Now, I was working super hard and all of my time was accounted for but I was NOT working smartly. I think many early stage entrepreneurs and business owners get caught up in their own stuff and create a micro-managed culture where they’re working nonstop too. After all, who can sell as well as you? Who can write that memo as expediently as you can? It will take less time if you do it yourself…. And so on and so on. Get out of your own way and start working on your business and not in your business.

There are three great reads that I recommend to help you get out of your own way so that you can grow your business and put hours back into your day.

The first is Michael Gerber’s E-Myth. This popular bestseller provides a great primer for figuring out how to get out from under the weeds and start working on your business… he cites some very compelling examples of business owners who are “overworked, overstaffed and eventually broke.” Sounds likes you? Then it probably is.

Next is Tim Ferris’ 4 Hour Work Week. While I think it’s very difficult to actually get to a 4 hour work week- and I’m not sure that Tim actually does from sources I’ve spoken with, there are lots of nuggets of wisdom, in particular the sections about time management techniques to make you more productive, like only checking email twice a day, outsourcing administrative tasks, or becoming an ‘expert’ in your field.

Finally, there is Scott Fritz’s 40 Hour Work Year. I’ve met Scott and I really like Scott’s philosophy. In this practical read, he gives you a roadmap for setting up your business so that you ultimately only have to devote about 40 hours a year to managing it. It may be a stretch but it’s chock full of action items for you to implement in your business immediately. His philosophy has certainly worked for him, Scott has successfully done this in his multi-million dollar business that he founded.

Are you ready to work less, be more productive and earn more money? Happy reading!

1. Clean up. Mom taught you to always wash your face, comb your hair and look presentable. It’s equally important for your business image to shine. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so whether it’s your storefront, your office lobby or your website’s home page, make sure your business looks inviting, up-to-date and appealing.
2. Be friendly. Mom told you to smile, look people in the eye and be polite. The same rules apply in business. People want to do business with people they like, so being considerate, polite and friendly matter, whether it’s you or your employees.
3. Share. You didn’t always want to, but Mom made you share the last cookie with your sister and your toys with your friends. Whether you’re interacting offline or in social media world, an attitude of sharing—towards business partners, customers and prospects—will get you far. Make it a point to be generous, and you’ll get back more than you give.
4. Tell the truth. Whether you hit a baseball through the neighbor’s window or flunked a spelling test, honesty is the best policy (because Mom always finds out anyway). In business, too, customers value honesty more than ever—and they’ll spread the word about your honest approach to their friends and colleagues.
5. Always do your best. Mom didn’t care if you were the best—she only cared if you tried your hardest. Customers, too, can tell when you’re not putting forth your best effort but only going through the motions. If they don’t get your full efforts, they won’t stick around.
6. Appreciate your unique gifts. Maybe you weren’t the team captain or the head cheerleader, but Mom showed you how to appreciate what was special about you. Don’t make your business a copycat of your competitors—focus on what makes your business different and better.

Know who else can be your biggest cheerleader? A SCORE Mentor. If you don’t already have one, visit SCORE’s website to get matched with a Mentor for free business advice 24/7. They’ll be almost as supportive as your mom—although they probably won’t bake you cookies.

• Nationwide, the best predictors of small business friendliness were not tax-code related but rather:
  • Whether the respondent was aware of the state or local government offering training programs for small businesses
  • The ease of using/understanding licensing forms, requirements and fees
  • How the owner thinks his/her company’s financial situation will be twelve months from now
• By state, the results varied widely. For example in California, employment labor and hiring regulations were important in determining friendliness, while in Texas more weight was placed on tax code and tax-related regulations.
• Politics has little effect. Ratings of state supportiveness did not vary significantly by political orientation. (In the survey, respondents self identified as conservative, liberal, or independent.)
• Small business owners ranked Idaho and Texas as the most business-friendly states, with Oklahoma City and Dallas-Ft. Worth taking top honors among cities across the nation. Vermont and Rhode Island found themselves on the opposite end of the spectrum, joined in the bottom-five by New York and California.

You can see the results by state and by 40 key cities here.

How small business friendly is your city/state? Share in the Comments section below.

PS. Since this month we are talking about advertising, posting your business on Thumbtack can be a great way to get at local potential customers interested in your services. As of this writing, Thumbtack helps connect over 250,000 local businesses (such as photographers, tutors, carpenters, etc.) with potential customers.

Know this:  You don’t need to have a website to market yourself or your business online.  A website helps but it isn’t necessary.  Most listings include the basic information people need to know about your business.  A website or mobile website (designed specifically for people on small phone screens), can be linked from these listings to your website to give people more information about your business.  That gives you a competitive edge against your competitors that don’t have a website but it isn’t necessary for someone searching online to find your business phone number and address.  They can get that through the directory listings.

How to Get Free Advertising Online for Your Business

1. If you’re selling locally, claim your Google Places listing. It’s also sometimes referred to as Google Maps.  Google Places is what Google calls their free listings for local businesses.  Make sure your listing is set up properly so you get the most visibility for people actively shopping or researching online.  More than 60% of online searches are done using Google so this is the most important listing to set up.

A Google Places listing includes business information, customer reviews and promotional information about your business.  When people search on Google, they will find your business listing and your business on the Google map.  This is free and there are only seven businesses that are listed per category.  For example, “Dentist Dallas” has only a lucky seven dentists that will appear in a Google search result for someone searching for “Dentist Dallas.”  This is free.  The first seven companies that claim this search keyword category are listed.  Once set up, the Google Places page is automatically listed and ranked in Google search engine results.  You’ll need to keep your Google listing up-to-date.  You can add offers and specials, along with videos.  It’s like a mini website about your business and it’s free!

2. Set up a Business or Merchant Facebook Page

Your Facebook business page will appear prominently in search results.  While just creating a Facebook business page will help you to appear on a search result, to gain the full benefit of Facebook’s social media power you’ll want to actively participate by posting a status update at least two times per week. Learn more about Facebook as a marketing tool by reading MarketingZone.com’s article on Facebook Marketing.

3. Set up a LinkedIn Profile for yourself and your business

LinkedIn now allows companies to set up a free personal and Company Page.  Those will be listed in search results.  They’re another way for someone to find you or your business online.

4. Set up a Wikipedia Entry

While Wikipedia promotes itself as an encyclopedia, not a business directory, the fact remains that thousands of businesses have created an “entry” for themselves in this highly visible website. Wikipedia frowns upon anything considered “self promoting,” so keep your entry to the facts of your business — who you are and what you do.

5. Set up listings at the other 56 reputable sites and directories online

Get your business listed with all the reputable online directories. There are 20 important directories to get your business listed in like Yelp and Yellowpages.com.   Then there are dozens of specialty and niche directories that may, or may not, be relevant to your business.

Know this: There are a lot of scams for listings and directories.  Most of the directories work like the Yellow Pages where a general listing is free (if you set it up and “claim it”) and then they try to get you to buy a larger and more expensive ad in the directory.  If you have to pay to set up a listing, it may be a scam.

Learn more about: Business Listings

6.  Make sure people on mobile phones can find your business!

With so many people buying web-enabled phones, the Internet has become the new Yellow Pages. You need to make sure that anyone with a phone that has web access can find your company (you don’t need to have a website to do this).

Learn more with: Mobile Marketing How-to Guides

TIP: There are companies or individuals you can hire to set up all your listings.  Some will also create your website and a mobile website for you and keep that updated.  It’s time consuming to do all this so it may be worthwhile to have someone trustworthy do this for you.  You’ll need to keep your listings up-to-date and respond to reviews and post offers.  You can do this yourself or hire a person or company to do all this for you.  It may cost between $50 to $300 a month for this type of service.  That’s inexpensive advertising if you think about it.  If people can’t find you or your business online, then you are losing that much or more every month.  Find Marketing Experts to Hire lists your alternatives with pros, cons and cost ranges to help you decide what to do.

If you’re like most business owners, there is a pile of it somewhere and you are laden with guilt and shame that you “can’t keep up with it.” You probably fantasize about hiring an intern some summer to do it but never find the time to get that started. I’m here to free you and to assure you that most of this work is a total waste of your time.

Actually, the “failure” that most businesses have here is over managing the process. Expenses cost the business money and the process to manage expenses is arduous, time consuming and inefficient.

Let me begin this explanation with some boring terminology from Wikipedia.

“Records management is the practice of maintaining the records from the time they are created up to their eventual disposal. This may include classifying, storing, securing, and destruction (or in some cases, archival preservation) of records. A record can be either a tangible object or digital information…. Records management is primarily concerned with the evidence of an organization’s activities.”

The key phrase here is “evidence.” We keep files (and expenses) for EVIDENCE that we performed an activity. They are, for all intents and purposes, dead documents. They don’t make you any money and they represent a cost (expense) to the organization to manage.

This is different from an action or trigger document/data. For example, I am keeping an email about payment from a client so I can remember to do something for that client. This is a trigger document – it reminds me to do a related thing, the document itself doesn’t necessary help. I am keeping a copy of the gas bill in my inbox because I have been charged incorrectly for the third month running and I have to call the utility company. This is an action document. I’ll need the information on the document to complete the action. When these actions are complete, the document becomes a record (if we need to keep it) or trash.

The key phrase here is “action.” We keep action or trigger documents to MOVE activities forward. They make us money, help grow the business and help save us money. There is a cost (expense) to manage these documents but it tends to be nominal compared to the benefit.

80% of your effort should be spent on action documents and 20% or less on recordkeeping. Remember the keys to efficiency we covered last time?

• Improve the Process
• Manage your Information Well
• Use Appropriate Technology

This is where technology (and process) can help us!

Here are three systems that help automate the process, reduce the amount of steps required and the aggravation it takes to manage records and expenses.

Pendaflex File is an extremely un-technological yet powerful solution. In fact it is so unsexy that it’s rarely considered as an option. Go get a Pendaflex file and label the sorters with the schedule C categories – they start at #8 on the IRS form.  Add additional segments – one for deposit slips and petty cash. Then, when you get a receipt for one of these expenses, shove it into the slot. At the end of the year, rubberband it shut and hand it to your accountant. That’s it. Yep, no data entry every month, no filing by month, no scanning, no nothing. After taxes, write the year on the front, duct tape it shut and throw it in the basement. In seven years, throw it out. This is a great example of not overcomplicating a process with technology when it isn’t necessary.

Shoeboxed is the technology version of the above system. This company manages all of the scans associated with records and expenses in a snazzy little web based dashboard. You can scan, forward emails, take pictures of receipts with your mobile phone or send documents to them directly. They process other paper too, including your business cards. They have the necessary security encryption, backup and reporting tools to make it extremely useful. This is a great solution for those of you who want to be tech-sexy and don’t have time to find the intern.

Mint is a FREE, web based expense management tool. Link all of your accounts and it automatically downloads and categorizes all of your expenses. You can create and track budgets with some nifty reporting tools. For example, set a budget limit on business meals and it will turn yellow and send you an email when you are approaching the monthly limit. So it helps keep your expenses in check as well as manage the records associated with them. This truly is a paperless solution in that it downloads the data from your bank directly. It’s geared towards a personal user but it can work well for a small business. It’s powered by Intuit and has some of the most robust security available. If you feel comfortable putting your information into Quickbooks, this is the same company so you should feel just as comfortable here.  I do recommend that if you use this solution, you do it in tandem with the Pendaflex solution above so you can stay compliant to recordkeeping requirements.

By using one of these systems, you can be clear on what records you need to keep with regards to expenses. With a little pre-planning and configuration, you can automate most of the system, which not only makes your accountant happy when it’s time for taxes, but it allows you to check in with your expense “burn rate.” Too many times when businesses focus on records (the dead documents), they find out too late they’ve overspent what they wanted. Most of these systems allow you to focus on what’s happening now, not spend time on what has already happened. This, of course, is the best way to become successful – manage the future.

Many business plans, especially those prepared by MBAs tend to be extraordinarily long-winded. I came from this exact same background and I fell into this trap. I wrote pages and pages describing the industry, competitive landscape, and excruciating detail about what my product was going to be and wasted the time that I could’ve better spent outlining the concrete steps to actually get my product launched. These areas are important but a couple of pages would have been sufficient.

So, here are two robust plan template from WickedStart and SCORE that are free to use. These templates can be modified for just about any business (or business idea). They’re comprehensive so you only need to use the parts that are relevant for you.  We used these templates to create a real business plan for a company that we helped get funding for- so we know they works.  Now, if you want to purchase a plan or planning services, I recommend iplanner, a great new startup too!

Go get these templates and keep me posted on your progress!

More than nine out of ten Americans surveyed (93 percent) say companies fail to exceed their service expectations. More than three in five (61 percent) feel companies have not increased their focus on providing better service. In fact, of this group, 32 percent feel businesses are paying less attention to providing good customer service – an increase from 26 percent who said this last year.

More than half of all survey respondents (55 percent) said they had walked away from an intended purchase in the past year because they had a poor customer service experience. What drives customers the craziest? The four biggest customer service complaints were:

1. Rudeness: insensitive or unresponsive customer service people (33 percent)
2. Passing the Buck:  Being shuffled around with no resolution of the issue (26 percent)
3. The Waiting Game:  Waiting too long to have an issue resolved (10 percent)
4. Being Boomeranged:  Forced to continually follow up on an issue (10 percent)

Exactly how long will consumers wait for customer service?  The average consumer hits his or her boiling point after 13 minutes on hold. In person, customers will wait an average of 12 minutes for help at retail stores, restaurants or other establishments before they start to get steamed.

Clearly, the solution to providing stellar service is simple. Customers are telling us exactly what they want—all we have to do is listen. Take responsibility, resolve problems quickly without making the customer do all the work, and provide fast service. Simple enough, right?

In today’s economy, service is one of the ways small businesses can still distinguish themselves from the pack. If you’re letting your service slip, you’re only hurting yourself.

If you need more motivation to improve your customer service, consider this: Respondents say they’d spend an average of 13 percent more with companies that deliver stellar service. Need help evaluating your business’s customer service? A SCORE mentor can help. Visit the SCORE website to get matched with a mentor and get free business advice 24/7.

	Daily Deals: Sites such as Groupon, LivingSocial, Red Plum and scores of others provide you with a way to reach large numbers with $0 upfront investment. You present an enticing introductory offer with a deep discount of at least 50%. Dedicated emails with high open rates are sent to your specified target market (by key demographics like age, gender, geographic location, income, etc.). You only “pay” for the prospects that take the offer. If you can work the numbers out, this can be a very effective way to “advertise” to your target group.
	eBooks: Some savvy marketers are using eBooks to get the word out on their product or service. You can offer books on Amazon for as little as $0.99. Create some great expert content with a compelling title and cover, and place it strategically in the right book category. Make sure you have a call to action to sign up at your website to get more information and you can inexpensively grow your prospect list with people interested in your area of expertise.
	How-to Videos: YouTube is now the go-to source for learning a new skill or fixing a problem. Post a series of how-to videos in your subject area that are quick, informative and entertaining. If you tag them properly with the right keywords, you can gain loads of new prospects who now see you as the “how-to” expert.

P.S. There is another hidden benefit. Each of these tactics helps your SEO by driving traffic to your site.

Have you used any of these unconventional advertising tactics? Share in the Comments section below.

Does Advertising Work?

Advertising works best and costs the least when you pay attention to these three “P’s”: Planning, Preparation, and Persistence.

Planning and preparing ahead for a long-term ad campaign can help keep your costs low and ensure you reach the right audience. For example, you’ll pay less per ad in newspapers and magazines by agreeing to run several ads over time rather than deciding on an issue-by-issue basis.

Ads become more effective over time –the longer they run, using consistent branding, the chances of more consumers seeing them goes up. This long-term approach triggers recognition and helps special offers or direct marketing payoff.

So how can you execute on the three “P’s”? Here are five steps for planning your next winning advertising campaign.

1. Map it Out

Start by defining your goals – long-term and immediate. This way you can easily measure return on investment. For example, do you want to grow sales by 20%? Reach a new market? Clear inventory? Then map out how marketing (not advertising alone) can help attain these goals. Focus on advertising channels that complement your marketing plan. For example, new markets mean using media outlets and messaging that you may not have used before.

2. Plan Your Budget

What can you afford? Many companies allocate as much as 5-10 percent of their income to advertising, others much less. At the end of the day, it comes down to what’s right for your business and whether advertising can help you achieve your goals. Advertising takes time to have an impact and can be hard to measure initially, but as you plan your budget, consider the impact of not advertising. Get advice from other business owners or advisors at SCORE or your local Small Business Development Center if you are not sure. As you embark on a long-term campaign, remember you have room to experiment and adjust.

3. Define Your Audience and Your Message

Who is your audience? Create a profile of your best customer. Be as specific as possible, as this will be the focus of your ads and media choices.

Who is your competition? What can you offer that they don’t? Do you occupy a unique niche? All this will help drive your message to your target audience. If you don’t already have a concise marketing message that defines what you have to offer, to whom, and why they should buy from you, then take the time to craft one first. You can find tips here.

Next, come up with a theme for your ad that reflects not only your messaging but also your brand identity with a tag line to reinforce the most important reason to buy from you.

4. Evaluate Media Choices

In most cases, knowing your audience will help you choose the media that will deliver your sales message most effectively. You can stretch your media budget by taking advantage of co-op advertising programs offered by manufacturers or vendors.

When developing your advertising schedule, be sure to take advantage of any special editorial or promotional coverage planned in the media you select. Newspapers, for example, often run special sections featuring real estate, investing, home and garden improvement, and tax advice. Magazines also often focus on specific themes in each issue. Don’t forget online ads (be sure to check out laws that apply), local HOA newsletters, and coupon supplements. If you are located in a multi-tenant commercial property, strip mall or plaza, could you run an ad in any flyers or mailers that the management company distributes? What about billboards, buses, or point-of-sale displays?

5. Throw Other Activities Into the Mix

Advertising is just one facet of an overall marketing strategy, so why not extend your advertising beyond traditional media with complementary tactics and repeat the message you’ve worked hard to create? Here are some ideas:

• Co-sponsor events and advertise your participation. Community marketing is a great low-cost but high profile tactic that works well for small businesses.
• Include mailing inserts or flyers in bills and invoices.
• Use social media and your e-newsletter as another vehicle to showcase any promotions or ads.
• Create tie-in promotions with complementary businesses.
• Invest in promotional giveaways imprinted with your name and contact information – pens, post-it notes, pins, and fridge magnets.

Lastly, be persistent and consistent. Presenting your company’s image and sales message repeatedly will eventually build awareness and a distinctive identity for your business.

I ask this of every business during initial review of their operational technology. It does not matter if they hired me because they think they need social media tools, a CRM or new manufacturing software, I always start at the beginning: How do you get paid?

And then I clarify: not what product or service do you trade for payment, but upon successful delivery of that product or service, what are all the steps in the process for you to ask for payment and actually get the cash?

The conversation usually goes like this:

• ClientA: I have quickbooks – my accountant suggested it.
• Amy: Great! So you’re using the automated invoicing features and can run P/L and project ROI reports?
• ClientA: The automatic invoices never come out correctly so I collect my billing information from Quickbooks and my emails about the project and then make the invoices in Microsoft Word.
• Me: How do you track your accounts aging (how long it takes you to get paid and how much cash you’re waiting on) and do cash forecasting?
• ClientA: I enter it back into quickbooks when I get the time. Or, I keep track of that in excel – or a stack of paper invoicing on my desk.
• Me: How do you know “when it’s time to invoice?”
• ClientA: I try to get to that at least once a month.

RISK! RISK! RISK! There are too many variables and too much room for human error.  If this fails, you don’t get paid. I don’t have to tell you that cash is the lifeblood of growth.

It becomes even more complicated when part of your offering is a raw material or a subcontracted service that you mark up or integrate into your final product. In these cases, you need to ensure the delivery of another product or service is suitable enough for you to invoice AND you need to make sure you have the cash on hand to cover the costs of that raw material – even if you can’t get paid by your client ahead of time. This is why most construction industry contractors go belly up.

Luckily there is a better way to do it.

The key to efficiency is twofold:

1. Improve the Process

• Reduce the number of steps in the process and automate as many as possible
• Reduce the number of transfers from person to person within the process
• Clearly define responsibility, roles and timelines

2. Manage Your Information Well

• Reduce the number of data points needed to complete the process
• Create a system whereby they are entered the least amount of times possible
• Reduce the number of copies of data – maintain integrity by keeping the information in one place in one source that is accessed in multiple ways.

Let’s take a look at the process and data surrounding my conversation with client A.

The process usually looks like this:

Pretty ugly huh? Clearly there are some steps we can eliminate, especially those that require many records and many entries of information.

The data points in this process are:

• Contract terms with the client and subcontractor (what, where, when, how much)
• Contact information for the client and the subcontractors
• Records of what was sent and when

We need all these to get paid so we can’t reduce any of them. We can, however, enter the information only once and not duplicate the data.

This is where technology can help us!

Here are three financial (revenue and billing) systems that help automate the process, reduce the amount of steps required and maintain one set of data throughout the time it takes to be paid.

Quickbooks is an extremely powerful, fully featured financial platform that is a good solution for complicated or high volume businesses – like an e-commerce business OR a service based business with multiple projects that have separate expense accounting needed for each. You’ll need a decent level of accounting knowledge and software support to get it set up to work well. I suggest a budget of $2000 after the licensing for configuration. If you don’t need that kind of power or have that kind of budget, it can be simpler and less expensive.

Freshbooks is my personal favorite for almost any small business, especially those that handle time or material billing of any kind. You set it up to account in great detail but significant configuration is not needed for it to work well. Many of my less tech savvy clients love this for its simplicity. It automates most of the process and keeps everyone up to date with emails. You can use this to store client contact information, create estimates that directly convert to one time or recurring invoices. You, your employees and your subcontractors can record billable and unbillable time and expenses into it. It has native credit card processing integration so you can be paid instantly. I have a high ticket client that has an average aging of 12 minutes to pay. Yep, 12 minutes. The system costs about $30 a month.

Harvest is a competitor to Freshbooks that has almost exactly the same functionality and price point, just different integrations and a user interface that has more of a mac look and feel. I have found this is preferred by graphic designers and similar creative types. Both offer some free trial features so try them out and see which you like better.

By using one of these pieces of technology, you can reduce the number of process steps and use one copy of the data. The risk for error is reduced and the variable time to get paid is compressed because automation helps things go faster. You will quickly see a boost in your bank account and a reduction in stress when you wake up in the morning and find your invoicing went out and your payments got collected while you were sleeping.