Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

Don’t Stop Planning

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Don't Stop PlanningI had a meeting the other day with another small business owner. They mentioned that they have a few potential clients that could come through and then their next few weeks would be really busy so they weren’t really looking for new clients right now.

But, um, no.

The thing about having a healthy sales pipeline is that when times are GREAT you can start to book clients out a few weeks (or months). During the campaign I managed last year I decided not to take on any new clients in Q4. And guess what? I had new clients ready to go in January when I was ready for them. I gave them work to do so I had everything I needed to start when I had capacity to take them on, and they knew that they weren’t going to get pushed aside through the end of the year.

Not every client is going to come through right away. Instead of looking at your plate as completely full, don’t forget to look ahead at what the next few weeks have in store. No I can’t take on 3 new clients in a month but if I have 4 potential clients that want to get started soon, then you can tell them – I have space for 2 new clients this month and I have talked with other folks who are interested, just an FYI. When they lallygag and get back to you in 3 weeks, that’s great. We can get started next month.

“Hurry up and wait” isn’t a great business model. Constantly filling your pipeline and knowing your capacity so that when clients say YES you are ready to GO, or they have to wait until your schedule allows it, is a more anxiety reducing approach. The right clients are willing to wait to work with you when the time is right. This also means you aren’t taking on projects to pay the bills, but working with the right clients at the right time.

3 Marketing Updates You May Need to Check In On

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3-Marketing-Updates-You-May-Need-to-Check-In-OnThis morning I was thrilled (please note the dripping sarcasm) to see that Mailchimp has decided to completely restructure their billing and their plan offerings. The good news if you already have an account –  you’re safe. But if you need to move to a paid plan (which based on what your automation and list needs are, you might) you are going to probably pay more. I’ve seen a few changes to marketing technology lately and I wanted to share 3 marketing changes that you may want to check in on for your business.

  1. LinkedIn Showcase Pages – I was talking with a client today about how great the LinkedIn Showcase pages are as a compliment to your business page. Then I clicked on mine to show her and the page was in need of a major update. SO – if you’ve had a business page setup on LinkedIn and added featured pages for specific products – it’s time to jump over and make sure it still looks as good as you hoped!
  2. Google My Business – With Google+ gone what’s a small business owner to do to promote their content on Google? Luckily if you have a Google My Business Page setup (and if you don’t stop now and do that first) you can add a post to your account. With G+ you could schedule these out like other social media posts, but with Google My Business you have to manually go in to add in a post. However, I appreciate that GMB will alert you when your post is about to expire so you can go in and post something new. Which you should…
  3. Mailchimp’s Update – If you have Mailchimp take a look at the email they sent out today with their updated terms of use and their new snazzy pricing structure. Reminder – if you already have an account – you’re safe!

Software and marketing tools are constantly changing. These are 3 that just happened to be talking about TODAY that I thought I’d make sure you’re aware of. What software has changed recently that small business owners need to be aware of? Please share in the comments…

5 Tasks to Add to Your Blog Post Checklist

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5 Tasks to Add to Your Blog Post ChecklistThe other day while chatting with a client she asked if I have a checklist for blogging. I sure didn’t (well, I do in pieces in my head) so I decided we should create one.

A few years ago I wrote about how 40% of my traffic comes from social media – but let’s update that for 2019…

  1. Linktree – If you’re using Instagram as part of your social media then you know that you only get ONE URL in your bio. Which is DUMB. With Linktree you create a page that has all your relevant links to your recent blog posts and any other links you reference in your Instagram. Check mine out…
  2. Buffer – you need a social media sharing tool to help keep you sane. I pay for Buffer and it’s awesome. I still mostly stick to this social media sharing schedule from this post a few years ago. Lately I have been monitoring how many tweets are scheduled/work/promo and how many are LIVE me. Evaluate your social media regularly to make sure you aren’t talking AT your audience but are talking to and with your audience.
  3. Add to your Newsletter – each month in my newsletter I feature a few of my latest blog posts. It’s a great way to get some additional exposure to folks who many not follow my blog.
  4. Reference Your Posts – a lot of my blog posts (this one included) are written so I can easily share my recommendations down the road without having to write this all out again. Make sure if you took the time to write a helpful blog post that you’re sharing it with your clients or a specific audience when the time comes. I was on a group call last week where we ended up talking about a topic I have written a few posts about so I was able to share those posts and get new eyes on my website.
  5. Add to Google My Business – Now that G+ is going away don’t forget that you can add a post to your Google My Business page! It expires in time but once you start posting you get a heads up – which might even prompt you to write another post!

What other behind the scenes tasks do you do on your blog?