Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

How Often Do Service Providers Waste Your Time?

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How Often Do Service Providers Waste Your Time?As a service provider my job is to make my clients happy and to not stress them out or overwhelm them. As a business owner, my biggest pet peeve are service providers who waste my time and make unnecessary busy work for me.

Today’s a good example. I had a call with a service provider. It was a video call scheduled for a half hour. I was on the link sent to me on time. About 8 minutes later I received a phone call from the person I was scheduled to talk to. And I mentioned I only had the 30 minutes so now only had 20, so we need to be efficient with our time. And then we spoke for about 15 minutes and it was to tell me 3 things that very easily could have been in an email (I need a credit card on file, pick a template you like from this link, anything specific we should focus on?) Needless to say I left the call annoyed and wishing they were more respectful of my time.

What processes should you have in place that could make your clients time more efficient?

I have a few checklists that I use for clients, including my Newsletter Setup Checklist where I ask my clients for everything I need to get their newsletter setup. Once I have it, I can get started. After about a week I check in and let them know what I’m missing. And, sometimes if they seem to not want to do it or are dragging their feet I will offer to setup a call to walk them through it. I don’t mind spending a half hour or hour on the phone to walk through my checklist if it’s easier for them. But my job is to make their life easier not stress them out or annoy them with unnecessary meetings.

The next time you schedule a meeting or call, make sure that everyone has what they need up front and that the meeting is necessary. YES you should have face time with your clients and talk to them regularly. But don’t annoy them before the ink dries!

6 Things I Look for on My Google Analytics

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6 Things I Look for on My Google AnalyticsAt the beginning of each month I take a few minutes to review my website traffic from the previous month. I look to see how many visitors I had, what days were more popular (new blog post days usually) and where all my traffic comes from. I also look to see what pages people land on.

Reviewing your website’s analytics is an important part of having a website. You spent a lot of money and time on creating this thing, shouldn’t you know how people are using it? This week I wanted to share with you 6 Things I look for on my Google Analytics:

  1. How Many Visitors –  First things first, how many people really come to my website? The number at first glance is GREAT – but the real number comes once you dig into “All Traffic by Source.” This is where you see every traffic source that sent people to your site. If you had a guest blog post or did a Facebook Live you may see more traffic come in from a specific source. This is the most important analytics piece for what I’m looking for.
  2. Goals! – Yes, setup goals on your website. Every time someone reaches out through my contact page there’s a thank you landing page they end up on so I can track that traffic. AND I can track where it came from (thanks Facebook!)
  3. Page Views by Page – This is all about what pages people are landing on. Do people want to know more about my services or do they go to the About page to learn about Norm and me?
  4. Landing Pages – This is different from page views – this is the first page that people come to on your site. For me it’s often a recent blog post that brings them to my site – and then hopefully they look around for a while. And it’s good to see what old blog posts are bringing folks to my site.
  5. Devices  – I setup a “sessions by device” when not all websites were mobile friendly. Since most websites are mobile friendly this isn’t as important to track, BUT still worthwhile. If you realize 50% of your site traffic is coming from a phone – you should take a look at your website and make sure that it’s easy to read and get what they want (your phone number, your address so they can drive there, etc.)
  6. Traffic Type – I like to see where all the traffic to my site comes from. Direct traffic, social media, referral sites, email and organic (search). It’s important to see WHERE your traffic is coming from. If you start to get a lot of traffic from one referral site you may need to figure out what’s going on. Maybe you wrote a guest blog post, or maybe it’s a new company that added you as a referral source. Either way, make sure you know who’s sending traffic to your site.

It’s important to know what’s going on with your website and where your site traffic is coming from. It’s OK if you don’t use Google Analytics, but make sure you’re tracking traffic somehow. If you want to get Google Analytics setup on your website, talk with your web developer to get the coding properly setup so you can get started. THEN, feel free to download my Dashboard. This is not the end all be all, and every marketer and SEO person will tell you I’m missing a lot of things – but I think this is a good place to start for your business.

If you use Google Analytics – what other widgets and tools do you include? Please share them in the comments!

What Resources Do You Need?

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what resources do you need?I met with a new client the other day, they are very clear on what they can do and what they need to outsource. Multiple times they asked “Is this something you can do for me?” Which is GREAT.

I love a client who knows what they can and can’t do. And I love that I know what I can and can’t (or won’t) do. I am grateful to have a fantastic network of resources so when I’m not the right fit, 9 times out of 10, I can refer them to the perfect person to help.

I’m participating in a program with the City of Hillsboro right now and we’re talking about what services and resources are available to the startup community. I’m amazed at the variety of services and resources in our town. Did you know the Hillsboro Library has a Makers Space? Yeah, it’s awesome!

Too often I see people with specific needs not getting access to the resources that would be perfect for them. It’s frustrating. From what I’ve found, it seems to happen for a few of reasons…

  1. People Don’t Know What They Need – “I need someone to setup and manage my social media and keep it on brand and in my voice” can be a different request than “I need social media help.”
  2. People Don’t Know What’s Available – Did I mention the Makers Space? I just learned there’s a new co-working space in town too which might be perfect over the holidays when my house is over run with people and I need some quiet work time and to get out of the house for a few hours.
  3. Services/Resources aren’t Promoting in the Right Places – Okay so you ofter the exact perfect service that small business owners needs. That’s GREAT. But how do they find you? Is it through referral partners? Is it through networking? Is it through your online presence? Don’t network just where it’s comfortable for YOU, network and spend time where your target market is hanging out.
  4. Inconsistent or Unclear Messaging – Jargon doesn’t help when someone isn’t sure what they’re looking for. If you work with doctors then you should use medical terms. If you work with patients then you should STOP USING ACRONYMS I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND. Make sure that your messaging is clear for your target market and that you aren’t alienating them by using too much jargon or have a message that’s not clear and straight to the point.

So how do you find the resources you need?

Ask

I can’t help you if I don’t know what you need. When I started my business over 6 years ago, I met with a friend who had recently started their business to figure out what logistics I needed to consider. I asked a lot of questions of friends and business owners to figure out where to find the resources I needed.

How do you connect with the people who need your services?

Talk to People

Again, I can’t help you if I don’t know what you need or what you’re up to. Make sure that people know what services you have available that work well with a specific audience. For some clients, they need a website right away, and for others they want to wait 6 months while they make some money to pay for said site.

As a business owner, how do you connect with the right clients or find the right resources to help your business grow?