In honor of mother’s day I had the opportunity to interview Emmy Award winning Joyce Brewer. Joyce is a mom blogger, video expert, vlogger, brand ambassador, social media consultant, author, speaker and mom to the cutest little 3-year old.

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Some of the highlights from the video:

Overcoming Mommy Guilt: Talk about it with other moms. Children just want our attention, not for us to feel guilty. When they need time, pause; give them time and the resume your work.

Choosing Where to Spend Your Money for Professional Development: Look at what organizations will allow you to make the connections that you need. Compare the value of being a member to participating without.

Advice to Business Owners who Still Have a Fulltime Job: Hold on to the day job as long as you can, take advantage of benefits, 401k, etc.  Wait until your business is booming enough to supplement your income.

And don’t forget to check out Joyces eBook: Use What You Know: A Business Idea Guide for Moms. And connect with her via her blog www.TheMommyTalkShow.com.

Last month I had the pleasure of being interviewed host Ja Wilborn of Soulcially Yours on BGE Radio. We discuss how Cassius Blue Consulting is helping others to achieve their business goals. During the interview we talk about:

• Atlanta Women Entrepreneurs
• The importance of LOVING the work that you do
• What to do when your skills and passion don’t align
• The importance of being the authentic you
• And More!

Check out Build Grow Enjoy Radio (BGE Radio), BGE Radio promotes financial literacy and community empowerment through communication. Visit them at http://buildgrowandenjoy.com/

As a VBM what challenge do you find most common among small business owners? How do you help them to overcome that challenge?

I think the challenge most small business owners face is not being able to see or create a plan for the big vision that they have.  I would never tell someone to dream small but to break the big dream into smaller projects that we can sit down and create a realistic time table for and list of tasks that will take them concept to reality.

How does a small business owner know if they need a VBM? What questions do you recommend that business owners ask or criteria to consider when choosing a VA or VBM?

Many business owners begin reaching out for help at the moment where they are feeling overwhelmed and not really sure what to do next.  The overwhelmed feeling manifests because a variety of circumstances. For example, successful marketing and networking efforts can cause business to pick up very quickly, the company could be expanding their business to offer new services or products, or they could simply have a project or two that is too big or out of their particular area of expertise to handle alone.

When considering working with a VA or VBM I suggest people ask themselves the following questions:

1. Why types of things do I really need help with?  I always suggest starting with delegating the things you dislike doing or have the least amount of knowledge in first.  This can often help to determine what type of VA or VBM you need.
2. Are these things that can truly be done virtually?  Many people like the idea of a VA or VBM but I have found they do not realize that working with a VA or VBM requires a certain level of disciple and organization from them as well.  When your build a virtual team you don’t have the luxury to walk over to their desk and assign projects or brainstorm as the mood hits you.
3. Does the pace of your business really fit well with having a VA or VBM?  Most VA/VBMs have several clients that they are managing at once and may not be able to provide same day turn around service on many projects.  When assigning projects to your VA you will want to make sure you have factor in some lead time.

One other thing I would suggest is interviewing and building relationships with VAs BEFORE you actually need them.  As with any new employee, vendor, contractor or even client – there is a learning curve.  I meet many of my clients during “crunch time” and while most of the time I am able to produce the result they were looking for, that isn’t the case all of the time.  There are times when miscommunication can turn a seemingly simple project into a nightmare.  In situations such as these, I often feel that the miscommunication could have been avoided if we had started building our working relationship prior to “project crunch time”.

Organization & time management are challenges that many business owners face. What are your top 3 tips to staying organized and using time wisely?

1. Stop Multi-Tasking.  When you are multi-tasking you are not giving 100% to any task you are engaging in.  And research shows that it actually takes you longer to complete any given task when you are focused on more than one thing at a time.
2. Disconnect. I know this sounds really crazy but… turn off email and social media update notifications.   Emails and Social Media are the top “time killers”.  When you stop to check and email or social media update – you take away time from the initial task you are doing and it takes a while for your brain to actually shift gears back to forth.  Phone calls are also known time killers.  When I’m working on projects, my phone is actually in another room so I can focus on the task at hand.  About every 30-45 minutes I get up to go and check to see if I have missed calls that I need to return right away.  This allows me to stay on task to meet my goals for the day (and getting up every so often also allow my eyes to rest for a few minutes from the computer screen and by having the phone in another room, I have to actually walk to check messages which is good for your health).
3. Automate processes.  From automatic email responders, to automated schedulers, to website that allow clients to submit orders and process payments – when things are automated they not only save you time but if done properly will being order and organization to your business.  This also reduces human error which can save time and money.

What path has lead you to becoming a virtual business manager?

I accidentally fell into this profession.  I wanted to be a systems analyst.  During undergrad, I spent a few summers as a program assistant and after graduation I worked for 9 years as a project assistant/coordinator in facilities management.  During that time I went back to school and got my masters in project management.  After falling victim to the great recession I had to figure out how to proceed with the next chapter of my life.  I was working on a PTA project for my son’s school and I ran into a lady who was the founder of a non-profit and after talking to her for a while, she suggested that I start a business where I worked remotely for other small businesses with small time requirements.  It took a few similar conversations and about a year for things to fully sink in. And then Empress was born.

What types of clients do you work with?

My target audience includes entrepreneurs who are in the first five years of their business.  Generally these business owners are solopreneurs or partnerships without staff and are in need of someone to help them to either set up processes and procedures or to complete various administrative or project based assignments.

If you are a business owner who is feeling overwhelmed and in need of administrative or project management help I encourage you to reach out to Twanna at http://virtualempress.net/

Question: Brandi, I attend a lot of events in which I am a vendor throughout the year. Over the past year I have been burned several times, showing up, setting up my booth, only to find that there were more vendors than actual attendees. It costs a lot of money and takes a lot of my resources to vend at these events. These need to be profitable for me. I know everything is not always going to be a win. But what tips can you offer to help me to select the right events to vend at that will be profitable for my business.

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Being a vendor is an awesome opportunity to gain exposure. But only if you choose the right events and the event promoter properly organizes and markets the events. You need to do your due diligence to ensure that the event is a good fit for you. Here are some of the areas you should consider:

• Understand the Plan: How are they marketing, who is the target audience, what are the registration goals?
• Consider Price: Know what the potential return is, and whether the price fits your marketing budget.
• Evaluate the Logistics: What is the conference organizer providing for the registration fee?
• Who is the Organizer: Does this organizer have a positive reputation? What other events have the executed?

Once you have chosen which events to participate in it is important to have a plan. Cassius Blue can help you to set realistic, but gutsy, event goals; help you align your display with your brand, as well as determine what materials or product to have on site. Schedule an initial discovery session to learn how we can help!

Question: Brandi, I go to a lot of networking events each week and I get stuck in the same old “what do you do?” conversation. My business is service based and offers a variety of different services depending on the customers needs. How do I tailor my message so that it reaches the potential client and gets them to be interested without giving them too much information and overwhelming them?

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Once you have asked the right questions can you turn these quick networking conversation into a profitable business opportunity? It all starts with the perfect elevator PITCH! Improve your pitch with this free program. The 7-Days to the Perfect Pitch program is an online program that will help you to answer the question “so what do you do?” in a way that is compelling to the listener and allows you to turn everyday conversations into paying customers. And best of all, it’s FREE!

Have a marketing, sales, or business strategy question? Ask me! Visit the “Ask” page and your question could be featured next: http://www.cassiusblueconsulting.com/ask

At its core, this question seeks advice on how to make a shift in a small business. As we learn and grow as small business owners we often discover new things about our target audience, our industry, and ourselves. These new discoveries often take us in new directions. When you need to make a shift in your business you must first re-evaluate and then revise. Watch the video below for my full response to this question.

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Have a marketing, sales, or business strategy question? Ask me! Visit the “Ask” page and your question could be featured next: http://www.cassiusblueconsulting.com/ask

Two advertisers serve as examples of how businesses must be agile in order to be market leaders. “Business agility is the ability of a business to adapt rapidly and cost efficiently in response to changes in the business environment. Agility is a concept that incorporates the ideas of flexibility, balance, adaptability, and coordination under one umbrella.” Oreo serves as an example of traditional agility, while Jello on the other hand prepared for all potential outcomes. Let’s take a closer look at these two advertisers.

Agility from a Timely Social Media Team

At 8:38 p.m. EST, early in the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII, the overhead lights went out in half the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Across the internet jokes of Beyonce’s half-time show using up the electricity, the Superdome not paying their electric bill, Sean Payton taking revenge on the NFL, and even the 49ers calling on Scandal’s Olivia Pope to save the game were posted in jest.

During the 33 minute blackout Oreo, among other advertises, took to the web to capitalize on the unexpected occurrence. Oreo posted:

Power out? No problem. http://t.co/dnQ7pOgC

February 3, 2013 9:48 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Oreo

Oreo Cookie

with the photo below.

A small gesture by the organization but people began retweeting and sharing the image discussing how clever the post was. People who may not have paid attention (or who, like me, didn’t like their Super Bowl commercial) we exposed to and impressed by their brand which in turn leads to sales.

How were they able to take advantage of this opportunity to gain additional brand exposure? I don’t have the inside track at Oreo but it is likely that because they spent millions on an ad their social media team was expected to be online monitoring the buzz. Essentially, they were poised are ready to address brand chatter whether positive or negative.

Planned Agility, Prepare for All Outcomes

Confetti in both teams’ colors is hanging and ready to be released, and Super Bowl paraphernalia such as hats and t-shirts are printed and ready for sale; both prepared for whichever team wins. Some advertisers seek to personalize their ads as well based on the winner. Jell-O, is a great example of this for Super Bowl XLVII. Jell-O targeted the fans of the losing team, rather than the Lombardi trophy, fans of the losing team will receive Jell-O pudding cups. Jell-O will give out thousands of cups of free Jell-O the team’s local city on Tuesday. In order to be agile Jell-O, of course, had to produce both versions of their post-game commercial and develop plans for distributing thousands of Jell-O Pudding Cups in either city.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Positioning Your Business to Remain Agile

Are you able to react to unexpected or anticipated opportunities? Can you make shifts based on market conditions and outside factors? If the answer is no, or you are unsure lets discuss a few ways you can help to being agile in your business.

1. Expect the Unexpected: Processes are important; your processes should be adapted to expect the unexpected. Should you need to communicate quickly with customers, do you have the systems and processes in place? If a supplier or distributor suddenly becomes unavailable are do you have a backup plan to create or distribute your product? Are your employees empowered to act or react when needed? Are you or your customer service people regularly monitoring and responding to social media posts about your business? These are all examples of how you expect the unexpected.
2. Brainstorm Potential Opportunities: Much like what Jell-O did, there are some opportunities for agility that can be anticipated. Is there a current event that you can capitalize on? Are there seasonality’s that may occur in your business? Are there changes happening in your industry? By thinking through these opportunities you can prepare content, promotions, products/services, and communications that will address these potential opportunities allowing you to be prepared should they arise.
3. Reflect on Missed Opportunities: Hindsight is 20/20; situations have or will occur in your small business that you will wish that you had handled differently. Although it may be too late to implement, take the time to think through how you SHOULD have reacted. This exercise will help you to be more agile the next time a similar situation arises.

What situations have you demonstrated agility? What missed opportunities have you had because you weren’t prepared to be agile? Share your experiences in the comments below.

I am a member of Sugarloafer’s Toastmasters. For those not familiar with Toastmasters, Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development. There are more than 280,000 members of Toastmasters. These members improve their speaking and leadership skills by attending one of the 13,500 clubs in 116 countries that make up the global network of meeting locations.

For me, Toastmasters is a way for me to consistently hone my speaking skills. With each speech I receive constructive feedback on both my delivery and the content. As I work through the advanced manuals I most often develop content related to my area of expertise (marketing, sales, and business strategy).

I’m currently working through the Specialty Speeches manual and the first speech was an impromptu speech. My Type-A personality dislikes not being able to prepare to speak so this presentation was a great way for me to get in some practice. The manual required that I provide my evaluator with 5 topics and they would choose which I was speaking on right before my speech. The topic that was chosen “The 3 Reasons You Should be Blogging for Your Small Business.”

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Do you blog for your business? Have you found it to be beneficial? Are you a member of Toastmasters? Have you ever thought about joining? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. 

A Perth, Australia, teenager Matt Corby posted an image of a less-than-a-foot-long Subway Footlong. The image that circulated around the web last week showed a Subway FOOTLONG® measuring only 11”. The article posted on BuzzFeed.com suggests that legal action could be possible for false advertising; I will leave the legalities of the less-than-a-foot-long sandwich to the legal people. But the lesson that I take away from this situation is the importance of delivering on promises that you make to your customers.

So is 1in really that significant? Yes, in fact it is, because Subway made it important. The product name and all of its related advertising suggests that the sandwich is 1 foot (12in) long. They created this expectation with their customers and customers expect them to deliver. A similar example is Little Caesars Pizza® that advertises their $5 Hot-N-Ready pizza. A customer who has to wait for a pizza that is advertised to be both hot and READY is going to feel let down by the company.

As a small business owner it is critical that you deliver on the promises that you make to customers. If you say your product has a shelf life of 1 year you need to make sure that it will last for at least 15 months to account for climate variation. If you promise a response within 24 hours you need to respond within 18. Exception customer service creates loyal customers, always under promise and over deliver.

How do you ensure that you are over delivering on your customer processes?

1. Develop Realistic Policies & Procedures: When you are the everything for your business or operating with only a small staff official policies and procedures often sit on the proverbial ‘to do’ list and never actually getting done. Make this task a priority, start by listing all of the commitments that you make to customers and determine if those promises are realistic and sustainable. If they are write them all clearly and concisely and communicate to all of your staff what the expectations are. If they aren’t revise your promise so that you can not only deliver on your promise but exceed what you promised.
2. Monitor Internet Chatter to Address Service Issues: People are 10x more likely to share bad customer service experience than a good one and social media has become the most common place to rant. You need to stay abreast of these posts and address issues head on. Do what you can to turn the negative experience into a positive. No business is perfect and issues will inevitably arise. However, someone who has a complaint handled properly can become a loyal customer and brand advocate.
3. Always Put the Customer First: It sounds simple, and truly it is. If everything that you do in your business is done with the customer in mind you will not only deliver but exceed expectations.

What extraordinary customer experiences have you had? What’s the worst customer experience you have had? How did the company handle it?

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Have a marketing, sales, or business strategy question? Ask me! Visit the “Ask” page: http://www.cassiusblueconsulting.com/ask

Today we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On August 29, 1963 Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The 17-minute public speech called for an end to racism in the United States. The speech, delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.¹ At the end of the speech Dr. King departed from his prepared text to deliver the most memorable portion of the address.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today my friends — so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

Dr. King lived his life, and died for his dream of equality and a truly united nation. So as we honor Dr. King I ask you, what is YOUR DREAM? What legacy will you leave to your family? Your country?  Your World?

I truly believe that each of us was placed on this earth with a divine purpose. And the small business owners that I work with believe that through their small businesses they are taking control over their worlds, walking in their purpose, and making their mark. Here are my 3 key strategies to living your dream life:

1. Write Your Vision Down: Habakkuk 2:2 says “Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with.” It is important that you have a clear vision for the life and business that you want and that you write down both your vision and your goals. Putting it on paper has a way of making the vision real and serves as a reminder for what you are working towards. I challenge you to get creative, write your own “I have a dream” speech to articulate your vision for the life you want to lead.
2. Believe You Can’t Fail: Live fearlessly knowing that failure is not an option. You may have set backs but treat challenges as missteps that you can learn from and move forward. Believe in your success, behave as if you cannot fail, and experience your dreams as they become your reality.
3. Work Hard, Play Harder: Good things come to those who WORK; success isn’t going to just happen you have to focus, work continuously, and make the necessary sacrifices. But it is also important to live a balanced life. Find time to relax, spend time with family and friends. Make it a habit of enjoying the life that your success brings.

Your destiny may not be to transform the landscape of our nation, but you to have a dream. A dream of the life you are meant to lead.

¹Hansen, D, D. (2003). The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech that Inspired a Nation. New York, NY: Harper Collins. p. 177.

Imagine going over to your local electronics store, purchasing a marketing GPS, plugging in your target audience and having it navigate your marketing so that every one of your efforts reached your ideal customer at the exact right time with a message that moved their wallets to open up to make an immediate purchase. That would be small business utopia wouldn’t it? Your bank account would be overflowing and you would be making expansion plans rather than scratching your head trying to figure out what to do next.

Unfortunately, no such machine exists but the thought process can be implemented nonetheless. As a small business owner it can be challenging to determine which marketing tactics are right for your business because there is no one-size-fits all formula.

Plug in Your Destination

When you get into your car and need to use your GPS to navigate to your destination what do you do first? Plug in the address, of course. The key to using your Marketing GPS and developing a successful marketing plan is first figuring out where your customers are. You must understand and be able to think like your customers. Which for some can be difficult to do if your ideal customer is very different from who you are. Here are some questions to ask yourself about your target audience in order to figure out where to find them.

• What web sites, blogs or Podcasts do they subscribe to?
• What print publications do they read?
• What industry associations do they belong to?
• Who do they go to for recommendations when they’re considering a purchase?
• Where do they shop, eat, or attend social gatherings?
• Where do they network and make connections?
• Which social media sites are they most active on?

Follow the Turn by Turn Directions

Once you know where your customers are the next step is to follow the path to reach them. Be sure to try marketing through each of the channels where your target audience can be found. Do they regularly read blogs? Then you should be blogging. Do they purchase a specific magazine? Either advertise or seek to be featured in that magazine. Are they members of a specific professional organization? Offer discounts to the organization, join, or speak at their events. And the list continues. Your marketing efforts should follow the life your ideal customer’s leads.

Recalculating…

Nothing makes a sane person scream in their car faster than the GPS repeating the word “recalculating”. It’s frustrating to miss your turn, or to have to take an alternate route, but it happens. The same is true with your marketing. Not every marketing tactic that you try will be a success. When you try something and the results are lackluster rather than get frustrated, pause, evaluate and recalculate your plan.

Use this approach to develop your own Marketing GPS and you will find it easy to develop and execute a sound marketing strategy. For help with really understanding your target audience and where to find them or developing your marketing plan schedule a complimentary discovery session and let me help you successfully reach your target audience.

What is your biggest marketing challenge? Do you feel you know where your customers are? Leave me a comment below.

Brandi, I have been working on my website for what feels like forever. The countdown to the launch ended more than two months ago because I’m stuck. I have chosen my theme, I have my logo and colors, and I know what needs to go on the site but I’m struggling to get the content written. What’s crazy is I just completed my educational program and my school provides a website template for us. Although, I don’t want to use it because it is cookie cutter it is at least a starting point. I know how important my site is, where do I start? I really need to get this done so that my business can move forward.

Thank you for your question, website copy can be a challenge for a lot of small business owners. Here are my top 3 tips to getting started with the copy.

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1. Don’t Try to Make it Perfect the 1^st Time: So often we try to write a final draft the first time but you don’t need to. Focus on getting your thoughts out of your head and onto paper. And THEN go back and edit. I throw grammar, punctuation, and all things ‘proper’ out of the window when I sit down to write. My first drafts often include “something something” here and there when I have incomplete ideas. Once I have captured my initial thoughts I can then clean it up, break out the thesaurus, reduce the number of words, and fill in the blanks.
2. Save the About Page for Last: The about page is generally always the hardest, people struggle to talk about themselves. So save it for last. Once you do get to the about page think about what is most relevant to your ideal target market, and include those things. Always include your relevant credentials and I’m a fan of including a photo or two so people can connect to the person behind the brand.
3. Focus on Capturing Attention on the Home Page: Your home page will likely be your most viewed page (although it isn’t always how people enter your site) so it is important to capture your visitor’s attention right away.  If fact, you only have 7, yes SEVEN, seconds to capture your visitors interest. You don’t need a ton of copy, less is more. Use bold catchy headlines, colors, and graphics that will catch the eye and then include additional detail. Also, use this page as a gateway to the other areas of the site you want people to visit. Write short blurbs that link to those areas as opposed to lengthy copy.

Good luck with completing your site, and because you have been working on it for so long don’t hesitate to implement using a phased approach. The home, about, service/product, and contact pages are the most important. You can always launch and add additional pages later. A good friend @AndreaAmir always says it doesn’t have to be perfect to be profitable.

I also encourage you to listen to my recorded webcast Is Your Website Just Another Pretty Face or a Lean Mean Marketing Machine? for more information on how to develop a revenue generating website.