Sunday 21 February 2016

The Personal Touch

As a kid I was brought up in a very “personable” home. My parents taught me the value of being personable. If I received any form of gift, a Thank –you note was sent. I was taught, if you receive a letter, you reply.

I carried that on into adulthood personally and professionally. Any e mail I receive through my full time job or my part time side businesses I run, every e mail gets a reply. Same goes for social media messages.

Recently I started to wonder if I was wasting my time with that philosophy.  A few weeks ago I decided to use my transferrable skills and eventually expand with freelance work for audio production and social media consulting. After talking to Chantal from Enterprise Temiskaming we discussed the lack of "personality" and interest business owners/employers have in general. I know myself I have had a few negative experiences with a couple companies wanting my services but had no interest in talking to you personally or even researching what I did, but rather push their years of experience or direct me to a poorly constructed webpage with a list of their rates. The "I don't have time to answer your questions but you need my service" is a big turn off to any client or employee.


This wasn't the case however when I was re searching music production companies.  Zach from First Com called me personally.  Right off the bat he mentioned where I worked, what I did part time and even mentioned a few hobbies. He had taken the time to check out my webpage and catered his conversation to benefitting me, not just the company he worked for. Throughout several conversations and e mails and thanks to his personal touch I felt like an induvial not a number, which made me want to work with his company. I’m using some of Zach’s approach when potential clients contact me, by responding with a comment about their job/company.

I had a similar experience with Jennifer from Mossop Media. I remember watching Jennifer as a news anchor on t.v when I was a teen. I stumbled across an article that was posted on Facebook written by herself about "Life After Job Loss" I shot off a quick e mail telling her I enjoyed the article and to my surprise I received a very personal e mail back with some great tips on how I can improve my future. She didn't push her company or her philosophy on life but rather challenged and encouraged me to better myself. 

Now I see how important the personal touch really is for networking and sales in any business. Those positive experience make me want do business with those individuals at the same time bettering myself and improve my businesses so my clients will have positive experiences themselves.  

There are many benefits to taking a few minutes out of our busy schedules to connect with potential clients or individuals. It may not generate business, but it says a lot about your character, which is important for any one in sales or the public eye or an induvial branching out on their own with personal projects.

There's always a TON of negative situations that sour us to stop doing what we stand for, but there is ALWAYS someone who reminds us, to keep doing what we know is right.


Tuesday 9 February 2016

The Working Routine Makes you Seen

Lately I have been working on my side businesses a lot more and I have discovered the importance of a “working routine/schedule”.  

Here’s a few tips:

  1. Get dressed. Believe it or not getting dressed and brushing your teeth and hair can make you more productive. You don’t need to wear business attire, but working in clothes other the PJ’s can make you more focused.
  2. Schedule a time you start your business and keep too it. Schedule it in your daily to do list.
  3. Inform family and friends of your scheduled time for your job so you have minimal disturbances.
  4. Schedule your “ coffee breaks” and set a specific time to it (10 to 20 min)….and stick to it.
  5. Keep the distractions to a minimal. Music can help but try and avoid t.v/netfilx or anything that may visually distracting in the background.
  6. Set your cell phone to an emergency ring only and set important contacts to a specific text sound, it helps ignore the unimportant texts.
Treat the time you are working on your side business as a JOB. The more you treat your venture as a JOB the more successful it will be.  If you don’t cruise Facebook or social media or webpages at your full time jobs, don’t do it for your side/home based business.


Get rid of the “I need to make a quick buck” mentality.  I’ve discovered part time entrepreneurs who are successful have followed the formula investing time and treating it as a job have gone far.

Sunday 7 February 2016

Dedicated Time and Space Brings Higher Customer Data Base

Over the past couple of years I’ve been running a side business from home and I’ve been expanding with other side ventures.  So often people want to run something on the side to make a quick buck to supplement their income.

Many people don’t realize side business don’t grow without two important things, invested time, and a proper home office.

During the weekday I work my full time job, on my off hours I set aside specific times for business activities.

Before my full time job I have a scheduled time I check e mails (including social media accounts), source out contacts and reach potential clients. 

In the evening I block out a certain time to work on my side business. At that time, I’m not logged on to any social messaging apps and my cell is set to an emergency only ring. Texts are sent to my computer so only important texts are answered.

With the nature of my one side business, I don’t plan any unnecessary evening activities from Sunday through Thursday. However, if there is someone who needs my time for something important I’m not rigid.

A functioning home office is a must. Entrepreneurs can run a highly functioning home office at a minimal expense. I live in a small living quarter, but I have a section of my place dedicated to a small home office. My organizational supplies didn’t cost a lot, many fashionable yet functional items were bought on sale  or at discounted prices…even garage sales and local artisans can offer what you  need for a highly functional yet professional looking home office.

Small home run businesses can be successful if you devote the proper time and dedicate a proper working space.  Like anything, when you put dedicated time and effort into your small business it will eventually grow.