SXSW is like Burning Man with Laptops and Bathrooms

I am attending SXSW for the first time this year. If you have never heard of SXSW, it is one of the largest film, music, and media conferences in the world. Held every year in March in Austin Texas, it’s been described as Burning Man with laptops and bathrooms. I am attending the interactive media segment, which lasts for five days. I am so excited to meet some of the business and social media bloggers, thought leaders, and best-selling technology authors I have been following for over eighteen months now. I am ecstatic to see and hear some of the key-note speakers like Ev Williams, CEO of Twitter. I feel like a kid riding my bike without my hands on the handle bar…HAPPY! For the last year and a half, I have immersed myself in social media, internet marketing, SEO, and learning online software tools, all for the purpose of growing my own company’s presence online. In my former life, I was an outside sales person. Today, I sit in front of a computer connecting with the online world. And, surprisingly I’ve realized that I have a knack for it. Perhaps that is why Hewlett Packard contacted me a few weeks ago and asked me to review thier new HP iPAQ Glisten SmartPhone, which I am giving away on March 17th. Perhaps that is why  oftentimes, I have to peel myself away from my computer, even though I have been in front of it for 16 hours. I know it sounds obsessive and unhealthy. I am working on finding that balance. But, the point is that who would have thought a non-techy gal like me has found LOVE and PASSION for internet technology! I have transitioned from an off-line business model to an online business model and now I am going to meet the very people whose content and guidance I have used to help me make that transistion.

What is Your ROI Formula for Attending Conferences?

There are literally a gazillion conferences to choose from and obviously a small business owner cannot attend every single one. So, how does a small business owner choose the best conference for their specific needs? It starts with the ROI (Return on Investment). Simply put, the ROI is the amount of time, money, resources, opportunity costs, you put into attending the event (which is the investment). After you add up all those expenses, costs, etc., you then subtract it from your return or your gain.  Whatever amount is left is your ROI. Recently, I got into a fairly big discussion with my biz partner, Chuck on this very subject. He is the left-brain of our business and I am the right-brain. He wanted to tie the ROI of my time spent at SXSW to the sell of a product. I wanted to tie the ROI to the networking, relationship building, as well as the sell of a product. In other words, I should gain not only social equity from SXSW, but financial gain as well. In addition, that gain should be tied to a specific timeline. In a future post, I will give you specific examples of the ROI formula I used for attending SXSW.  In the meantime, here is my question for you. How do you measure your ROI when attending conferences?  I think it is hard to measure relationship building because you are not always sure how that relationship is going to evolve. The sell of a product or service is much easier to measure, but honestly, that’s never the main reason why I like to attend conferences. Everyone has their various reasons for attending a conference. Authors attend to promote their book. Speakers attend to gain more exposure. Companies attend to expand their brand.  Attendees attend to learn, network, and build prospective strategic alliances. What are your reasons and how do you justify your investment? Please leave your comments on my post! Thanks!

I SEE YOU

There’s no doubt that the movie Avatar has captured the imagination of millions. So what does a Hollywood film have to do with business owners? Three words: I SEE YOU. In the movie, Neytiri of Pandora looks straight into Sully’s eyes and says to him, “I see you.” Three simple words, yet such profound meaning. Now think about that for a moment. Imagine taking the time to say that to our customers, our vendors, our employees, our subscribers, and our partners.  My observations and life experiences lead me to believe that people have a desire to be acknowledged and treated with dignity and respect. Once you understand that, then you are in a position to better SERVE the people around you whether it be employees or customers. I realize that sounds so obvious, but I am amazed at how oftentimes, businesses just don’t seem to care. By saying, I see you, Neytiri  acknowledged Sully, she validated him, and she showed him that she cared.

I see you means so much more than its literal connotation. It means:

• I am listening to you, Partners, Affiliates and Vendors
• I understand your needs and wants Mrs. Customer
• How can I empower you, Employees
• How can I help you Fans, Followers, Friends
• How can I support you, Subscribers to my blog
• What can I do to serve you, Database of Prospective Buyers
• How can I thank you, Donors

I See You is about the Platinum Rule

Ultimately, I see you means, I am here for you . I care about you. It’s about understanding the needs and wants of the people around you. I see you is more than the Golden Rule — Treat Others the way YOU want to be treated. I see you is about the Platinum Rule — Treat others the way THEY want to be treated. Now, you might say that giving everyone the customized attention and care of the Platinum Rule is not cost effective or realistic, but what I would encourage you to think about is how you can better understand the people around you that help make your business successful.  It’s a known fact that people do business with people who they know, like, and trust.  What are you doing to see the people around you so that they rave about your products and services and refer more business your way? How are you showing them that you care? If you are having a hard time answering these questions, then it’s time to ask them whether it be your employees or customers. I recommend using survey monkey, an online survey tool. By surveying your team, customers, etc., you will get the feedback you need to guide you in the right direction. Lastly, unfortunately, this lack of caring does not seem to discriminate, whether it be big business or small business. Here is a perfect example of someone who felt like his airline did not “See Him.”

Reminder: Just 9 more days left to win an HP iPAQ Glisten SmartPhone.

Are You Forgetting to Take a BREAK?

When We Are Healthy We Can Take on the World.

So How Do you Fit it in and Make it Work While Running a Business?

A few quick tips:

Here’s How YOU Can Win the Glisten SmartPhone! A $380 value.

Hewlett Packard has teamed up with Hware! Their representative contacted me (Brenda Horton) a few weeks ago and asked me if I’d be interested in reviewing their new iPAQ Glisten Smart Phone. After my review, I am going to give one AWAY! All you have to do to be eligible to win is sign up for Hware’s Demo on Social Media. When you click on the link it will take you to a page that will ask you for your name and e-mail address. By entering your name and e-mail address you will have a chance to win! And as an EXTRA BONUS, YOU will have access to our “Getting Started with Social Media for Small Business” Online Training Demo, which I highly recommend you take advantage of  because it is filled with key strategies on how to use Twitter, Facebook and Blogging to grow your online presence. That’s it! It’s that simple!

Oh! Be sure to follow me (Brenda Horton) on Twitter closely and become a FAN on Hware’s Facebook Page as I tweet about the HP Glisten over the next 2 weeks. The contest ends on March 17th midnight Pacific Time. The winner will be announced on March 19th!  The winner will be notified by e-mail and posted on Hware’s FAN page and Brenda’s Tweets! Applies to U.S. residents only.

Disclosure: Brenda Horton of Hware is not receiving any financial gain from Hewlett Packard and her review is strictly her own personal opinion of the SmartPhone.

Getting Started with Social Media for Small Business

As a courtesy to Hware’s blog readers, we want to hip you to our popular online self-paced video training series called, Getting Started with Social Media for Small Business. Go ahead and try the Demo! It’s FREE!

Get Started Now with Free Demo!

No software to download. No Dvd to install.

5 Reasons You Should Check Out Hware’s FREE DEMO on Social Media:

1. You cannot afford to waste another moment while your competitors are using social media to grow their business.

2. You are frustrated and overwhelmed with understanding how to use social media to grow your business.

3. You want to learn specific key strategies and methods to using social media to sell more of your products and services online.

4. You want to harness the power of Twitter (fastest growing social networking site), Facebook (400 million users), and Blogging (powerful tool to communicate with your customers) to generate more sales and revenue.

5. Social media is the cheapest and fastest way to connect with your customers online and you want to learn the tools, tactics, and strategies to build a trusting long-term loyal customer base who refer more customers to you.

Are you already using social media to grow your online presence? Feel free to share with us how you are using it to grow your business online.

Gourmet Food and Wine Tasting

A little over two years ago, I organized a charity fundraiser in my community for children in the foster care system. It was a gourmet food and wine tasting event along with a live and silent auction. The goal was to raise over $100,000.00. Anyone who has ever spearheaded a fundraiser, knows how labor-intensive they are even with hundreds of volunteers. One day, I called on a local French restaurant, Le Bilig and asked the chef if  he would be willing to donate a cooking demonstration class that would be auctioned off during the live auction. He graciously agreed and then signed off on all the paper work that committed him to the cause. The terms stated that the donation was valid for one year. Most donation packages have an expiration date.

Goodwill

Fast forward two years and three months later; I get an e-mail from the high bidder of the French cooking demonstration. She told me that she had never “gotten around” to scheduling the cooking class, which was for twelve people and was hoping she could redeem it now. I then offered to contact the restaurant on her behalf. I spoke to the co-owner, Monica (wife of the chef) and explained to her that I realized the donation had long expired and understood if they said no due to the current state of the economy.  She then shared a short story with me about how she herself had once been the winner of a live auction travel package to Mexico and it too had expired. (She had been pregnant and could not fly.) The donors had denied her request to extend it. She said she remembered having ill feelings about the incident and the way it was handled and therefore, did not want the person making the request of her to feel the same. She then agreed to honor the request being made of her on behalf of her chef husband and restaurant.  Now that is what I call over-delivering! It is no wonder that this little family-owned French Bistro is still in business while many restaurants and businesses are closing shop.  Bottom line? Le Bilig Kitchen CARES! Isn’t that what everyone wants from someone they do business with? They want them to care. Period. That small gesture, which was just a ripple, is going to turn into a tidal wave because of all the goodwill she has now created. That’s a lot of goodwill going around during a time when it is very easy to have a scarcity mentality. Another word that comes to mind is ABUNDANCE. I dislike the overuse of a word and abundance seems to be one of those words that is over used a lot lately, but Monica was definitely coming from a place of abundance.

How Do Your Customers Know You Care?

How are you over-delivering with your customers?  Are you coming from a place of abundance or scarcity?  Are you doing things in your business that will make others talk about your business and create buzz in a positive way? What kind of goodwill are you creating for your customers so that they can go out and refer more business your way? I believe there is a time when small business owners should definitely NOT over-deliver, but I will save that for another blog post soon.

By the way, we exceeded our goal of raising $100,000.00 and were able to place over 20 children in permanent family homes on behalf of Sierra Forever Families.

As an online business training and software company, we often get a lot of  small business owners who come to us asking to help them grow their business online.

So I have put together 7 tips on creating an online presence for entrepreneurs:

1. Have a long term perspective about your brand. Word travels fast on the internet so be intentional about your activities online.

2. Do some market research. Find out where your customers are hanging out online and start contributing to the conversation using social media. If the majority of them are on Facebook, then start networking with them on Facebook. The point is to be highly targeted when connecting with your prospective customers online. Otherwise, you can easily waste a lot of time.

3. Put a simple marketing plan together. Putting your intentions to the written word is a powerful exercise that will help you achieve your goals. Be sure to include an action plan. Keep it simple by writing out who is responsible for what by when.

4. Play to your strengths. The point here is to keep it simple by doing what you are good at. Don’t make it so hard on yourself. If you are great at writing, then start a blog. If you are great at speaking, then start vlogging (video blog). Start with one thing that you are good at and then incorporate another thing once you’ve got the first one down.

5. Join industry groups online. There are a gazillion like-minded groups and industry associations on the internet. Check out what your industry is doing online and be sure to connect and network with your colleagues. You never know when a collaboration can turn into something that is mutually benefitting.

6. Track your results. By measuring the outcome of your actions you will see where you need to make improvements to get the results you are looking for. There are a ton of measurement tools on the internet to track your web traffic. Google analytics is a good place to start.

Hear the Answers in the Quietness

It seems that the world of Business Coaching is exploding just like Social Media Experts so I’ve put together 6 Key Questions to ask your Business Coach before you hire him/her:

1. How long have you been a coach/consultant full-time? You want to know how long this person has made a living for himself/herself as a business consultant or coach. While the old business paradigm is melting and new innovative ways of doing business online are emerging, the fundamentals of business, i.e., PROFIT are still relevant. Understanding how well someone has made a living for themselves as a coach will tell you volumes about how successful they have been in their profession. What industries have they coached in? What level? Executive/CEO or managerial? Small businesses, entrepreneurs, start-up and non-profits? What size of businesses have they coached? A $30,000 dollar a year company is a lot different than a 3 million dollar a year company.

2. Will you please provide me with your past and current references? I know this seems obvious, but you’d be surprise how many people don’t call on references. Testimonials are good, but you really should talk to someone who has been coached by this person bestowing their expertise. You also want to know how long the person being coached has been in business. In addition, you want to gauge how profitable they are. Now, this information will be a little hard to extract since most companies are private and won’t release that data. What they are more likely to tell you is how much revenue or sales they generated in one year. The problem with that is revenue only tells you one side of the story. An entrepreneur may have generated 2 million dollars in sales last year. However, if their expenses and overhead were 2.1 million, then they lost money. So, you need to do your due diligence and get creative in extracting that information. You may ask, “What’s your industry’s average profit margin and how profitable has your business been in relation to industry standards since you hired your Business Coach?”

3. How well do you understand technology and systems? There is no way getting around having a successful business today without the advice of an expert on key technologies and systems. Technology and systems are essential to business in today’s digital world. So, when hiring a business coach, make sure they know what they are talking about when it comes to advising you on what technologies and systems are best for your type of business. They don’t necessarily need to be the person implementing the systems and technologies, but they should at least be able to point you in the right direction to experts who can. Miss this question and you will certainly go down a deep rabbit hole of frustration and wasted time and money.

4. Will I be working with you or one of your “Trainers?” With the hyper-growth of the coaching business, many consultants are hiring trainers to help them with their clients. There is nothing wrong with that at all. You just need to be clear on who you will be working with. If it is one of their “trainers” then you will want to do your due diligence on that person as well. In addition, some coaching companies offer membership sites and group coaching. You will want to know how available and accessible the coach will be in those programs.

5. Are you in alignment with my values? Here is an example: Let’s say you are a “Green” business and you value the triple bottom line model, also known as the 3 P’s. Planet, People, Profit. So, would you hire a coach who has an over-excessive lavish lifestyle when you are clearly aware that mass consumption is bad for the environment?   Surround yourself with mentors, teachers, trainers, and coaches who are in alignment with your values.

6. Am I clear on the expectations between us? Having unclear and vague expectations is a recipe for the dreaded two D’s: DISASTER and DRAMA! Don’t ever assume anything. If you are not clear on the contractual agreement or offering, then be sure to ask before you buy. Please don’t buy into a coaching program only to find out that you can’t get out as smoothly as you got in.  Any business coach worth their salt will not make it difficult for you to leave the program. It should be an easy-in, easy-out model. You definitely will want to read the fine print. In addition, some coaching companies make an offer where you have access to a lot of coaching material for a nominal fee and 30 or so days later that fee increases substantially. It is a marketing tactic that is used to get you to try before you fully commit. They charge your credit card a low fee to get you started with the hope that you will find value and stick around. The fee then increases after 30 or so days and your credit card gets automatically charged every month. I am not knocking these campaigns, I just want you to understand the marketing strategy behind these tactics.

Here is a bonus tip on hiring a business coach/consultant. It is one that is unfortunately oftentimes overlooked: Listen to your intuition and instincts. Your inner voice is your guidance, your compass. It’s there for a reason, so get quiet and listen to it. If the coach resonates with you, then go for it!

This is not an exhaustive list of Questions and Tips, so if you have some insight on hiring a business coach/consultant, please feel free to add more on the comments below!

Brenda Tello-Horton is co-owner of Hware, an online business training and software company. She can be reached at info@hware.com

4 Tips to Getting Started with Social Media:

1. Understand your Target Audience – It’s not the entire 2 billion people on the internet. Get laser-focused on who they are and where they hang out online.

2. Know your Target Audience’s problems, challenges, and concerns. When you understand this, you will be in a much better position to help them.

3. Be a Solutionary! Yes, it’s a made-up word. Bring a solution to their problems in a revolutionary way. Today’s economic times requires that you address their issues with creativity and innovation. How does your product/service solve their problem?

4. Make it easy for them to find you online using social media, search engine optimization, blogging, etc.

Not having a Social Media Plan is like going for a long Hike in the Mountains without any Food and Water.

The point is that you may survive, but it will be a very challenging and frustrating experience that could have otherwise been avoided. In my last post, I wrote about how planning starts with a VISION. In this post, I want to emphasize the importance of PLANNING. When most people think of planning, they yawn, BORING! Who wants to get boggled down with details?! “Let’s just go for it, make it happen and we will adjust along the way. Besides, it’s more fun and adventurous to have some spontaneity in our lives!” I swear, I used to say that and believe that with all my heart, and I still do in some areas of my life, but NOT when it comes to business. Unfortunately, I have had to learn through too many failures to understand why PLANNING is key to a successful business. So let’s dive into some key factors that are fundamental to having a solid social media plan. For the purpose of this blog post, I will be referring to small businesses:

• Know your target audience – Who are you selling to? Who’s attention do you want? Let’s narrow it down further. What  is your buyer persona?  That means, what are your buyers’ preferences, tastes, likes and dislikes. For example, my company, Hware sells software tools that help small businesses. Therefore, I look for entrepreneurs, and Work-at-Home folks to connect with online and try to make myself useful to them. I am laser-focused on the kind of person I want to interact with online. It’s  not that I don’t or won’t engage with anyone other than my ideal client, it’s just that I am very specific and clear about who I need to be talking to online for my business. More importantly, if your target audience is not online, then you are wasting your time being online. You need to be where they are. That’s where market research comes in.
• Spend some time doing some Market Research – It is crucial to find out where your customers hang out. Are they on Twitter or LinkedIn? Are most of them not using social networking sites and still prefer e-mail? The point is that you need to have a clear understanding of where they are so that you can communicate with them.  Occasionally, I enroll my online audience in surveys, which gives me insight into what they need. I then provide them with the results of the polls. By engaging my audience and asking for feedback, I gain tremendous knowledge on who they are, what their challenges are, and how I may better serve them. Here are a few online survey tools: Poll Daddy,  Survey Monkey and Twtpoll (for Twitter). The surveys need to be short, simple and convenient for the participant, otherwise, they will be reluctant fill it out.

• Know your online STAG: I call these your Strengths, Talents, Attributes, and Gifts. You must find and own your STAG and become like the beautiful statuesque male deer I live with here in the foothills of Northern California. They know their own power and beauty.  They grace the land with great ease and confidence. When you know your STAG, you will attract, engage, and be like a magnet to your online Fans, Friends, and Followers. When you are clear about your STAG, it will show in your energy, your presence. We all feed off of each other’s energy and your customers are no different. They will know if you are moving with ease and confidence and when you are putting their best interests first and foremost. (I will write more about STAG in future blog posts.) An example of using your STAG is let’s say that you are better at talking than writing; then perhaps you may want do more vlogging (video blogs) than blogging. The point is that you are playing to your strengths and when you work from a place of strengths, it always much easier.
• Remember that your Social Media Plan - should come under the umbrella of your marketing plan and your marketing plan falls under your business plan and your business plan should be part of your long-term strategic plan, (which I will write about in more detail another time.) So many people get overwhelmed with social media, but it is important to keep things in perspective. Social media is just one aspect of your overall business and as an entrepreneur/self-employed, you wear many different hats – social media is your marketing hat.

On my next blog post, I will delve into more detail about social media planning. I will be writing about some specific automation tools to help systematize and simplify your online presence.

Brenda Horton is Co-owner of Hware, a software company that designs business planning tools for small businesses. She will be hosting a FREE and LIVE Webinar on Social Media STRATEGIES for beginners on September 2nd.

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