Archive for December, 2007
Perfectionism is a State of Mind
Came across this great article today about perfectionism. I see a lot of women in business who hamstring their success by their insistence on making things perfect before moving on. Perfectionism is demoralizing and wastes a lot of time and energy. If that is a path you find yourself walking down, check out this short article then make a commitment to toss perfectionism out the window – focus on getting things done and reward yourself for your victories.
Sales Pitch: Avoid these 3 mistakes and watch business flourish
The latest edition of Make It Business just came out and the whole issue is devoted to retail success, including great articles on how smaller retailers can be successful.
My column points out 3 common mistakes I see retailers, large and small, commit often.
- Making a poor first impression with customers – people make up their mind in 8 seconds about whether they will spend money in your store.
- Believing that you just hang out your shingle and they will come – great merchandise is not enough; you need to build visibility.
- Put all your focus on attracting new customers and ignore existing ones.
A Great PR Resource
One of the biggest challenges facing small business owners is getting PR. In fact, it is such a daunting task that many of them don’t even try. They figure they will just wait until they have a budget big enough to hire a PR consultant. I recently came across a great eBook “PR in Your Pajamasâ€- written by Elena Verlee, a business coach and PR expert. Although the book is promoted as ‘practical publicity for the time-strapped, cash crunched mom entrepreneur’, this practical guide is a good read for any business owner. Her no-nonsense approach to PR provides valuable advice including practical tips for building a media contact list and 10 key questions you need to ask a reporter. My favourite section of the book is “The Art of Following Up†where she gives specific tips for how to follow up with a reporter without becoming a stalker or sounding like an idiot they would never want to interview! Filled with great quotes from media people and other business owners, this book will definitely jumpstart a few PR ideas for you.
