Development

Here’s a true story, involving… me… 3-odd years ago when I started to play around online for the first time, I decided that I could buy a customizable WordPress blog theme, spend a few hours tweaking it to the way I wanted it to look and then go live with my first blog post.

FACT – Business owners are, 9/10 times, perfectionists.

That afternoon turned into the evening, which turned into the wee hours of the night. It was 4am by the time I had finished ‘tweaking’ everything and the blog I was trying to set-up still didn’t look the way I wanted it to. I was tired, frustrated and overall, I felt deflated about the whole thing.

The next day I sent it onto a Web Development guy that I knew in Manila, telling him what I wanted and even attached a couple of sketches I had put together in regards to the way I wanted the homepage to look. Just 6-hours later I had my blog online and looking exactly the way I wanted it to!

This story will no doubt ring home with a lot of other entrepreneurs that might read this post. The moral of the story – get the professionals to rock out great looking logos, business cards, flyers and websites – whilst you focus on the income generating tasks, such as writing sales copy for your website landing page, or spending time with your number one client on the golf course!

#2 – SEO and ‘Online Marketing’ Tasks

This is probably one of the toughest topics I had getting to grips with when I started getting active online, in regards to promoting and marketing my business on the internet. That has changed a lot over time, obviously, as I have become a lot more knowledgeable on the subject by reading a ton of books, trail and error and asking as many questions (to those that ‘know’) as possible!

As someone who came from a very traditional, brick ‘n mortar business background (and who’s largest company, presently, is still very much in that category), I struggled with understanding SEO concepts. I soon learned that marketing a business online is a lot, LOT different to marketing one in the ‘real’, offline world.

From day one, I paid someone else to do it for me. Someone that had experience and understood Google and how ‘ranking’ worked, etc. And it paid off – for sure. Nowadays even though I’m a little more involved with the general strategies that we implement online, I still pay other people to do it for me, and I know one thing for sure…

If I had’ve even attempted to do this type of work myself when I was starting out, it would have been a complete disaster.

SUGGESTED LISTENING: Check out Episode 42 of the VBL Podcast with marketing professional David Meerman Scott for some of the most up-to-date marketing ideas and concepts for small business available anywhere online. David is a genius at this stuff!

#3 – Everyday, Repetitive Tasks

Being who I am, and doing what I do – this one is kind of a no-brainer.

Call it ‘working with a virtual assistant‘, or ‘outsourcing‘, or whatever you like – offloading the types of tasks that bog you down everyday as a hard working, ball-busting startup entrepreneur is just plain, good business strategy.

Whether you have to do a ton of online research; frequently have to update your social media channels; handle boring, repetitive book-keeping tasks; update your website content regularly; handle your calendar (note – I am terrible at this, and would be lost without my personal assistant doing it for me!); reply to boat-load of daily email inquiries or simply have to transcribe audio or video files, delegating work to other people, nowadays, as simple as 1, 2, 3.

Off-loading these types of everyday ‘busy tasks’, as I call them, is a great way to leverage your time, allowing yourself to get more done, with less effort and really focus on growing your business. At first that might mean spending more time on marketing concepts, or packaging ideas for your launch product. Down the road it could mean that you have more time to spend on putting processes in place for your growing empire.

Either way, working with VA’s and other types of professionals, people that do this stuff for a living everyday, is great business sense and you’ll enjoy the benefits of it, I’m sure.

That about wraps up my ‘quickie list’. Although, like I said, I’d love to hear from you on any other types of tasks, projects or processes that you feel startup entrepreneurs should simply hand over to the people ‘that know’, instead of attempting to do it all themselves.

Comment below, and lets see if we can get a bit of a conversation going!

The Top 5 Things Remarkable Entrepreneurs Should NEVER Do. Ever!

April 18, 2012 by Chris 36 Comments

You always hear about the important things that entrepreneurs should ‘do’ in order to become successful.

However, its rare that people talk about the things that business owners should NOT do when it comes to running and growing their businesses, on or offline.

In this post I’d like to serve up a few of those tips for you. And, I encourage you to make a list of your own (perhaps even based on your mistakes in the past) and even share a few tips for the VBL Tribe at the bottom of the post, in the comment section.

On your marks. Get set… GO!

#1 – NEVER Start a Business Just to Make Money

Every business owner that I have come across that has an insanely successful business, attributes that success to one thing, and one thing only – they love what they do!

We spend 60-70% of our waking hours ‘working’. Call me an idiot, but isn’t it a good idea if we spend that time working on something that involves passion – a product or service that we love (that ultimately will make us money), instead of simply working on ‘something’, just to ‘make’ money…?

I love what I do for a ‘living’. Every day I get up and get to work with a smile on my face. Talking with clients, creating content, spending time developing my staff (both on-site and virtual), developing new projects, reading, writing, eating – you get the gist of it, right…?

Do something you LOVE. And you’ll be a raving success.

#2 – NEVER Be Scared to Pivot, or Change Plans

The entrepreneur pivot is something that I’ve discussed before here at VBL and on other blogs and podcasts, whilst being interviewed, too.

It’s a subject that I’m really passionate about because it allows me as a business owner to never stop thinking about how to make something better. How to improve, evolve or make a difference.

Don’t get me wrong – its great to have a plan. Its essential, in fact. But, if you’re so caught up in that plan and following it step by step, you might just miss out on an opportunity to change something, even just a little thing, that could make your business all the more successful.

Keep an open mind and never stop thinking about ways to pivot in your business.

#3 – NEVER Blame Someone Else for Your Mistakes

We become entrepreneurs because we want to be our own boss, right? The head honcho, the big swinging dick.

If you screw up, drop the ball, under price your service or product, get beaten by a competitor on a local holiday battle, have your best manager quit on you, lose your biggest client – don’t blame anyone else.

You don’t necessarily have to blame yourself. But, the bottom line is that you are in charge. You’re the boss. And everything, always comes down to you.

Accept it. Embrace it. And go for it!

ESSENTIAL LISTENING: Check out this interview with best-selling author Jonathan Fields that I did for the VBL Podcast a while ago. There are so many golden business nuggets for you to devour, you’ll thank me – really!

#4 – NEVER Try to ‘Do It All’

I always say that entrepreneurs are a strange breed. We are – think about it.

At a recent speaking gig, I discussed how we, as entrepreneurs have what I like to call ‘Superhero Syndrome’. We like to think that we can do everything. That the world is a better place with us in charge and that we should make sure that we are the one that people look to for guidance all the time – to save the day… all the time.

Reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

What we should be is smart, hard-working business owners. When I say ‘smart’, I mean we work out what we’re good at and focus on that aspect of our business. We then bring in the best people we can a) find and b) afford to do the rest of the stuff needed to help our business explode into a huge success.

Entrepreneurs are not superheroes. Don’t try and be one.

#5 – NEVER Shackle Yourself to One Location. Become ‘Virtual’.

One of the reasons why I wanted to become a Virtual CEO was so that I could have the freedom I felt was required to continue to grow my business.

I wanted to work ON my business, instead of IN it.

Since freeing up myself to be able to only have to go into my company facilities (where 300-odd people work for me) once or twice a week (and normally for only a few hours at a time), I’ve encountered more success, more profits, more opportunities and… a much more enjoyable business lifestyle.

I believe that its an absolute requirement for entrepreneurs nowadays, that want to start and grow something remarkable, to be as flexible as possible when it comes to the way they run their businesses.

Becoming ‘virtual’ is the way to go.

FREEDOM TIP – Start by making a list of all the things that you do in your office (whether it be a facility, or a home office) on a daily basis. Then start highlighting the stuff that you NEED to be IN the office to be able to perform. You’ll be amazed, in this day and age with the technology that we have at our disposal, how few highlights will be on that list when you’re done! Nuff said.

What are things you’ve done in the past, as a business owner, that you would NEVER do again? Anyone got any further tips for the VBL Tribe? If so, please leave a comment below with your pearls of wisdom!

Ask the Readers: Is Social Media Getting Too Noisy?

April 11, 2012 by Chris 49 Comments

Snapshot taken via Instagram, whilst in Hospital

I enjoy my social media action.

I have just as much fun enjoying interacting with friends online as I do in real life… And its a great way to get to know my community here better, as well as hopefully help as much as possible, too.

Not to mention building brands and marketing businesses, too. Creativity to one side – being active on social media channels has become the ‘norm’ in our very online world nowadays.

Tweeting is my favorite form of social chit chat. It’s quick, very mobile and above all, simple. Effective.

Twitter is also a fantastic tool for finding new, real time, business opportunities, too (which I regularly do!). But, thats a topic for a future post, perhaps.

And, in the News: Facebook Buys Instagram

I also enjoy taking photos. Instagram makes even the most inexperienced photographer ‘cool’ with its different filters, and sweet blurring effects (I’m sure there’s a technical term for that, but I’m buggered if I know what it is!). As of today, I have 711 people following me on Instagram, and I’ve posted 192 photos in the year or so that I’ve been using it. If you’d like to follow me – just search for ‘chrisducker’ in the app.

A couple of days ago Facebook announced that it was acquiring Instagram in a deal that would total one billion dollars (a mix of cash and stock).

Immediately a couple of quick thoughts popped into my head, namely:

Will I still be able to share my photos from Instagram to Twitter?
Will Instagram itself, as an app, be slowly, but surely incorporated into the Facebook app?

Fair questions to ask, and although Mark Zuckerberg says that the app will remain the way it is, I have to be honest, I doubt it will. I just don’t think that they (Facebook) will be able to help themselves, and eventually it will become ‘part’ of Facebook.

Social Media is SCREAMING at Us – All the time!

I also have to be honest when I say that I’m actually getting quite sick of all these different social media platforms.

The social media landscape is just too damn noisy for me now…

Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Four Square, Pinterest, Tumblr, and so on and so on. The old adage of “You’ve got to be in it, to win it!” is complete and utter rubbish, as far as I’m concerned. I only use a few of those and do quite well when it comes to building a personal brand and marketing my businesses.

I am contemplating making quite drastic changes in my social media interaction. I might even completely drop certain platforms all together.

I’ve started to dislike Facebook as it’s become more and more ‘complicated’ to work with and enjoy. Lets face it – did we REALLY need Timeline? I don’t think so. But, its hear nonetheless. Related Note: If you want a great tutorial on Timeline for Pages, then check out my buddy, Pat Flynn’s excellent post (complete with videos and templates).

However, I do enjoy the interaction on the VBL Facebook page, which currently has over 11,000 people who have ‘Liked’ it. Do so here if you want to be loved forever!

What says the VBL Tribe?

Are you feeling the same way as me….?

Or, do you love social media, in every way, shape and form?

Will Instagram be affected by this whole thing?

Are you finding yourself strapped for time when it comes to your Social Media playtime?

I’d love to hear your comments below…

Attention Brands! Here’s a REAL Customer Service Lesson from Krispy Kreme!

March 12, 2012 by Chris 68 Comments

Customer service is something that I’m well versed in. I own and operate a call center, after all. However, if there is one thing that I’ve noticed over the last few years, regardless of best-selling books such as ‘The Thank You Economy’, by Gary Vaynerchuk telling us how important it is to look after our customers – especially in the incredibly social, online world that we now all live in, is that it’s not a subject matter that gets any huge amount of ‘good’ press. It’s most ‘bad’.

Like the story of United Airlines breaking a guitar and not responding to millions of YouTube views on the subject until it was too late. Not to mention the fact that in a recent survey only 29% of consumers received a reply on Twitter, following a customer complaining publicly about an issue they had. Think about that – 71% of the companies / brands basically completely ignored a customer complaint. For the world to see!

It’s all quite pitiful really, isn’t it?

However, I’m here today to tell you that all is not lost. Seriously, it’s not.

Freedom Friday

As an entrepreneur, I’m lucky enough to have the freedom to set my own working schedule and for a while now, I’ve not been working on Friday’s (except the odd client call, or meeting). I’ve also been trying to come up with a regular activity that I can enjoy every Friday morning with my wife and our son, Charlie.

Last Friday I woke up with a hankering for coffee and donuts. That doesn’t happen often. So, when I get a hankering of such a kind, I usually act on it!

We jumped in the car and headed to the local Krispy Kreme donut shop. We’ve been there twice before, but never with the little one, who was simply told we were going to get donuts. He likes donuts (duh!?), but didn’t say much more than “I want a chocolate donut” on the way to our destination.

Good morning, Maam, Sir!

We parked, walked into the store to the usual Filipino greeting of “Good morning, Maam, Sir!” and approached the counter to order our treats!

As I sat my youngest at the table, I observed him getting comfortable – matchbox toy car in one hand, the other hand empty, ready for the battle that was about to commence!

His chocolate donut was placed in front of him (I’m an Original Glazed kinda guy, in case you’re interested!), he picked it up with his spare hand, and took his first, surprisingly large bite. As if it had been timed to perfection one of the young, female members of staff came over with a balloon, to his joy and amazement. Donuts AND a balloon? Surely this Friday morning can’t get any better…!?

For Charlie, oh yes, it can!

20mins, some fun and games – which included attacking a few unsuspecting patrons with his green balloon, and a few laughs later, Charlie had polished off his chocolate donut.

We’re on the verge of getting ready to leave and the young lady comes back to our table. This time, however, she brings a paper hat with her and squarely places it on Charlie’s head, asking him “Would you like to see how we make the donuts?”.

Being as inquisitive, but also as cautious as most other 3-year olds, he responds with “Can my Mummy come, too?”. Of course she can. At this point, I pull out my iPhone4s to capture the moment so that we can share it with Grandma and Grandad later on.

Here’s a 60-second clip from the video…

He was amazed by how the donuts were made. And when he came out from the preparation area, he ran up to me, to tell me all about it.

We thanked our ‘guide’, cleaned up the table and left the store with a smile on our faces, and full bellies. I honestly thought that our experience at Krispy Kreme that morning was finished there.

How wrong I was.

Winning a Fan for Life!

On the way home Charlie said “We sure had fun at Krispy Kreme, Daddy…”. Then he said it again a few minutes later. Then again. And… Then again. When we got home, we showed the video to his grandparents, which was accompanied with his running commentary of the event, which included the word ‘Awesome’ several times.

The sugar rush then came to an end, and he crashed. Literally. On the sofa, with his Krispy Kreme balloon next to him.

When he woke up, he asked to watch the video again. What ensued was another 10min conversation about his experience at the donut shop.

Charlie has not stopped taking about those bloody donuts all weekend! And I for one am very happy about it. Why? Because I’ve found that Friday morning activity I’ve been looking for.

What is REAL Customer Service?

Most people tend to think of ‘customer service’ as being a company taking care of a refund, or another sales related issue, or after sales ‘care’ of some kind.

However, we rarely see it as making an already good experience even better. Even more memorable. Even more enjoyable.

Would we have returned the the donut shop without this great experience? Yes, probably at SOME point in the future. But, not every week, that’s for sure.

Are we going to buy dozens of donuts every week, when we’re there? Probably not. But, I am telling all my blog subscribers, Facebook fans and Twitter followers about my great experience? Yes, I am. And will Krispy Kreme get some additional business out of it..? You betcha!

One of my fondest childhood memories is that of walking to the top of the hill in our town, with my Dad, every Sunday morning to get a newspaper. We did that together for years. I still remember some of our conversations from those 20min walks. Although, it’s the activity itself that I remember more than anything else.

Now, every Friday morning, when Charlie wakes up, he’ll know that we’re going to Krispy Kreme to enjoy some donuts. He might never walk around that prep area again (although knowing him the way I do, I reckon it’s more likely to happen, than not!), but he will enjoy the beginning of each and every weekend going forward and hopefully he’ll remember his Friday mornings with Mum and Dad for years and years to come…

Have you had a great customer service experience? If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below. Let’s make each other SMILE at the start of the week and if you enjoyed this story, please share it with your friends, to give them a smile, too!

3 Simple Steps to Maximizing Social Media for Your Small Business

February 24, 2012 by Chris 38 Comments

Today I have a very sincere message for every business owner out there that is using social media to promote and market their business…

Stop having one night stands on your social media channels.

If you really want to utilize this medium to grow your business, then start getting married, instead.

Let me explain my thoughts further.

A short time back, I had marketing expert and world-renowned speaker, David Meerman Scott on the VBL Podcast. I’m a massive fan of David’s and literally read everything he puts out. The guy is my marketing Yoda, plain and simple.

The one thing that he mentioned that stood out, more than anything else, was that people have got to stop pitching and start engaging more, to be able to make social media work for them in business.

So, in reverse order, here are three quick and easy tips to start utilizing social media to help grow your business faster than you thought possible… The RIGHT way.

Tip #3 – Fill Up Your Social Media Calendar

At the beginning of February I had the opportunity to fly over to Phuket, Thailand and speak in front of 160 passionate entrepreneurs on the subject of boosting traditional / brick ‘n mortar success, by engaging the online world of business.

Throughout the course of the 3-day conference many successful business owners, myself included (duh!) presented their pearls of wisdom to the highly energetic crowd. One session was on the subject of getting your social media strategy in place – for the entire year!

The strategy is to post something, across all your channels every day of the week.

Its better to try and automate as much of this as possible, so you just have to focus on the interaction side of things, once people start replying, commenting and RT’ing your posts.

It included things like:

Video clips.
Links to blog posts.
Famous quotes.
Questions.
Useful resources.

Perhaps I’ll go into this strategy a little more in the near future, but the big eye-opener for almost all in attendance was that, with a little planning and execution, you can be everywhere, be engaging, helpful, resourceful and reap massive rewards through social media, in a non-spammy / sales-pitchy way.

So, get creative, plan your posting schedule (in the same way you would as a blogger), and then put it all on autopilot. Following this, all you have to do is pay attention and engage.

Tip #2 – The Twitter Tactic that has Transformed My Businesses

The one thing that I love about social media is that it’s instant.

Sometime last year I had issues with my hosting provider – our sites went down. I quickly went onto Twitter and discovered that there were a lot of people in the same boat, all using the same provider, just by doing a quick search.

This got me thinking. Surely if people were using the micro-blogging site to bitch and moan about problems they were experiencing, then they MUST be using it to find solutions, too.

I was bang on, right!

So, I immediately started stalking search.twitter.com, searching for people that needed help and support in my niche, and started reaching out – without pitching my company or services. I figured that if I helped them out willingly, that they would go ahead and visit my profile, click on my links and check out what I had to offer – when they were good and ready.

I was bang on, right – again!

Nowadays, I don’t do this searching myself. I leave it up to my VA, who manages all the searches via TweetDeck, and sends out pre-written responses that I produced in the course of my experimenting myself, as well as other types of interaction that she handles herself, too.

She does this with her own Twitter account, some company ones, and even sometimes using MY account, too! So, people think that they are chatting with me, as a thought leader in our niche, before they actually DO start talking to me. Smart so-and-so, aren’t I…?!!

For me, it works… Check out the tweets below, showing social proof.

Tip #1 – My Number One ‘Social Media for Business’ Tip

This is simple, yet so many people overlook it.

It’s time to minimize and simplify.

Having a presence on the major social media channels, such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn is important (click at random to interact with me on these channels). However, being actively involved on them all is just unrealistic – especially if you want to make a major difference in your business and more importantly, genuinely help your customers and prospective customers.

So, stop chasing the social media dragon and start getting smart.

Pick ONE channel that you enjoy using more than any other, and then GO FOR IT in a major way. That doesn’t mean that you won’t utilize the other channels frequently (or even have a virtual assistant manage them for you), it simply means that this one channel will become your social media focus.

For me, it’s Twitter. I like to tweet because it’s quick, easy and very mobile (thanks to my iPhone4 and iPad). It also enables me to add images, videos and links to other cool and helpful resources for my list of over 40,000+ followers.

For my aforementioned buddy, Pat Flynn – it’s Facebook. Pat’s fan page is ridiculous – in a good way! The engagement he has with his fans is unlike any other Facebook page that I have seen. Why? Because he decided a long time ago, that this was the way he wanted to answer fan questions, help, support and interact with them, away from his blog. He does a great job of it, too.

I’ll leave you with this…

10 People Doing it RIGHT!

There are LOTS of people doing things right already. However, here’s a list of ten of them that I see using social media in the right way (consistently), as discussed above, to engage, motivate, inspire and educate (as well as promote their businesses!).

Check ’em out on Twitter, and emulate, people.

What are YOU Doing Right… or Wrong?!

What experiences have you had with social media in regards to utilizing it for building your brand and promoting / marketing your business?

I’d love to hear about the good, the bad AND the ugly in the comment section below.

Quick Request: If you liked this post and found it even remotely helpful, I’d really appreciate a quick share of it on your favorite social media channel. Here’s the URL, so you can copy and paste it quickly. Thanks in advance! – https://bit.ly/ygb0dO

3 Reasons Why the ‘Entrepreneurial Pivot’ is More Important than EVER!

February 7, 2012 by Chris 18 Comments

UPDATE: Please note that YouWebPA is no longer in business. You can hear the story as to why on episode 16 of the New Business Podcast, and learn by my mistakes!

Original Post:

One of the most undeniable traits of a real entrepreneur is the ability to be flexible. To move in the right direction when the time strikes and to turn, or pivot in another, when required.

This is ‘formally’ known as the ‘Entrepreneurial Pivot’.

I’ve experienced plenty of pivots in my career – learning something from each and every one of them. So, I thought it might be a good idea to tell you about my most recent one, what caused it, and how I handled it to turn things around and drive home another successful business launch – just in case you bump into one yourself in the near future!

The Beta Mode

Before I launched my most recent business, YourWebPA.com, we were in beta mode for around a year. We had been testing out different service packages, price points, how our processes ran, the way that we would work with and report to clients, and so on.

As someone that really believes in helping people with their outsourcing needs, YourWebPA.com is my personal answer to the issues of project-based outsourcing via the popular ‘job posting’ websites, and the hassle that comes along with hiring and having to work with people you’ve never worked with, or met before, for simple one-off projects.

Throughout the entire planning process and beta period we had our focus on putting together a line-up of 25 different service offerings. It was going to be a huge launch, with plenty of growth possibility for the future, too.

However, it simply was not meant to be that way.

The Problem

In theory it seemed fantastic to be able to offer that many services, right out of the gate. The problem, however, was that it was taking a long time to gather, train and get management processes in place for the complete, highly skilled and diverse group of people that I was going to have to assemble to be able to provide the best possible service to our clients.

Something needed to happen so that we could focus on bringing this new venture to the marketplace faster, and with a solid line-up of services that would really work well for our clients.

Enter… The Pivot

So, I grabbed my laptop, jumped in the car and went to my local Starbucks to do a little entrepreneurial soul searching.

Being around the team, as great as they are, was just clouding my vision when it came to finalizing a product line-up. Their passion and excitement to finally launch the new company was awesome, but it was really getting in the way of me thinking clearly.

An hour into a planning session over coffee, a brand new mind-map and a couple of quick tweets to people that had been utilizing the service in its beta mode, to get some quick feedback, and I had my service line-up completed.

YourWebPA.com would now feature just five different service offerings (instead of the 25 that we had been planning) for its kick-off, namely:

SEO Packages
Niche Site Creation
Personal Branding Kit
eBook Design
Article Writing

Clarity was immediately felt.

I went back to the office, met with my team and told them the great news! At first I could tell they were a little shocked – but, after explaining why I was doing this, they quickly realized that the entrepreneurial pivot that I had just made was exactly what we needed to be able to REALLY start growing this new business together.

We simply needed to get going, the growth would come… And it is!

The ‘3 Reasons’

1) You see, if I had of carried on shooting for the 25 services that I was wanting to offer to people, it would have taken at least another 6 months to get it all finalized to the point where I felt really comfortable and confident to go live. I wanted to make sure that I had all my ducks in a line and that people would be immediately impressed with the service line-up and quality of work we were doing for them, as well as the general customer service, too.

After all, you only get ONE chance to make a first impression, right?!

2) Bringing the initial number of services available down to the five listed above allowed us to wrap things up quickly and get this new baby of ours launched and in front of potential customers all around the world – FAST. In fact from the afternoon that I performed this latest entrepreneurial pivot of mine, to the time that we launched, it was exactly 3 days.

3) We are now planning to roll out another six different services this year, with the first addition being transcription services at the end of this month. They are all being tested slowly, but surely and looking better every day. It’s given us more clarity than we ever thought possible.

UPDATE: Please note that YouWebPA is no longer in business. You can hear the story as to why on episode 16 of the New Business Podcast, and learn by my mistakes!

Ask the Readers: Are you REALLY in the Right Niche, as an Online Publisher?

January 27, 2012 by Chris 44 Comments

I’m currently in the process of working with a blogging mentor – I’ll reveal who it is at a later date, but trust me, their credentials are solid!

The reason why I reached out to this person is because I’ve been battling with a few ‘blogging demons’ over the last few months. More specifically, I am actually questioning my purpose as a blogger, as well as my general niche and the way that I am perceived in that niche, too.

It’s Personal, I Get It!

The thing is that we blog for our audiences, obviously. But, as a blogger, when you spend the amount of time that you do, putting together all of your content, surely, you should be:

a) Enjoying it.

b) Doing it for the right reasons.

This is what I am questioning, I guess, at the moment. And, I must say, after just two sessions with my mentor, along with a little homework, I already feel that I’m getting close to REALLY understanding what I SHOULD be doing and the type of content that I should be creating as a blogger.

Now I’m Wondering…

So, here I am, now starting to wonder if all my blogging buddies and the other people that I enjoy reading online (and perhaps even offline – you know, real BOOKS!), are perhaps feeling the same way?

Are you blogging in, and about the niche, that you REALLY should be?

Or, have you started something that has done well, and you’re simply sticking with because it keeps you ‘up there’, or making you money?

I’m curious. If you’re a blogger, podcaster, author or online video producer, please let me know how you feel about this topic below in the comment section.

And please share this post with other bloggers you know…

Entrepreneurs, Listen UP! – The ONE Thing I Wish I Had Done Differently… in Business!

January 23, 2012 by Chris 40 Comments

Nowadays, I often get interviewed for podcasts, magazines and blogs. In fact I was just interviewed by Yaro Starak for his excellent entrepreneurial blog and podcast, which I’ve personally read for years myself.

I’ve been asked ‘If you could go back and start your journey as an entrepreneur all over again, what would you do differently…?’, on more than one occasion.

My answer is a simple one…

As an entrepreneur, I wish that I had gotten active online way, way sooner than I actually did – which is just two years ago.

Why I Enjoy Blogging so Much

My blogging, and the fact that I utilize social media, podcasting and online video as much as I do, has enabled me to far surpass my business growth targets, and has opened more ‘business doors’ than I can count!

In the video above, I go into my feelings on this a little more, and actually tell a couple of stories that reflect things a little clearer.

However, here are a handful of reasons why I wished I’d started my blogging and general involvement in the online business world, sooner:

It’s enabled me to build a fantastic personal brand. A brand that has catapulted me to ‘Thought Leader’ status in my niche of ‘outsourcing’, even to the point of being asked to speak at several international conferences and expo’s.
I’ve signed up so many new clients for my largest business (which currently houses over 300 employees), who have found me through my podcast and blog, I’ve lost count!
The networking opportunities that blogging and having a voice in social media brings, has netted me some of my best, and smartest friends.
Blogging has enabled me to create and launch TWO new businesses in the last 12 months.
Doing business online has shown me that the world is so much smaller than it used to be, and that the global economy is thriving!

As you can tell, I’ve become a big fan of doing business online.

How My Blogging Journey Began

When I launched this blog, two years ago, I did so with a 1-year goal to become a Virtual CEO. I achieved that goal. And one of the reasons I believe I achieved it (and a full month ahead of schedule, I might add!) is because I documented the entire journey through the pages of my blog.

I blogged about everything I was doing to achieve that status, and more. And I produced monthly reports for people to see what I was doing on a month to month basis to hit my goal, too. It gave me a focus that I’ve never actually experienced before… Seriously. Some might say that starting a blog, and everything else that I’ve done online over the last 24 months has changed my life…

Has Blogging Changed My Life?

In a word, yes, I think it has. For all the reasons I listed above, and because of the stories I discuss in today’s video, too. Plus, much more.

Has it made me a ‘better person’..? No, I don’t think so (I like to think that I’ve always been a pretty nice guy!). But, it’s certainly made me more accessible to potential clients and business partners – which, as any REAL entrepreneur will tell you is AWESOME!!!

Its also put me into a thought process on business that is, literally, never ending. That doesn’t mean that I don’t switch off from ‘work’, because I certainly do. What it means is that I find myself having more ideas, creating more opportunities for myself and my businesses, as well as allowing myself to truly represent myself and my businesses the way I really want to. I love that control.

Have YOU Started a Blog Yet?

If you have, well done. If you haven’t, and you really, truly want to make a difference in this crazy entrepreneurial world that we live in and enjoy so much – do it. TODAY! Don’t wait… like I did. There really is no point and you’ll achieve nothing by sitting on the sideline.

The fact is that people want to do business with other PEOPLE. And creating, starting and building a blog will give you tons more opportunities to connect with people (AKA, your future customers, friends and partners!) than any other medium out there today, that I promise you.

I’m a curious type, as you know, so I have a couple of questions for you…

If you’ve not started a blog yet – whats holding you back? And if you do have a blog, and you’re perhaps thinking about re-launching it in some way, why is that? What are you not happy with?