Blog Archives
Day 19. Using PR.
With just three days to go how is your Money Making Plan shaping up?
Today we’re going to consider how you can use Public Relations to raise awareness of your money making venture. In essence what we want is for other people to do the promotion for you without being paid!
Referrals and recommendations
One of the best ways to generate interest in your money making venture is to get existing customers and people in your network to recommend you. Some will do so without being asked, others may be willing but need prompting. Think of ways that you can encourage referrals and recommendations:
- Ask for them, include a note on receipts (e.g. if you are happy with your purchase tell your friends, if you’re not tell us)
- Thank people when they pass on a recommendation, send a card, write a letter, call them, thank them publically at a networking event. If the lead turns into significant business go a bit further by sending flowers or taking your recommender out for a meal
- Set up a recommend a friend scheme perhaps with a money off voucher for both the new customer’s first purchase and for the introducer, or formalise it into an affiliate scheme
- Use your networking events to make it clear what kind of referrals you are looking for
- Produce some marketing material that those willing to recommend you can have to pass on to their associates
Media coverage
Advertising can be very expensive and is rarely as effective as an article in a publication read by your target audience. If you have a big budget then you can appoint a PR consultant to get you into the media but this can be expensive and results are not guaranteed. You can improve your chances by choosing your consultant carefully. Make sure that they specialise in your area of interest and that they have contacts in the relevant media; ask to see examples of the coverage that they have got for other people.
There is a lot you can do yourself with a bit of time and effort. Remember that journalists are not there to do your advertising for you but to produce stories of interest to their audience. This means that, to get news coverage, you need to have a story not a sales pitch. Surveys are often popular, can you turn your market research into a story without disclosing confidential information or giving away your competitive advantage? Can you celebrate your launch? Are you breaking new ground with your idea? Are you doing something unusual? Can you create a story? Take a lesson from Richard Branson who makes stories when he needs press coverage e.g. by dressing up as a Maharaja and riding an elephant or by abseiling down a building when Virgin Atlantic is opening a new route.
Turn your story into a news release and send it to named journalists who write on your topic in publications that target your market. Do your homework, Don’t be tempted to blanket mail all journalists, they will bin your release. Think carefully about possible media, you may have success on smaller publications produced on a shoestring than in the mainstream. Think about your local media, small special interest magazines, company newsletters, customer magazines, student media, local radio, smaller TV channels etc. Click on this link for more about how to put a news release together.
Remember to keep an eye on your target journalists in your Twitter stream. Are they requesting help with stories? If you can’t help do you know someone who could? Reply to the tweet with an introduction. Re-tweet the message, Compliment them on interesting articles. Share some knowledge or information that will add to the article. Build a relationship.
A word or warning. Unlike paid for advertising or advertorials you will have no control over what a journalist publishes so be especially careful about what you disclose in an interview. Off the record conversations don’t always stay that way. Don’t tell a journalist anything you wouldn’t want to read about! Remember a journalist’s primary interest is a good story.
ACTION: How are you going to incorporate PR into your promotional plan? Devise a system for getting recommendations and referrals and/or develop your story into a news release and send it to at least one journalist.
Should you be running an event?
This one isn’t low budget! However running a launch party, an open evening, a party or some other event to which you can invite customers, prospects, journalists, local dignitaries and perhaps celebrities can go a great way to creating a buzz about what you are doing and get you some press coverage. This 21 Day Make Money Challenge has been a PR activity for me and whilst I’d love to see more of you commenting, tweeting or joining us on Facebook it has got people following across the world which was one of my objectives.
If you are going to do an event make sure you are clear about what you want to get out of it, set a SMART objective. Set a budget and think what you can do for that money. Get the word out early and often to make sure that people come; there’s nothing worse than having the press and a local dignitary as your only attendees! Ask your friends and family for support if need be. Consider bringing in a professional events planner if your budget will allow.
Think what message you want people to take away. Will you deliver a speech? What do you want the press to write about? If you want a celebrity or local dignitary to say a few words brief them about what you want them to say. Do you need business cards, fliers, brochures or a promotional gift for people to take away with them?
Don’t just do an event for the sake of it. If you are raising money for charity have lots of ways in which people can donate. If you are doing it to win new customers or raise your profile tell your guests how they can help you. Then go and have some fun!
Next steps, should you choose to take them…
- Share any insights or recommendations in the comments section here.
- Join the conversation on Facebook to gain support from the 21 Day Challenge community (we’ll be looking at some of the benefits of social media later in the challenge but for now being active on this page and on Facebook can help boost the way people can find you on the Internet.)
- Tweet this ‘I’m working on my PR on @Glenda_S 21 Day Make Money Challenge #21DMMC‘
- Join us tomorrow to when we’ll be taking action.
Day 15. Developing your promotional plan.
Welcome to the third and final week of the challenge. By now you should have a plan and a budget and be ready to start selling. We’re going to spend the next five days looking at how you are going to find and win customers for your money making project.Today we’re going to start thinking about your promotional plan, you’ll probably want to add to this as we cover different marketing activities in the following days.
First things first.
There are a number of things we need to think about before you can develop your promotional plan. On Day 3 you identified your target market, how specific were you? Did you really drill down until you had a narrow but deep niche of potential customers? If not I suggest that you take another look. The more precise you can be the better. When you know exactly who your target customer is it is easier to find them and speak their language. Try and build a picture of your target in your mind’s eye, give her a name and a personality, then you’ll be able to have a conversation with her when you start promoting your offer.
On Day 5 you researched your competition. What did that tell you about where your offer is different? How is your offer better than your prospect’s? Why should customers buy from you in preference to your competitors? You need to understand this in order to communicate it to your prospects in a persuasive manner. Some people refer to this as your USP or Unique Selling Proposition, others as your points of difference.
What problems are you solving for your prospects? How do those problems make them feel? What would life be like for them if their problem was solved? These are the messages your prospects need to hear. This is what you should be promoting.
N.B. If you are doing this challenge to make money for a good cause you will need to find an emotional reason for your prospects to connect with that good cause. You might have to make them feel guilty, sympathetic or sad.
Remember people buy more with their emotions than with their reason!
ACTION: Be specific about your target market and the problems that you will be solving for them and identify how your solution differs from your competitors. Write this down.
Developing your promotional plan
Nobody can buy a product or service that they’ve never heard of so your promotional plan needs to be focused on raising awareness and desire in your target audience and then getting them to take action and buy.
Here’s a template for you to use to scope out your promotional plan. Be clear about which target market you want to sell to, if you have more than one you may wish to focus on different groups in different months. Set your self a clear objective for what you want to achieve each month. Your objectives might include:
- a sales target
- number of signups to your mailing list
- number of downloads on a free product given in exchange for names and contact details
- number of enquiries
- number of hits on website
- number of people booking a trial session
As you will see all of the objectives should be very specific and measurable, they should also be achievable and have a deadline. So set yourself a specific objective for each month. You might find this example helpful.
ACTION: Complete at least the first two columns on the marketing plan template. You might also like to start thinking about activities that you could do in the remaining columns but I’ll have more ideas for those in coming days.
A quick lesson in marketing.
Next steps, should you choose to take them…
- Share any insights or recommendations in the comments section here.
- Join the conversation on Facebook to gain support from the 21 Day Challenge community (we’ll be looking at some of the benefits of social media later in the challenge but for now being active on this page and on Facebook can help boost the way people can find you on the Internet.)
- Tweet this ‘I’ve started work on my marketing plan with @Glenda_S #21DMMC‘
- Join us tomorrow to when we’ll be thinking about blogging..
Day 13. Financing your plan.
How did you get on setting your budget yesterday? Did it show you what level of investment will be needed to get your idea off the ground? For example are you going to have to invest in raw materials or marketing before you sell anything? Are you able to finance that amount yourself preferably without getting in to interest payments on your credit card? If not then today’s challenge is designed to get you thinking of different ways in which you could raise the investment needed?
Financing equipment
I’m starting with equipment because it is a capital expense and, as such, tends to be viewed differently by lenders and the tax authorities. By now you should know what equipment you need and how much it will cost but do you need to buy it? Have you checked out recycling sites for example www.freecycle.org.uk or http://www.londonreuse.org/for-business/ there are probably similar sites in your locality? How about posting what you are looking for on Twitter, Facebook or Gumtree? You may not be lucky but if someone is wanting to get rid of what you want it would be a win-win. Look out for charities in your area that take other people’s cast offs, restore them and sell them to others who need them and in doing so provide employment opportunities for those in need.
Do you need to buy the equipment or could you lease it? Would leasing save you money? The sums may well depend upon how long you need the equipment for and what length of agreement you can negotiate but it is worth exploring.
If you do decide you have to buy do you really need new? It’s often possible to make considerable savings on items which have hardly been used. Ebay would be a good place to start looking.
If you are buying it can be worth talking to your bank to see if you can arrange a loan. A loan is usually a lot cheaper than an overdraft. However if you are buying for a business you may need to produce a business plan before the bank will consider you. Lenders are often more comfortable lending to finance equipment purchases because there is something to secure a loan against. For more ideas see the section on ‘Raising Finance’.
Using other people’s money
This is not as underhand as it sounds! Could you set up an account with your supplier which would enable you to pay in 30 days or more? This would allow you to convert your raw materials into product which you could hopefully sell before you have to pay the invoice. If you can settle the account with a credit card you may get up to 30 more days before you have to start paying interest on the money. Just make sure that you remember that this bill will need paying before you spend the money on other things and be aware that a supplier is unlikely to deliver further items if you haven’t settled their last bill.
Should you be taking payments, or at least deposits, from your customers before you buy in raw materials? If you are providing a bespoke service then this is almost certainly the case. Make sure that you have a clear contract or terms of business to protect both you and your customer.
Could sponsorship be an option? Your sponsor will probably want to know that what you are doing is consistent with their values and typically that it will reach their target audience. They should want to use their sponsorship to generate positive PR, such as media coverage, for their organisation and will probably want their name and logo to be highly visible in whatever you do. Typically sponsorship is an option for charities, events and not for profits but it could be an option worth exploring.
Raising finance
If you can finance your money making venture yourself then this is the quickest and easiest way to get going. If not, do you have friends and family who would be willing to back you? You really shouldn’t expect them to do this for nothing! Offer them a share in your profits, a decent rate of interest or a free service in return for their support.
Could you bring partners into your venture? Of course if you do they will expect a say and a return on their investment, are you prepared to share your decision making and your profits?
If you are planning to start a business in order to make your money making target then there are other options for raising finance but they have both advantages and disadvantages. You will need to produce a business plan which shows that your business is viable and you will probably need to prove that you have made a decent investment in your business yourself. Why should they risk their money if you won’t risk yours?
Here are some of your options for raising finance for a business:
- a bank loan: in the UK there is some government backing to help banks take risks, if the bank turn you down ask if they would consider you under this scheme
- crowd source funding: a relatively new way of raising finance usually from smaller investors in return for shares in the business. You set your goal and don’t get any of the money until you get the backing for all of it. One example is http://www.crowdcube.com/
- venture capital: this is where a person or organisation with money backs businesses that need it in order to make more money. Venture capitalists will be looking for scalable businesses from which they can make a decent profit. They typically want to own a significant proportion of the business and to sell their share in around 5 years.
- business angels: rather like venture capitalists but perhaps a bit less aggressive! Whilst a business angel will want to make money out of your venture they will typically share their skills and experience with you and may take a longer term view about making a profit.
ACTION: If you need to raise finance decide which three methods you are going to go for in order of preference and prepare your case. Set a deadline by which you will ask for the backing, add it to your project management plan unless it is already there.
Next steps, should you choose to take them…
- Share any insights or recommendations in the comments section here.
- Join the conversation on Facebook to gain support from the 21 Day Challenge community (we’ll be looking at some of the benefits of social media later in the challenge but for now being active on this page and on Facebook can help boost the way people can find you on the Internet.)
- Tweet this ‘I’m working out how to finance my money making venture #21DMMC‘
- Join us tomorrow to when we’ll be putting together our cashflow forecasts.
Day 12. Budgeting.
Welcome to Day 12, the first of three days on Managing Finance. Don’t groan! (I’m talking to the right brained amongst you now, who probably would like to get on with being creative and building relationships!) You wouldn’t expect a Making Money Challenge not to address managing finance would you? I know from most of the courses I run that financial planning is something that doesn’t come easily to everyone so I’ve broken it into three steps that build on the work you’ve already done on Days 6 and 8. Today we’re looking at budgets, tomorrow at raising finance and on day 14 planning cashflow.
Those of you who looked at my Prism profile will realise that I’m in with those who would rather do most things that manage finances and I am not an accountant so I’m going to keep this as simple as possible. If finance is something you find difficult to get your head around I recommend Cash Flows and Budgeting Made Easy by Peter Taylor published by How to Books and available on Amazon, it is written in an easily understandable style with plenty of examples. (I am not getting a cut from sales of this book!)
Why budget?
I’m sure that I don’t need to tell you how easy it is to spend money! Holding on to it is much more difficult. Budgeting for your income and expenditure introduces a bit of discipline and control. It helps with decision making too, when you know how much you have available it is much easier to decide whether or not to buy.
Typically in a business you would set an annual budget but for this challenge you might want to set a budget specifically for the activities and duration of the challenge. What you are doing is working out how much you will have to sell and how much you will have to spend to achieve the amount of money you have set as your goal.
Setting your budget
If you worked out your break even on Day 6 you probably have most of the figures you need already, we just need to map them into a budget and then check that they make sense. Here’s a template to allow you to do just that. This is an Excel template so if you have any difficulties downloading it please contact me via the comments section below or in the Facebook group.
The template is editable but if you add extra rows you may need to redo some of the formulae to ensure get the right totals. You will see that I have numbered certain items where you may have more than one expense e.g. raw materials. I suggest you change these so that they reflect what you need to spend money on. Enter these figures in the budget column. Once a week, or once a month if that is more practicable, add your actual income and expenditure into the actual column. The variance column should calculate the differences automatically, allowing you to see where you need to sell more or cut down expenditure.
If you worked out your break even point on day 6 it should be relatively easy to work out how much you need to sell to achieve your money making target. Of course we didn’t factor in overheads such as administration and marketing into these calculations so you may find you need to sell more to cover these costs in order to make your target. Remember that if you need to sell more your direct and variable costs are likely to increase too.
You can use the template for any period you choose. One budget to cover the period until your deadline for making the money may be enough because we’ll be working out a monthly cashflow forecast on day 14 but you could do a monthly budget if you feel it would help you.
When you have put in all the figures does your budget total equal the money making target you set yourself? If not what do you need to increase or decrease? Is this realistic? If not, what needs to change?
ACTION: Complete the budgeting template and check that you are on track to make your money making target.
I’ll ‘see’ you tomorrow when we work out your options for raising any finance you need. Happy number crunching!
Next steps, should you choose to take them…
- Share any insights or recommendations in the comments section here.
- Join the conversation on Facebook to gain support from the 21 Day Challenge community (we’ll be looking at some of the benefits of social media later in the challenge but for now being active on this page and on Facebook can help boost the way people can find you on the Internet.)
- Tweet this ‘I’m working out my Money Making budget on @Glenda_S’s 21 Day Challenge #21DMMC‘
- Join us tomorrow to when we’ll be looking at how to raise finance.
Day 11. Getting help.
If you have completed yesterday’s challenge you will now have your project plan so today we’re going to consider where you might need to get help and how to get it.
We all have different strengths and weaknesses, the things we do really well and the things that are best left to others. How much time do you spend doing tasks that someone else could do better and more quickly? Ask yourself, is doing this task the best use of my time? If you can sell your time at £50 per hour why are you doing a task you could delegate to someone who charges £25 per hour?
Do you ever find yourself saying, ‘By the time I’ve explained what I want to someone else I could have done it myself’? Do you think Richard Branson does everything himself? No, of course not, he knows his strengths and his weaknesses and has built a team to work alongside those. He appreciates the value of delegation and knows how to do it. I know that, for many small business owners, the costs of employing other people to do things for you may seem prohibitive but we’re going to look at ways of making it affordable in today’s challenge.
Know your strengths and weaknesses
Do you show a preference for left brained or right brained traits? If you’re left brained you are more task focused, you may be analytical, results driven and detail conscious. If you are right brained you will be more concerned with people, building relationships and may be more creative.
Of course we’re all a bit of both although one side is likely to be more dominant than the other. If your dominant side is right brained then you may need help getting things done and if you are left brain dominant you may need some help to generate ideas.
When we’re looking for help it is tempting to go for people like ourselves but this is often a mistake, two right brained people will probably have a lot of fun but struggle to get things done whereas two left brained people will have all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed but may not be able to find creative solutions to problems. Which are you?
ACTION: Use the SWOT analysis tool from Day 7 to analyse your own strengths and weaknesses; be honest!
If you would like a more objective view of your strengths and weaknesses I am offering 20% off Prism Brain Mapping profiling for the duration of this challenge. You complete a questionnaire and then receive a report detailing your strengths and weaknesses which I will go through with you by telephone or, if you are close enough, in person. Click here for more information.
Work to your strengths and delegate the rest
Take a look at the project management plan you completed yesterday. Which of the tasks on the list are ones that you are good at and should be done by you? Which will take you a long time and cause you anxiety? What skills, qualities or experience will someone need in order to those tasks well and speedily? Develop those into a job description or project brief which you can then use to recruit the help you need. You can then get on with making money at what you do best.
Finding help
Do you have other members of your team whose skills are better suited to those tasks? Do they have capacity in their working day to take on these new tasks or is there something you can do to rejig workloads?
If you don’t have anyone on your team is there someone in your network with the right skills and experience whom you could pay as a freelancer? If paying for help is not an option is there something you could trade in return for the help you need? For example a beauty therapist might be able to trade a treatment in return for some copywriting; a virtual assistant might be able to offer some admin support in return for a wardrobe makeover.
How about turning your problem into an opportunity for someone else? For example many graduates are looking for work experience to help them get a better job. Could you offer an internship or work experience to help them and help yourself (whilst graduates are sometimes willing to work in the right job for no money they do have to live so try to pay them a minimum wage or at least their expenses). N.B. Employment law varies from country to country so make sure you know what you are allowed to do in your country.
Could you offer an Apprenticeship to a young person looking for training and qualifications to improve their career prospects? In the UK there is some government help to support employers taking on an apprentice (the Mayor for London is topping up that help for a limited number of London employers to encourage them to take apprentices.) Apprentices have to be paid and receive training but this is still less expensive than taking on a more experienced person and allows you to do something to help young people and your business.
Do you need the sort of help that can be done from anywhere? If so why not post your job on the internet and invite bids from people who would like the work? Websites such as http://www.peopleperhour.com/ can connect you with people who are willing to work at very affordable rates. Other options are http://www.guru.com/ and https://www.elance.com which allow you to post your job opportunities which freelancers can then pitch for. To find more just Google ‘posting freelance opportunities’.
ACTION: Decide which tasks to delegate and give yourself time to recruit the appropriate help in line with your project plan.
Next steps, should you choose to take them…
- Share any insights or recommendations in the comments section here.
- Join the conversation on Facebook to gain support from the 21 Day Challenge community (we’ll be looking at some of the benefits of social media later in the challenge but for now being active on this page and on Facebook can help boost the way people can find you on the Internet.)
- Tweet this ‘I’m working on Day 11 of @Glenda_S 21 Day Make money Challenge #21DMMC‘
- Join us tomorrow to when we’ll be putting together our budgets.