Embrace your flaws as a marketing strategy? Yes, that’s what I said.

If you feel confused by social media, or get overwhelmed by your business tasks, or maybe yearn for the good ‘ol days when people wrote letters and didn’t know what a crackberry was, then here’s a thought – you aren’t the only one. And, if you’re not the only one, there’s probably a market that needs your help dealing with that very same struggle.

When you identify a flaw in yourself – maybe you see it as a barrier or maybe an old fashioned badge of honor for how things “should” be done – then remember that there are others out there like you. Use the feelings you have to dig deeper into the emotional triggers of your potential clients. Use the coping tools and solutions you find as an example for others. Use your viewpoint, even if you feel it’s something you need to shift, as a starting point for better understanding the needs and work flow of your customer.

Process is everything. By fully embracing your own growth and discovery process and sharing the results (and yes, the struggles and failures) through your online persona, you allow people a bird’s eye look into how you think. Demonstrating your values, becoming one of us instead of a stand offish always right guru allows for others to fall in love with what you do. And, they will even fall in love with those flaws.

Go on, now….go give yourself and all your beautifully imperfect flaws a big, juicy hug. If that feels silly or someone sees you with a funny look on your face, just tell them you’re tweeting. They’ll leave you alone!

by Vicki Flaugher, CEO of SmartWoman Guides

Who is your ideal business client? Who is it that could benefit most from your services and products? If you said “Everyone” – go back to GO and do not collect $200.

Too often, beginning entrepreneurs don’t take the time to really figure out who is their ideal business client. Even if you have an offering that can appeal to a wide audience, it’s imperative that you have a specific, clear, and quantifiable understanding of exactly who that client is.

Here are some questions to help you identify your ideal client is for your business:

• Demographic – gender, ethnicity, culture, geographic location, familial status
• Age
• Family orientation and attitudes – marital status, parents or not, traditional or alternative
• Spiritually oriented
• Where did they come to you from? – learning state (beginner/advanced),
• Are they originally referrals? – who sent them and why
• When they buy – after X amount of research, emergency/crisis basic, in advance
• What is their buying cycle? -what time of day/month/year/life circumstance
• Buying pattern – how much, how often
• Terms  – cash, credit, in house financing, monthly billing
• Common concerns
• Type of communication preferred – email, direct postal mail, phone, physical visit

Remember: Knowing clearly who your ideal client is will inform your marketing,  your website copy, your emails, your sales scripting, and everything else. Talking to your prospects and screening them and only taking on clients that fit your required profile will save you money, time, and heartache.

To listen to the SmartWoman Radio show about this topic:

Lately I’ve noticed some interesting changes about my motivation. I find that when I watch a lot of doom and gloom news, I lose my steam. It’s also easy to realize how much time I could waste away if I watch TV during my work day. So, I figured you might be facing these same issues too and wanted to offer some suggestions to help.

1.  Get TiVo or DVR

Rather than completely deny yourself your favorite daytime shows, try recording them to watch during a non-work time. Not only can you reduce your overall viewing time by fast forwarding through the commercials (well, except that adorably funny E-trade baby), you can also avoid interrupting your work day.

By recording these guilty pleasures and time shifting your viewing, you also avoid the resentment that comes from having to give them up completely.  It’s an effect I call the “bonbon jealousy effect” – that sinking feeling that if you were only more successful or rich or clever that you could be sitting on the sofa eating bonbons watching Oprah instead of working. Well, by using TiVo or DVR, you can have the best of both worlds!

2.  Do a mind-body connection reality check

When you are listening to the latest breaking report about an airplane crash, or war, or economic recession, take a deep breath and ask yourself how you are feeling. Are you jittery? Depressed? Anxious? Tense? Is this the feeling that you want people to feel working with you? If not, don’t choose it for your own environment either. You will absorb that negativity and you will pass it on, either to your kids, or your partner, or your clients. Dump the gloom.

I understand that you need to stay informed. But, do you have to watch hours of news about a catastrophe? You’d be better off taking action, like donating to the cause, or spending the precious time you have in this life with your family. And, more importantly, how much time do you spend watching uplifting, inspirational stories or maybe light  hearted comedys? Shift the ratio a bit and you will notice it’s easier to work and stay happy. I personally recommend the laughing babies you can find on YouTube. Major medicinal value for your spirit…

3.  Online video viewing counts as “TV”

I can’t tell you how many people I talk to that say they don’t “watch TV” but they spend hours online watching videos. Even a Twitter freak like me recognizes the perils of too much computer surfing. Not only will your arms, fingers, and shoulders begin to ache from overuse, but your eyes will start twitching and you’ll feel exhausted from viewing a glowy box for so long.

Commit to a window of time when you’re allowed to watch and absolutely, without exception, schedule time unplugged too. Sunshine is a marvelous thing and long distance viewing (versus close in like when you are watching your computer monitor) will preserve your eyesight. And, the life balance that occurs from incorporating various methods of interfacing with other people will help keep you on track.

My last thought is this – go for the good stuff. Watching reruns just to zone out isn’t really the best option. If a movie you’ve already watched comes on at 2 am when you have insomnia, don’t just zone out – make it special. Pop some popcorn, drink some wine, whatever, but refuse to participate in passive entertainment unless you are living it up when you do it – especially if it’s been there done that material.

Entertainment and distraction is an essential part of staying creative. Numbing yourself out with video isn’t part of that equation. So, pass the remote and truly enjoy what you watch. It can be fun and it can be part of a work at home life.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the  original SmartWoman

Today is an exciting day! I put the finishing touches on a client site I have been working on and I am SO proud! I’d love for you to go check it out and tell me what you think: ThePublishedExecutive.com

Michael Levin, the CEO of BusinessGhost, Inc., is a celebrated author with 60+ books  to his name. He has worked with the highest levels of business people as well as sports stars and celebrities. If you know marketing giant Jay Abraham, you know Michael. If you know baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, you know Michael. And, on top of that, he’s a great guy. I simply love working with him.

I designed a site for him to integrate his business into the new blog and social media conversations as well as automate his processes and expand his leveraged products. Not only am I honored to participate, but I am also quite happy at the potential this project has for great success.

If you go to his site, you can download an extended audio interview of me speaking with Micheal about his patented BusinessGhost method of writing your own book. It will give you a very good sense of his personality and skill and motivate you to finally write that book you have within you.

Enjoy! Day 2 was a success!

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

Follow me on Twitter!

As a new blogger, it seems I learn about 5 new things a day. If it’s not technical programming lessons, it’s user interfacing, or copywriting blunders to be corrected. It never seems to end.

The most surprising thing I’ve learned in my first month of blogging is the importance of my “About Me” page.

My “About Me” page was the most visited page on my entire blog. Second only to my 50 Female Entrepreneur Resource Sites (which was picked up for huge distribution by many sites), more people went to check out who I am than visited anywhere else. These visitors had to deliberately click on this page, too–it’s not like they were directed to it automatically by going to my home page. And, they did click–up to 1000% more than other pages! I am guessing, if you also monitor which pages people visit the most (and you should be tracking that), you would find a similar trend.

Why is this? Because people care about the human being running the show! And, that’s not surprising really, if we think about it a minute. I want to know the owner of the businesses I deal with. I find it important to get to know my neighbors. I am interested in other people’s points of view. And, the more I get to know someone, the more I want to know them.

So, what does this mean to us as female entrepreneurs? As women, sometimes we tend to hide or imagine that no one really wants to know our story. As marketers of our businesses, we have to understand that story is what people want in order to buy. Rapport and trust are the cornerstones of client loyalty. Clients need it in order to make a connection and move forward in their relationship with us.  If we are sincere in wanting to provide the best service in the best way, we are obliged to provide that honest story.

So, I want you to go right now and look at your “About Me” page. Does your “About Me” page demonstrate your personality? Is it easy to find on your home page? Does it provide a way for people to contact you? Does it give people a sense of who you are and what you stand for? Or, is it just another pitch about your business and products? Do you even know how many people visit it? If not, why not?

These are questions worth answering today. The more we take the opportunity to let people into our perspective, the better off our lives and our businesses will be. I urge you to take the time to work on your “About Me” page so you can enjoy the trust and rapport and results you deserve.

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman