Workshop: Marketing Strategy

Part IV of the Creating Your Own Marketing Media workshop series

When: May 3rd, 2013
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Where: 6232 La Salle Ave Oakland, CA 94611 (Village Chiropractic)

Fee: $150 per day or $400 pre-paid for all four 2hats media workshops 

 

(For more Info. call: 415-515-1252)

Sign-up for all four workshops to receive a free 1-hour consultation

Leader: John Van Dinther

"What is the best way for me to market my business?"

We will be answering this question at the marketing strategy workshop this Friday. We'll examine the important factors for choosing which marketing channel is right for you:

• Social media marketing
• Website search engine optimization
• Video blogging or
• Click-ads campaigns 

The right choice will depend on your business industry, your skills, and your personal style. After touching on  the specific tools and options of different marketing channels, we will create a marketing strategy that will adapt to your business over time. You will use a tracking dashboard that allows you to capture the results of different marketing campaigns, and you'll learn what resources are required for each marketing channel —and  what results you can expect from your efforts.

You'll learn about:

• Basic social media marketing for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Yelp, and Pinterest
• How to choose keywords and optimize search engine results
• How to reach potential clients with your written, photo, and video content
• How to manage a tracking dashboard for your marketing efforts

HOW TO PREPARE:
Participants should come to the workshop with access to Google Docs and their laptop with wifi access. Dress for comfort, there are couches, pillows, floor-mats, as well as tables and chairs to work at.

AGENDA:

• Social media channels: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest
• Marketing channels for different industries and different personalities
• Tracking results and capturing information
• Building a flexible marketing strategy that grows with your business
• Particular strategies for each channel

Who It's For:

Do it yourself entrepreneurs:

• Wellness Practitioners
• Business Services
• Coaches and Therapists
• Building Trades

For more details or to sign up, call John Van Dinther: (415) 515-1252

Workshop: Managing Your Own Social Media

Managing Your Own Social Media

April 5th, 2013  9:00 a.m. — 4:00 p.m.

Part III of the Creating Your Own Marketing Media workshop series

When: April 5th
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Where: 567 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 (Sandbox Suites)

Fee: $150 per day or $400 pre-paid for all four 2hats media workshops 

 

(For more Info. call: 415-515-1252)

Sign-up for all four workshops to receive a free 1-hour consultation

Leader: Alex JB

There is a wealth of opportunity to connect with new customers through the web and social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and others. But it’s easy to invest hundreds of person-hours and feel like you’re getting nothing from it. This One-day workshop will show you how to increase the traffic coming to your site, and how to recognize which social media sites are worth your time.

Using their own laptops, participants will set up their own “Ten Minutes a Day Dashboard” in Google Analytics, learn to create a content-creation strategy for Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

This workshop will give you the basics of social profile marketing, teaching you how to measure results using Google Analytics and dashboarding. Using these tracking tools, participants will learn to use the best social media applications available for distributing social profile content, and learn what communities are the best for their industry.

You'll learn:

• Basic social media marketing for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest
• How to tell if your social media is working
• How to manage your social media without getting overwhelmed

This workshop is for entrepreneurs like: wellness practitioners, business services, coaches and therapists, building trades and more.

HOW TO PREPARE:
Participants should come to the workshop with the survey (http://goo.gl/avI8m) completed. In addition, everyone should sign up for the big four social media channels – a Facebook Fan Page, a Google+ business account, a Pinterest account and a Twitter account, all specifically for their business, as well as an account with analytics.google.com.

• Make sure your laptop can connect to wifi
• Create accounts for yourself at the following sites:

• Google Analytics

• Facebook

• Pinterest

• Twitter

• Google+

Survey link: (http://goo.gl/avI8m)
------------------------------------------------------------
AGENDA:

• Social media channels: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest
• How to know what’s getting you traffic that matters? Google Analytics
• Social media in depth – how to manage your channels
• Using a content calendar
• Particular strategies for each channel

Who It's For:

Do it yourself entrepreneurs:

• Wellness Practitioners
• Business Services
• Coaches and Therapists
• Building Trades

For more details or to sign up, call John Van Dinther: (415) 515-1252

2hats November Mastermind Business Group

• Ready to build a marketing plan for your business? 
• Would working with a group help make that actually happen? 
• What if the team was led by a professional consultant? 

...how about if it only costs $125?

November Business Planning Guild, a MasterMind group led by John Van Dinther. This month we are focusing on marketing. 12 participants will learn the tools required to build an effective marketing plan.

Our first meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. on November 4th (This Friday). This three hour workshop will include presentations by John, hands on group exercises, and opportunities to receive peer feedback and support.

Each participant will also receive a one-on-one consulting session with John in which we will go over trouble spots and explore resource opportunities for you specifically.

“I came to John's mastermind group with no clear idea of how to effectively plan for business success. That problem was solved in one session where John worked backwards from success and broke it into its constituent parts. Beyond that learning, what was really valuable to me was the chance to co-work and talk with other entrepreneurs who had struggles of their own, which made me feel better about my own weaknesses. Above all, having access to John for questions and guidance made the whole process really empowering. I finished the course feeling like I had the tools to achieve my goals.”  

— Damian Sol, Composer

Offering:

• A one hour individual coaching session with John Van Dinther
• Regular accountability check-ins with the Guild participants
• Four training and productivity group workshops

Meeting Times and Dates:



    November 4th   (Friday) 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m
    November 11th (Friday) 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m
    November 18th (Friday) 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m
    December 2nd   (Friday) 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m



Location:
 
1808 Addison St., Berkeley, CA 94703

Fee: $125


Monthly Project Focus:


     November: Marketing
     December: Financial Management
     January: Tools for Success

Comparing Small Business Bookkeeping Software Options

If you are considering a serious alternative to Quickbooks, check out this article by David Matthew, comparing Intuit Quickbooks to Sage Peachtree. Peachtree small business bookkeeping software is the distant runner-up competitor to Quickbooks, but Peachtree has been around since the beginning. In fact Peachtree was the first bookkeeping software I ever used, back in the late 80’s, helping with my mom’s nursery school finances, using a Commodore 64...yep.

David's article breaks out side by side feature comparisons and explore Peachtree's unique options such as a customizable tool set and preset email alerts. Each option has different areas where they really shine. Check it out [here].

An Alternative Approach To Competition

An Alternative Approach To Competition

Sige Weisman, one of my favorite clients, came to see me last month with a new business plan. She wants to provide business consulting for people in her field, she’s a licensed therapist. She sees the need, she’s done well marketing her own business, and she’ll be a great business coach... but that would put her into competition with 2hats Consulting. I want Sige to succeed, but is she threatening my own business?

My answer is that inviting competition is the best thing I can do for my business. And being an ally to your competition is great for your small business too. Remember: a professional service provider probably serves, at most, 100 unique clients in a year, and there’s over 5,000 licensed MFT’s in the Greater Bay Area —this just isn’t an environment where businesses are hotly competing over a small potential audience. Instead, the greatest challenge for small service providers is usually getting potential clients to become aware of them at all.

And by supporting my competition I become a member of a supportive business community, rather than a defensive isolationist. Just last week I needed a replacement for my monthly SBA marketing presentation, and called on another business coach (and my client) Jessica Hadari, to cover for me - she rocked it.

Does having competition push me? Yep. Knowing there’s solid people, who I respect, serving the same people I do insures I develop new tools, I make sure I reach out to more people, and I strengthen my existing relationships. It’s good for me and it’s good my clients.

4 Fast How Tos: Connecting Live Networks to Online Networks

For a small business, connecting your live community to your online community is critical, and there are a wide number of ways to make it happen. Over the next few articles, I'll dig deeper into this concept of integrating Live and Online network communities.

Here's 4 ideas to start with:

1. Use Foursquare.
2. Collect business cards and add those contacts to your newsletter.
3. Offer discounts to people through online profiles, encouraging people to attend your live events.
4. Create workshops and events that you invite people to, using a mix of phone calls and social profiles like Facebook.

a common-sense list I hacked from Bob Lewis

1. There are no best practices, only practices that fit best
2. Optimizing the whole will sub-optimize the parts
3. Bad metrics are worse than no metrics
4. Don't confuse documentation with reality
5. Before you can be strategic you have to be competent
6. Relationships supersede process and outlive transactions

How To Market Your Small business

High Quality Procrastination

I called my friend Scott yesterday, muttering about how I was putting off preparation for a Facebook workshop I was going to lead. I mentioned that at least I was avoiding preparing by working on my newsletter.

"Ah, you have higher standards of procrastination. You're improving, good work."

He was right. I used to put off tasks by watching a movie or playing a video game, now I can't get away with that. Right at this moment I'm putting off working out, something I promised myself I'd do before going to bed, but I'm blogging instead. I'm blogging away like a fanatic.

Entrepreneurs hit productivity blocks and, because they work alone, there's nobody around to push the action button. Overcoming procrastination isn't just a neat idea, it pays the bills. Having good work habits is critical, you know that. But how do you develop good work habits in the first place?

My friend Brad started a movement he calls coworking: People working on separate projects in one location to support each other. Here's how to set up a coworking group:

Email several entrepreneurs you know. Invite them over to tea and a coworking session. Before you get together, set up a format. How long will you meet for? How much social time you will spend before (or after) your coworking session? Exchange information on what you will be working on; just saying what you intend to do, out loud, can have a tremendous impact on follow through.

For bigger problems, you need to step back. Is there something that isn't right? Are you in the wrong business? Why can't you sit still? Chris Edgar, of Purpose Power Coaching, has developed 3 productivity solutions: Attention, Intention and Foundation.

And then there's the, "Get 'er done method" for those of you who don't buy into support groups or complicated theories. Are you one of those people? You know that it's about getting your nose to the grindstone and pushing. Well here's your solution: Write a list with pen and paper...right now. Go do it, 5 items max. Just go write it down. Okay, you got your list? Now go do the first item. ~Yep~

How To Create A Leads List That Will Help You Reach Your Revenue Goals

A great tool for estimating your revenue goals is to set up a "Leads List" in a spreadsheet. List potential clients and the chances you believe you have of landing each one. This gives you an "Adjusted Estimated Revenue" from that client. In other words, if you expect $1,000 from a client, but you only have a 50% chance of landing the client, the "Adjusted Estimated Revenue" is $500 (1000 x .5 = 500). Obviously you will either be getting $1,000 or NO dollars from that client, but it's a VERY useful method of budgeting and setting goals.

Here's How It's Done:

1. Open up a new spreadsheet
2. Pick a financial goal for a period (Like $10,000 in January 2009)
3. Enter "Dates" in the 1st column
4. List clients in the "Source" column
5. Put what you expect that client to generate financially in "Potential Revenues"
6. Predict the % odds of getting that client in the "Adjustment" column
7. In the "Adjusted Estimated Revenues" column, multiply "Potential Revenues" by "Adjustment"
8. At the bottom right cell you add the "Adjusted Estimated Revenues" to get your expected income for the period

By adding up your "Adjusted Estimated Revenues" you have a pretty good idea of your take for that period. You'll get better at guessing the adjustment % as you use the tool and you can use the Google Docs revision tool to track how well you guessed.

Another great use is seeing if your income is wedged towards the end or the beginning of the month, which you can do by sorting the date column. (Tip of the hat to Sat for this recommendation)

As you contact clients you can change the "Adjustment" column % to reflect what happened.
If the client declines, change the result to 0%. If you will be talking more with the client, or they're thinking about it, change to a % that best reflects the situation. When you close, change your "Adjustment" % to 100%. This way you'll have an up to date "Best Estimation" of revenues.

Start Now - Get Investors Later

Start-up capital isn't the solution for 90% of brand new start-ups, in fact it's usually a problem. Most likely, if you look at your business plan straight on, you will see that you actually CAN start your business without other people's money. Usually it's a waste of time anyway because nobody with any common sense trusts you to be able to effectively manage their money.

Here's why:

1st - You could be making the best pizza in town, but that doesn't make you a good pizzeria owner. Think about who you give your money to, they're experienced at what they do. Investors feel the same way.

2nd - New business owners blow money on stupid things. It's not their fault, they just don't know any better. You are going to make mistakes because you are new and there's no shortage of other people who have already been around the block a few times who want to borrow money. The smart money will go to them.

3rd - All your early money will be going into building infrastructures that already exists in established businesses. Again, money will flow to where it has been treated well.

Your business plan should be for you personally, it's not some 30-page advertisement. When you think you need money to complete a task, the first thing to do is to find a free work-around. If it's part of the critical path, spend from your own pocket. If you can't afford it then see if there's a barter solution available.

If you can't do it on your own, it might be a great idea to get involved with a business that's very similar and already established. Mentors and coaches are SO valuable. Swallow your pride and go learn from a veteran. It will save you time and money and grief.

So stop walking around with your hat in hand and start working on your projects. Make a plan, take action - rinse, repeat. If you do that for a while you'll start to feel pride in your abilities. People will begin to get interested in what you're doing and eventually they'll start to offer you money. Now THAT'S a nice position to be in.

Starting on your own is the best thing in the world. Believing in yourself enough to jump the cubicle and be an entrepreneur is exciting, it's fun and it proves mettle. Go for it.

The Recession Proof Entrepreneur

I was with a client last Friday, and the recession came up. When I mentioned how lucky we are to be entrepreneurs he looked startled. " You and I, " I continued, "we have the opportunity to make choices, to adjust to our environment. All those folks in cubicle-land are just waiting for the ax to fall, or not, depending on somebody else's ability to adapt to hard times."

I'm focusing my attention on San Francisco based businesses, I'm offering cost savings tools and I'm addressing client's financial concerns head on. People are feeling cautious, even when they take on a new project or go solo. Planning and rigorous assessment are important steps that I include in my offering. I'm adapting to the new market's terrain, and that's the opportunity of being an entrepreneur in a recession.

An economic downturn is like a crucible. It burns off fat and distraction, leaving our strongest values and commitments. What we gain is structure and stability once the fires have died down. We have been adding new projects: Web 2.0, the green movement and faith-based politics for the last 8 years. We will see what's truly sticky, and what just constituted big talk, after the ashes cool.

I especially appreciate the recession's effect on my fellow entrepreneurs. Relentless optimism is pretty easy in easy times, but character is revealed through adversity - it sure is true that relentless optimism is the best tool available to us now.

How to Improve Your Self-Control

PsyBlog looks at how we can actually do those things we intend to do. Good stuff.

Temptation comes in many forms, often so potent, so animal, that it seems impossible to resist.[more]

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - 10 tips

Ecommerce-gude.com has ten great tips to help get your site to the top of a Google search.

"What's a Google Sitemap and how does it help search rankings? ...Does it really matter how I handle photos at my site in regard to SEO?" [more]

Learning how to improve your website search ranking is a big task, luckily there's a LOT of information out there on the Web...just do a search.

A guiding principal to getting your site to the top of the search page: write about your interests. I'm a small business consultant who loves entrepreneurship, so I write about the needs of small businesses. I write about it often, making sure to include my service offering - management & marketing solutions. I talk about San Francisco because that's where I work, and I talk about about tools people can use for their small business - like SEO.

I think in terms of a potential client, specifically a San Francisco entrepreneur who could use some website marketing tips. The contents of this post would likely come up when they did a Google search: website marketing tips small business.

When they get to my blog, they just might say, "Oh! A small business consultant! That would be useful, let's give this 2hats a call."

Consultant - Coach - Agent

Q: What do you do as a small business coach?

A: In San Francisco, when I recommend a client focus on health & wellness to build a successful project I'm taken seriously. On that level I'm a business coach ensuring peak performance.

Q: How do you help grow small businesses?

A: SF entrepreneurs love to get out there and network, that's where I start to feel like an agent. There's SO much going on in this town that mixes well with business. Introducing clients to service professionals is fun when both parties are eager and ready to make industry connections.

Q: So where does the consulting come in?

A: When I start advising the client, either brainstorming or teaching, we get to business fast. These SF business owners want tools and action items in bulleted lists --theory earns me brisk nods but we move on quickly to task items.

Q: What makes San Francisco entrepreneurs different?

A: Maybe it's because so many people came to San Francisco from somewhere else. We're here for a purpose, and that makes us enthusiastic and focused on good business practices. It allows me to do the work I do best: Connect, Support & Inform.

Breaking it down...

A big challenge for entrepreneurs is overwhelm. So many projects, people & problems to solve. The best solution is to breathe. That's definitely the first step. Next, take out a pad of paper and get some of your cluttered thoughts on to the page... this should get you to the point where you can clearly move forward. I use a process called, "Natural Planning" named by David Allen in his book, "Getting Things Done" -- a sort of road map for discovering the components of a project. It's a 5 step process:

1st - Set a clear & measurable goal
2nd - Brainstorm the required components
3rd - Organize the ideas into fields (people to contact, things to buy or build, etc.)
4th - break it all down into specific tasks with dates
5th - Review & assess

At this point, getting it done is a matter of taking one step at a time...

Marketing Interview

New Money

New investors are changing the definition of good business and it includes conservation. Of course many of us already look at conservation as the heart of good practices, but the money people didn't always think this way.

Traditionally, economists thought consumption pushed trade forward. So the more people consumed the more value (wealth) would be created Globally. But what if transactions weren't pegged to consumption? Perhaps trading creates wealth and what people do with the goods afterwards should be tracked in terms of environmental impact instead of economic impact? What if we just keep on trading services and low-impact resources?

From this view, conservation is no longer the boogey-man of good business practices.

Money flowing into investments on route distant from Wall Street by ZDNet's Harry Fuller -- One Silicon Valley venture capital firm announced they’ll put a quarter-billion dollars into green tech. Runs counter to the frenzied state of Wall Street and the Federal Reserve where they think a bunch of bankers missing their annual bonuses is somehow a really important economic problem. Meanwhile, energy prices continue to rise and [...]

Services

Small Business Strategy Consulting

Clarify Purpose & Align With Values

We use exercises and personal coaching to reveal your deepest goals for your business, and then apply strategic planning to create a detailed map showing how to get there.

• Multi-media visioning
• Collaborative brainstorming
• Strategic thinking
  
• Task based action plans

Discover Current Position

We break down the components and processes of your business to reveal information blocks, untapped resources and new opportunities.

• On site assessments
• Expert consulting & support
  
• Extensive reporting & documentation
  

Develop Optimal Practices

We collaborate with you to create solutions that are personalized to fit your life and your business, finding new opportunities and simplifying your processes.

• Using personal expression as marketing
  
• Sustainability strategies to save & connect
• Strategic planning tools & tricks
  
• Automate systems for clarity & ease

Accountability

We check-in regularly, making sure you are on path to reach your expressed goals.

• Session reviews document materials covered
• Action plans break down what's next
  
• 24/7 support to Keep your business on track

Business Strategy

Business has four sectors and it is useful to know which one, or
what combination, you are working in.

External Relationships:
Advertising, Suppliers, Outside Retailers, Marketing, sales.
This is your connection to the outside world, where you present
yourself & your craft. The most important distinction to make here is
that your presentation is often different from what others receive. In
other words, think from the receiver's point of view rather than your
own...what do they see & what to they really want?

Internal Processes:
Scheduling, Production, Delivery & Documentation.
How you track your business is a set of practices that should fit your
personal style and get the job done right. Some people remember their
schedules in their heads while others print out procedures for getting
out of the house and into the studio every morning. Evolving
practices will grow with you your entire life. Processes are the living
expression of your craft in The World, and having a written map of that
process frees your mind for manifesting your vision.

Finances:
Budgeting, Income & Expenses, Taxes.
Money is more than just dollars. It is a flow of energy between people, describing what they
agree is of value. Avoiding tracking your money doesn't eliminate
expenses & income, it just hides details from your consciousness, but
you always know on the inside. Being willing to face your money flow
takes courage and support --it's worth it.

Development:
Training, Education, Expansion.
Personally expanding your skills & abilities is the greatest gift you can give to yourself. Intentionally creating a personal development path, from daily meditation to
personal-finance-seminars, will insure that you serve your craft
powerfully. Be willing to set aside your ego and explore what you
don't know.

Working in any of the four regions of business should serve yourvalues & vision. Whenever you choose distributors, make sales, explore new possibilities...any business activity --ask yourself, "Does this serve my values?" If it doesn't, explore an alternative route that does. Business can be hard work and knowing The World is being served provides vitality and clarity to your business practice.