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How To Find a Mentor and Be a Mentor To Others

The mentor-protégé relationship is one that has a great deal of value in the small business world. It should be a mutually beneficial relationship, so both finding a mentor and becoming one require knowledge and responsibility. Here is a how-to guide for finding a mentor who can help you succeed in your business, as well as what it takes to become an effective mentor to someone just starting out.

Finding a Mentor

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers a variety of resources, which are readily available on its website. Additionally, the SBA also partners with SCORE, a “nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small businesses start, grow, and succeed nationwide.” Their website is also chock full of information to help you get started.
Decide what you want. Identify what exactly you wish to be the result of the relationship. Do you want an expert in marketing? Someone well-connected who can help you network with others in the field? A good listener who has been where you are in business? Figuring out the qualities you want in a mentor will help you narrow your search tremendously.
Look in the right places. There’s nothing wrong with starting your search with your family and friends who may have the expertise you’re looking for. Outside of that circle, you may find an effective mentor in a former boss, at a professional development workshop, or trade show. Your extended network of contacts may contain just the person you need.
Reach out to your industry. If you haven’t found a mentor in your immediate or extended network, consider contacting your local chamber of commerce or the business editor of the local newspaper. Chances are that you will find a large group of knowledgeable people right in your own backyard.
Seek recommendations. Just as if you were hiring a landscaper or finding a good dentist, ask others in your field for recommendations about potential mentors. Get some information about the person’s business background and experience, and come up with a list of questions you would ask about what he or she can offer. You may even arrange a phone interview to see if this person would fit your needs.

Being a Mentor

Ask questions. When taking on a protégé, it must be clear to both parties what is expected of each other. The protégé should be asking questions, but as a potential mentor, you should come to the table with questions as well, such as those about the person’s business education, relevant experience in the field, and long-term goals. This will help you focus your efforts and create a plan of action for your protégé.
Be a coach. Help your protégé create a positive and supportive environment. Instead of pointing out faults teach your protégé to identify problems and to develop a plan to overcome them. Coach your protégé to be self-reliant and goal oriented.
Set a timeline. As the mentor, you may have a better idea as to how long it might take to reach whatever goals have been agreed upon. Will you be mentoring this person for six months? A year? How often will you meet over the course of the relationship? Make sure that you both are comfortable with the time parameters of the arrangement and decide whether or not you are flexible should someone’s needs change.
Make yourself accessible. If you are making the commitment to mentor someone, you should be available to them in a reasonable fashion. Aside from meeting at regular intervals and perhaps touching base via email or phone in between, your protégé should feel comfortable contacting you at other times if necessary.

Tell us about your own mentoring relationships in the comments section below.

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Small Business Easy Low Cost Marketing

Although marketing is essential to your business, it’s easy to spend too much of your hard-earned money on strategies that return very little. In order to get the most bang for your marketing buck, you should find low-cost or even free ways to reach your local demographic. Here are some suggestions to get you started.

Sponsoring story time at a local library and other community workshops. Most libraries have at least one, if not several, story groups for children of varying ages. Offer to sponsor one by providing the refreshments, or even by being a guest reader. In doing so, you will be able to network with potential customers, the children’s parents. You could base your time at the library around a theme that is relevant to your business and provide samples that include your business card. For example, a private children’s instrumental music instructor would read a book about a certain instrument, bring some different mouthpieces or small instruments for children to try out, and talk about what is offered at his or her studio with parents.
Form connections to local businesses. By teaming up with local businesses, you can pool your resources together to draw in customers that would be able to use both of your services. The owner of a hair salon could team up with the dress shop down the street. Come prom season, each business could recommend the other and offer discounts if a customer uses both services. To go even further, connecting to a local business would allow you to sponsor joint marketing events, like sidewalk sales or craft fairs.
Create an e-newsletter or start a blog. To make the ever-increasing cost of postage and mailing supplies a non-issue, you may want to develop a monthly newsletter to send out via email. Collect the email addresses of your past customers, and with their permission, send out a newsletter that highlights information about products or services they have recently purchased, and introduce new products as well. You can even make it more relevant by choosing some frequently asked questions to answer in each issue. As an extra incentive for subscribing to the e-newsletter, consider offering a coupon or voucher in each issue.
Use your vehicle as a promotional tool. Decals for your car that contain your business’s name, phone number, website URL, and slogan can be found at affordable prices, especially online. Think of how many people see your vehicle, especially if you live in a congested area where there is a good deal of traffic. That level of exposure is constant after the initial cost, which doesn’t have to be much.
Ask customers how they found you. Keep track of how new customers are hearing about you. This will give you accurate information about which of your marketing tools is most effective. From here, you can decide where to focus your efforts and your money.

As a small business owner or direct seller, your marketing campaigns must reach the largest amount of potentially interested people at the lowest cost possible to you. What strategies have you used to market your business in affordable ways? Please leave a comment below!

Free e-book “Business Owner’s Road Map to Success.” It has over 50 pages of techniques for everything a small business owner needs to master, from business planning and ethical selling to a success mindset. It’s all there and it’s free for you. To get it, just “Like” our Facebook Page here: http://on.fb.me/KsIN6P Pass it on!

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DSEF & CBBB: My Experience With Multi-Level Marketing

Today’s highlighted blog post from the Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB)

My Experience With Multi-Level Marketing

By Holly Doering

When I was a little girl, my mom stayed at home to look after us kids while my dad worked. That was just what women did. Especially in a small Idaho town with a limited job market. One day my mother brought home a trunk of cosmetics: almond face lotion, peppermint foot rub. There was even something called “Royal bee jelly”—I think—that was thick and soft but not greasy. The company was called “JAFRA”—Jan and Frank were the owners—and all Mom had to do to make money was to host parties and invite her women friends.

What happened next was what often happens—Mom threw a few parties, went to a few parties, and then the creams and lotions sat in the cupboard for the next decade. (They were really good products though!)

In college, I worked for a fast-food franchise owner who was big into Amway. She bought all their cleaning products for the restaurant. She was convinced that this company was her ticket to early retirement and possibly multi-millionaire-dom. As far as I know, she’s still trying to become a Diamond.

The BBB sometimes gets calls about multi-level marketing (MLM) opportunities. Are they scams? While any particular scenario could be a scam, the short answer is no. MLM is a legitimate business model that has made certain individuals extremely wealthy. However, it isn’t easy.

Many people who get into network marketing don’t have the personality or the tenacity to make a go of it. They chicken out of making cold calls or meeting strangers at Perkins. They don’t want to invest all the time into their home business that would be necessary for it to succeed. Or, they get divorced and end up splitting their downlines.

You see, I worked for a network marketing company for a few years. But not as a distributor—I stayed with a steady paycheck from the corporate offices. It was there that I met a company executive who had gone from abysmal failure—sleeping in his car—to becoming a millionaire with these MLM products. And when he did, his sponsor, the man who recruited him, became a multi-millionaire.

I chose this particular MLM company to work for because their products:

Were environmentally-friendly
Were not tested on animals
Were not significantly more expensive than items in the store
Were something I could believe in

Here are some tips on how to research a MLM company and make sure it’s right for you. Think about:

How transparent is the company? Are you getting real answers to your questions, and not just the run-around or a company line? Do they disclose their financials?
Has the company been around for awhile? (The longer, the better.)
What is the initial investment?
Who will support you? Does your sponsor seem like they will actively coach you and have time for you? Can you meet other people in this person’s downline?
How are refunds—to you and to your customers, clients, prosumers, or whatever they call them—handled? How do they deal with complaints?
Is their technology easy to use or is it kind of a pain?
What is the competition?
Are they aware of or do they subscribe to the Direct Selling Association (DSA) Code of Ethics?

Final thoughts

1) Remember that pyramid schemes, which can look like MLM to begin with, are not legitimate. A genuine MLM opportunity involves product and is not simply mailing cash back and forth.

2) You may not want to make your living from your MLM business—I’ve been to plenty of Cabi, Partylite, Avon, and Pampered Chef parties hosted by friends who just wanted to get these products that they liked discounted or cheaper. Even so, do your homework first. You won’t be sorry you did.

DSEF and Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) fosters honest and responsive relationships between businesses and consumers—instilling consumer confidence and advancing a trustworthy marketplace for all.

About the Better Business Bureaus
As the leader in advancing marketplace trust, Better Business Bureau is an unbiased non-profit organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. Every year, more than 87 million consumers rely on BBB Business Reviews® and BBB Wise Giving Reports® to help them find trustworthy businesses and charities across North America. Visitwww.bbb.org/us for more information.

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Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

The proverbial comfort zone: it is what prevents us from pursuing our dreams and achieving our goals. The good news is that your zone isn’t a jail cell, but instead a place that you’ve created over time. Because of this, you are free to leave anytime, but you have to be ready. Below is a step-by-step guide to breaking out of your comfort zone and growing your business.

Understand the return on investment (ROI) in stepping out of your comfort zone. Some of these benefits include standing out in a crowd, overcoming your fear, trying new things, and learning more. Imagine what these benefits can do for your business.
Identify someone in your field that you look up to and admire. List that person’s qualities and accomplishments. Cross out the ones that you have in common. From the items that remain, rank them in order of importance to you. You now have a set of objectives to start on, so take them one step at a time. What can you do right now to begin to achieve the first one on your list?
Put all your cards on the table. Fear is the most powerful emotion, so assess what you are afraid of that has prevented your business growth. Pledge to yourself to jump in head first. For example, if the idea of public speaking makes you want to run for the hills, call your local library and set up a workshop. The venue is small, but will force you to face your fear and make it easier to do again.
Expect and embrace change. The nature of our comfort zones is that they are predictable. Even if what you are doing on a regular basis is making you money, you may be leaving a lot of money on the table if you don’t try something new. Adjust your mindset to one that willingly accepts change because stepping out of your comfort zone will bring about a great deal of it.
Visualize yourself doing it. Whatever it may be that you are afraid of doing, close your eyes for a few minutes and picture yourself doing it successfully. The mind is a very powerful thing, and by continually focusing yourself toward the positive, you will be more likely to achieve your goals.
Work backwards. When developing a plan of action, pinpoint your endgame first. When you have an outcome in mind, your actions will be more specific and effective. Furthermore, you will be better able to stay motivated while working toward that end.

What advice do you have about leaving your comfort zone? Please share your suggestions with us in the comment section below.

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How To Get More Referrals

How To Get More Referrals

It’s no secret that referrals are an excellent way to boost sales; potential customers are much more comfortable doing business with people they meet via personal recommendations. Wouldn’t you be? Why is it then that they seem so difficult to come by? Pursuing referrals is a lot like any other skill; it takes commitment and practice. The first step is making the search for referrals a regular and necessary part of your business. Implement the following suggestions to start doing so.

Ask! This seems obvious, but many people shy away from asking for referrals directly from their customers. There are, of course, certain ways to ask that are more effective than others, such as being specific. For example, instead of asking, “Who do you know that would want my services?” a better question is, “Who do you know that loves to cook?” A specific question will draw more names from your customer and will also bring you relevant leads rather than a whole list of people who may not be interested in what you offer.
Help others. You may be missing an opportunity to put yourself in a mutually beneficial situation. Attending a charity event in which a friend or family member is involved can be useful in obtaining referrals. You will be helping someone out, contributing to a cause, and meeting new prospects all at the same time.
Build strong relationships. Of course you want your clients to trust you, but you also want them to be enthusiastic about doing business with you. Find out what your customers are passionate about and cater to that when interacting with them. You will be able to add a personal touch to your business dealings, which will in turn impress your customer, who will want to tell his or her friends about you. Always be professional, courteous, and caring.
Set a precise goal for yourself. Make it part of your daily work day to ask for referrals. Keep track of how many you ask for every day, and as you feel more comfortable pursuing referrals, challenge yourself by increasing that number and setting a new goal.
Send out holiday cards. It’s that time of year again, and holiday cards, if done well, can really stand out and lead to referrals. Remember that most people put their cards on display, where party guests and family members will see them. So take some time to create a unique card that is noticeable, and send it early so it will be one of the first to make it to your customer’s display.
Offer rewards. When a customer does give you a referral, let them know how much you appreciate it. A handwritten note sent through snail mail is very thoughtful in this age of emails, texts, and video chats. Furthermore, don’t hesitate to get creative. For example, whenever a customer gives you a referral, send the customer a scratch-off lottery ticket along with a quick thank you card. Because you’re showing that you are genuinely grateful, they won’t think twice about referring you to others again and again.

What are some creative methods you have used to acquire referrals? We’d love to hear from you!

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Making More Time

Making More Time

Time management is essential for any working individual, but it is especially important to the self-employed. Direct sellers and small business owners are constantly performing multiple jobs in a single day, so there are many opportunities to get sidetracked, lose focus, and ultimately waste precious time. Read on for a simple step-by-step guide on how to maximize your time as efficiently as possible.

Pinpoint what tasks are most imperative. Thinking about what you do in any given day, decide which of those things directly contribute to the growth and money-making aspects of your business. When time is tight, these are the tasks that should take precedence over any others.
Rid your day of at least one time-waster or distraction. Although we all deserve a break throughout the course of the day, we often allow for too many detractors which can easily add up to an hour or more. After you’ve identified your most important tasks, do the same with your least important ones, such as updating your personal Facebook page or checking the score of the big game. Commit yourself to avoiding such diversions while you get your time management under control.
Put in place time limits for your tasks. Now that you’ve weeded out the unnecessary and know exactly what you should be working on, give yourself a certain amount of time to complete these duties. If you know you only have an hour, for instance, to create a rough draft of that new promotional poster, you will work much more efficiently toward your goal than you would if you were going back and forth between the poster and other activities.
Make use of time management tools. There is a plethora of software and internet-based organizational programs at your disposal, and much of it is free. For example, Google Calendar is a very effective way to map out your day, week, and month. It also offers useful features such as event reminders, scheduling across time zones, and automatic synching to your Microsoft Outlook calendar. Find one that works for your business and tailor it to your needs.
Don’t try to work for too long in one sitting. Our brains can only focus for no longer than 60-90 minutes at a time. Plan on taking a quick break to go outside for some fresh air, listen to a song on your iPod, or have a healthy snack. Even 5-10 minutes away from your work every hour and a half or so will increase your energy and long-term focus throughout the day.
Get enough rest. This seems like a no-brainer, but most of us simply don’t get enough sleep. When you are sufficiently rested, you can actually get more accomplished in less time than it would take if you were tired all day long. Not only that, the work you do will be of higher quality because you will be working at optimum capacity.

Remember, no matter what you do, there will only ever be 24 hours in a day. You can’t create more hours, but you can manage yourself to get the most productivity out of each valuable minute. Please share your own time management tips in the comments section below!

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How to Get Organized In a Week

As you may have learned during your time as a small business owner or direct seller, getting organized and staying that way are two completely different things. Both can be daunting, but the long-term maintenance of your organization system is essential to the success of your business, and your own sanity as well. Follow each daily suggestion below to gradually put your life in order.

Day 1 – Get a handle on the daily flow of paperwork. You most likely have an inbox for mail and other documents that appear on a regular basis. Instead of letting it accumulate to the point of overwhelming capacity, deal with each piece right away. For example, when you open a piece of mail, only give yourself two options: file it or toss it. You’ll be amazed by how much open space you’ll have on your desk!
Day 2 – Label everything. If you get a good labeling machine, this will be an easy and even fun task. Label anything you need to maximize your organization systems, like file folders and storage containers. Because where everything goes will be clearly visible, putting everything in its place when you’re finished with it will take no time at all.
Day 3 – Sort your emails. Using the same principle as the first two suggestions above, treat your emails the same way you would treat any piece of paper: file or toss. In this case, filing means sorting your emails into a folder or label system that works best for the needs of your business. Categories could include Priority, Accounting, Customer Service, Vendors, Inventory, etc. This can be especially helpful when searching for an old email as well. Certain email programs, like Gmail, even allow you to sort emails into more than one category if needed. As soon as you have finished reading and/or responding to an email, either move it to one of your folders or delete. Now, just like your desk, your inbox will be sparkling clean!
Day 4 – Create a correspondence window. Set aside a certain amount of time each day devoted solely to email and phone correspondence. This way you’re not taking calls and answering emails all day long, which can inhibit productivity. Furthermore, you will be able to return communications to customers and vendors in a consistently timely manner, something that everyone with which you do business will certainly appreciate.
Day 5 – Keep your eye on the prize. Either at the start or end of each day, create a to-do list of 3 tasks that MUST be completed that day. You can always add more if you finish all 3. As you work throughout your day, always refer back to that list. Check off what you have completed and move onto another task. This doesn’t always mean that a to-do list can’t be adjusted, but giving yourself a general outline of your day will help you stay on track. Most people also take a little bit of pleasure in crossing off a task, so make it a regular part of your work day!

Organization requires patience and self-discipline, two qualities you most likely already possess as an entrepreneur. Incorporate a new method of organization everyday into your business so that by the end of the week you’ll be completely organized, and then make it a habit. By organizing as you go, you will find yourself with more time to focus on other areas that need lots of attention, like advertising and customer service.

How do you stay organized? What systems do you recommend? Please share your tips in the comments section.

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DSEF & CBBB: Jumpstart Your Creative Marketing Strategies

Today’s highlighted blog post from the Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB)

Click here:

Jumpstart Your Creative Marketing Strategies

It isn’t easy to always be at the top of your game. For most of us, even if we eat our Wheaties every day, the likelihood that we bring creative and competitively-charged ideas to work with us each morning is far-fetched.

At the BBB, the members of our marketing department pride themselves on working together as a team. I assume most of your marketing departments do the same. We bounce ideas off each other and brainstorm for new and creative ways of attracting both consumers and businesses to the BBB brand.

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DSEF & Money Wise Women: Become a Sought After Speaker to Grow Your List, Attract Clients & Make Your Biz THRIVE!

Today’s highlighted post from Money Wi$e Women Get Smart Teleseminar Series:

Become a Sought After Speaker to Grow Your List, Attract Clients, and Make Your Business THRIVE!

Would you like to walk out of your house in the morning, go to a place where you know no one and come home with clients in the afternoon? If so this info. packed session is for you. You will learn: All the reasons why public speaking is the best business building strategy, how to get started to position yourself as a speaker and get booked, what to do before during and after your presentation to come home with clients.

DSEF proudly sponsors the free Money Wi$e Women Get Smart Teleseminar Series hosted by Marcia Brixey, Founder and President of Money Wise Women Educational Services and author ofThe Money Therapist: A Woman’s Guide to Creating a Healthy Financial Life. The series covers topics related to business and finances and provides women the opportunity to learn from professional experts in a safe, comfortable environment.

To find out about upcoming teleseminars, visit http://www.moneywisewomengetsmart.com/

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Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for your Business

Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions for your Business

Another year is almost through, and just like most of us make resolutions for our personal lives, it is also a smart idea to make some for your business as well. So before your pop open that champagne and watch the ball drop in Times Square, consider making a few changes to boost your business in 2015.

Improve your time management. Take an inventory of what your typical day looks like. What areas lack efficiency? What duties can be multitasked to save time? Perhaps your daily to-do list is too long. Prioritize aggressively to get a handle on how much can actually be accomplished in any given day.
Give back to your community. Remember that your business is part of a community. Giving back has an endless list of mutual benefits for everyone involved. Make a point to find one or two local organizations with which to involve yourself this year. You can find some good ideas here.
Learn something new. Even if you’ve been in business for decades, there are always new, exciting, affordable, and convenient opportunities to further your business education. Consider taking a mini-course at the local community college or participating in a webinar hosted by others in your industry.
Get organized. Whether you’re dealing with actual papers in a filing cabinet or electronic files on your hard drive, organization is essential to productivity. Now is a good time to set aside any documents you might need for tax purposes, as April 15 will sneak up on you in no time. Maybe your customer records need updating, your finance software is inefficient, or your desk is buried in paperwork. Focus on one aspect and bring order to it so you can start fresh in the New Year.
Predict your financial future. The end of the calendar year is an opportune time to look back on your overhead and sales volume. Using this information, plan ahead for the coming months so you don’t spend money needlessly and you do make the most out of your current investments.
Set realistic goals. A goal that is realistic is one that is both specific and attainable. It’s okay to think big and challenge yourself, but create benchmarks so you have a path to get there. For example, if you want to increase profits by 50% next year, what has to be done each week and each month to make that happen? Answers to those questions will guide you in setting your objectives.
Update your website. Do some exploratory surgery on your website, searching for things like broken or outdated links, unnecessary flash content, and information about discontinued products. Even a cosmetic reboot may be just what your business needs to start anew in making the best use of your website. While you’re at it, consider creating or updating your social media presence such as networking sites and blogs.
Back up your files. In addition to manually backing up files onto a CD/DVD or flash drive, most internet service providers and antivirus software companies offer free or inexpensive online storage services. Take advantage of these because all it takes is one accident to erase years of data and hard work. It’s simply not worth the risk.
Ramp up your customer service. In what areas is your customer care lacking? Do you procrastinate in making courtesy or follow-up calls? How long does the average customer usually have to wait before they get a return call or email after making an inquiry? Make customer service a frequent flier on that to-do list of yours.
Celebrate your accomplishments. Every once in awhile, it’s important to evaluate what you have done well and give yourself a pat on the back. As a business owner, you are ultimately the one responsible for every outcome, good and bad. When you reach a goal or solve a problem, reward yourself by going out to your favorite restaurant or simply taking a much-needed day off. You will feel re-energized and motivated to forge ahead and tackle the next project or obstacle.

What resolutions have you made for your business? Please leave a comment below and have a happy, prosperous New Year!