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MICHELLE'S
​ MORSELS

What Is a Business Development Strategy? 4 Tips for Building a Sustainable Business

4/27/2021

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A lot of small business owners talk about the ups and downs of running a business. Feast or famine. Either you’re very busy and making a lot of money, or you’re twiddling your thumbs while watching all the money drain out of your bank account. But what if I told you it doesn’t have to be that way? That you can have steady income as a small business owner?

It might seem like it’s too good to be true, but it’s a very attainable goal if you have a business development strategy and you follow through with it.
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​A business development strategy is the process of developing a strategy for growing your business in a way that is both realistic and sustainable. I spend a lot of time helping my clients build and maintain their business development strategies, but if you’re just getting started, here are the top four things you need to know.

​Determine Your Destination

Before you can create a strategy to achieve your goals, you first have to define what those goals are. Is it a certain income level? A certain number of clients? Only once you know where you’re going can you create a roadmap to get there, so start with the vision you have for your business, and then figure out a way to quantify that vision so you have a target to aim for.
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​Define Your Ideal Client

Defining your ideal client is a crucial part of your business development strategy because it will drive every other element of your business development efforts, from the networking events you choose to attend, to the topics you cover in your marketing materials, to your marketing channels. Only once you know who your target audience is, what pain points you’re solving for them, and where they tend to hang out (both online and off) can you create a successful business development strategy.

​Define Your Goals

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​Remember the definition of a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time sensitive. So how are you defining your goals and what metrics are you going to use to determine whether you reached them?

​Identify the Resources You Need

Once you know where you want to take your business, it’s time to make a list of the resources you need, both to get there, and to measure your results. This can mean technology to help you get in front of and stay in touch with prospects and clients, or it can mean people, whether it’s referral partners to help spread the good word about you, or people to take some of the work off your hands.
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For more information on how to build and maintain a business development strategy, I recommend my book, which leads you through every step of starting and building your business, from concept to marketing. Whether you’ve just started your business, or you’ve been at it a while but you’ve been struggling lately, my book can help you gain a fresh perspective on what might be working and what might not be working, so you can re-strategize and start focusing on the efforts that drive results.
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The Fortune Is in the Follow Up

4/20/2021

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You’ve probably heard this phrase so many times it’s stopped meaning anything to you. It’s too easy, right? Gaining clients and growing a business can’t be as easy as following up with someone after we’ve already had a conversation with them.
But it is! Because here’s the thing: it takes an average of 6-8 touches to convert a lead into a sale. That means people need more than just hearing your elevator pitch to want to work with you. They’re going to want to get to know you first, but they’re not necessarily going to be the one to reach out to you after that first point of contact, so you need to have a plan in place to reach out to them. Here’s what I recommend:

Plan Ahead

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Don’t wait until after the event to figure out how you’re going to follow up with leads. Have a plan in place beforehand so you’ll know going in when and how you’re going to follow up.  I have a pre-made email template that is customized and sent out to people, as well as a version for text incase I only have a phone number.  I also block time in my calendar after an event to ensure the follow up can get done.

Identify Prospects

Identifying your ideal client is something that should be done when creating the foundation of your business, so hopefully you’ve already done this. But sometimes when we’re at networking events, we get so caught up in making connections and following up with leads that we try to follow up with everyone and that leads to overwhelm, which makes it less likely we’ll follow up with leads in a timely manner. It can also lead to a lot of wasted time chasing after leads that don’t fit your definition of the ideal client.

Take Notes

Take notes on every conversation you have with leads so you can mention something about the conversation in your follow-up message. I always jot something down on their business card, which I then give to my assistant to write and send the follow-up email, so all the information she needs is right there on the card along with their contact information. You want to remind them of the conversation and why they gave you their card so they’ll be more receptive to your follow-up message, and therefore more likely to respond. (Side note- if you are writing on the card in front of them, but sure to ask them if it's ok with them. Some cultures get offended if you write on their card but if asked and told why will likely be totally ok with it.)

Follow Up Early and Often

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Try to follow up with any leads within 24 hours after that first point of contact. If you wait any longer, they’ll be more likely to have forgotten you and the conversation they had with you. It also doesn’t make a very good impression to wait too long to follow up because it makes them feel like they’re not a priority for you, and if they don’t feel like a priority as a prospect, they’ll assume they won’t be a priority if they become a client.
Once you’ve scheduled a follow-up meeting, send them an invitation as soon as you’ve finished scheduling it, because that makes it more likely the meeting will go on their calendar and they won’t accidentally double book themselves for that time slot.

​Be sure to follow up again after the meeting. As with the event, you’ll want to take notes during the meeting so you can reference the conversation you had with them in your follow up email.  Similarly I have a pre-made email template that is customizable for this too.
For more tips and tricks like these, you check out my other blog posts, or you can check out my online academy, which covers everything from the first steps you need to grow a business, to networking and making sales calls. It’s a great option for those who are just starting out and don’t yet have the budget to hire a business coach.
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4 Growth Strategies for Small Businesses

4/13/2021

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It’s the beginning of a new year and people everywhere are making all kinds of resolutions to be better versions of themselves, and if you’re a small business owner, chances are good that at least one of your resolutions this year is to grow your business. But it’s one thing to say you’re going to grow your business, and another thing to actually achieve that goal.
If you’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the what and the why, but you get stumped on the how, I have a few ideas to help you achieve your small business goals for 2021:

​Set Growth Goals

It’s not enough just to say you’re going to grow your business. You need to take the time to set some concrete goals and determine exactly how much you want to grow your business. Your goal could be a certain income level, a certain number of clients, or to increase your sales by a certain percentage, let’s say 30% of your current sales. The point is your goal needs to be concrete so you can measure your success.
Your goals are your compass for the year, pointing you in the direction you should be taking your business, so make sure the compass is pointed in a very specific direction instead of wobbling back and forth.
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​Map Out Your Course of Action

​Once you have your course set, you need a map to figure out how to get there. How are you going to get from where you are now to where you want to be by the end of 2021? Your action plan needs to be as concrete as your goals. What steps are you going to take to get in front of new leads and convert them into customers? Or what are you going to do to convince existing customers to spend more money with you?

​Determine Your Growth Tools and Processes

​If you’re planning on traveling somewhere overseas and all you have is a car, you know at some point you’re going to have to switch to either a boat or a plane. The same goes for your course of action to help you achieve your growth goals for your small business. Take a look at what you have, how far those tools and processes can get you, and then take a look at how far you need to go. Do your current tools and processes have what it takes to take your business to the next level? If not, what do you need add, change, or get rid of to get where you need to go?

​Put Your Plan into Action

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Finally, it’s time to start out on that course you just mapped out so you can stop dreaming about your small business’s destination and start experiencing it. The more detailed your plan of action is, the easier it’s going to be to follow, and remember it should have a timeline so you know when you’re completing each step of your journey.

Helping entrepreneurs, non profits and small business owners figure out where they want to go with their business and map out a strategy to get there is what I do best. My specialty is helping them put in place the systems and processes that will help them establish a foundation for their business that can support their growth strategy, so schedule a clarity call now if you need help achieving your goals for your small business.
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How Relationship Building Can Be the Key to Your Success

4/6/2021

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You’ve probably heard the saying that people like to work with those they know, like, and trust, but have you stopped to consider what that really means? What is required to get people to know, like, and trust you?
The answer is that you need to focus on building your relationship with them before they’ll be willing to work with you. Building relationships is key to achieving success, but it’s often overlooked. Let’s stop glossing over this very important skill and talk about why you can’t achieve success if you don’t focus on building relationships.

Get to Know Your Ideal Client

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It’s true that most people won’t work with you until they get to know you, but another benefit of relationship building is that it also allows you to get to know your ideal client. When you know what their lives look like, you can get a better sense of the pain points you solve for them and how those pain points fit into the larger picture of that person’s life. Once you have an idea of what the larger picture of your ideal client’s life looks like, you can do a better job of tailoring your products/services to them, as well as demonstrating how you can help make their lives better.

​Sell More

As you get to know more about your clients, you’ll often find you solve pain points for them that you didn’t realize they had, and that allows you to sell more. This is not about pushing extra products/services on your clients that they don’t need. It’s about solving problems for them, and if you realize they could benefit from something you offer that you didn’t know they needed (and/or they didn’t realize you provide) why not let them know how you can help them? Yes, it increases your bottom line, and of course that’s good for you, but it also solves a problem for your client, and that’s good for them, too. Everybody wins!

Focus on Long-Term Goals

Too many people think of the sale as the end point, when in fact it’s just the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Once someone buys your product/service, rather than letting them forget about you, check in with them to see how things worked out. If it went well, get a testimonial or review from them to that effect. If it didn’t go so well, offer to fix the situation in whatever way you can, because that’s how you build relationships. Once they see your commitment to their satisfaction, not only will they be more likely to buy from you, they’ll also be more likely to refer you to their friends and family, which is how you’ll grow your business.
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Whether you need help building relationships with your ideal clients, or any other aspect of growing your business, I can help. Schedule a FREE clarity call with me now so we can talk about all the ways I can be of service to your business so you can be of service to your ideal customers.
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    Why Morsels? 

    Business advice,
    like chocolate chips,
    is best digested
    a handful of morsels at a time.  I think we'd all agree that devouring a lot of either all at once can be too much for the average person to handle..

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