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Thanks! ~Lori

Transitions

Sarah Crock

Whether we like it or not, transitions are a fact of life.

I am experiencing three transitions in my life right now–one in my personal life and two in my professional life.

Our daughter Sarah, age 21, who is trying to make a career as a professional ballerina, is moving back home for the summer.

She danced with Nevada Ballet in Las Vegas for a year and prior to that she danced with Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.

We are looking forward to spending time with her before she transitions into her next ballet position. This is a very happy transition and I plan to take full advantage of this unexpected time we get to spend together.

Written Impact is also in a state of transition as Gina Bericchia, writer and social media manager, has recently accepted a new position.

Gina Bericchia

I have mixed feelings about this transition. While I am happy for Gina and this exciting next step in her career, I am also very sad as I will miss her both personally and professionally. I am grateful for her friendship and her dedication to serving our clients over the last year. I wish her all the best as she transitions into her new role.

And that brings me to transition number three–what’s next for me–the WI business owner?

Will I hire someone new or will I re-groove back into the writing and creative work full force with our current clients … instead of trying to grow the business by adding new staff and new clients?

Quite honestly, I think I know how this transition will unfold, but I am taking some time, thought and practicing a little patience (not easy for me) while I examine business goals and priorities. Even more importantly, I am tuning in to what I truly enjoy about this business and how I can best serve our clients.  ~Lori

How do you feel about transitions? Is there a way to make life and work transitions easier?

How Do You Measure Small Business Success?

A tricky question. Business success is a very personal thing. Here is my ‘how I measure success list’ and I will share what some other business owners told me when I posted the question to a small business group on LinkedIn. My favorite response? One entrepreneur said. “Did I get a good sleep last night.” So important to feel good and right about what we do and how we do it.

I measure success by:

• Having clients who need our services.
• Adding outstanding individuals to my company.
• Being part of a larger business and non-profit community.
• Innovating, creating, advancing and having fun doing it.
• Balancing work with the rest of my life.
• Living my values in the workplace.
• Enjoying modest monetary rewards.

Some other entrepreneurs and their thoughts about business success:

1. Financial results through revenue and profitability. Scaling revenue and simultaneously increasing margin is one way to measure success.
2. New client acquisition. This is key to any company success. Most small businesses fail to thrive because of their lack of new logos. Dipping into the same customer bucket can lead to failure.
3. Innovation in the respective space. All things at some point either die or evolve. If your product or service is not evolving, it will die. This is vital in order to stay ahead of the competition and to avoid obsolescence.

———–

Plain and simple: my bank account.

———–

This is a tough question.

My company is a start up business and with startups it takes time to see results. If we were to base our success on financial or clientele numbers it could be easy to get disappointed.

You should have a set of goals/objectives and base your success on how well you achieve these. This can be anything from gaining new clients, establishing a new Facebook page, participating in an event related to your niche.

Success is not a one-time thing, it is something you should constantly be trying to achieve. As you succeed in reaching one objective, you should set yourself a new one.

_______

Someone decides to hire me for a gig…

Bazinga…

Success…

————

• Making payroll
• Having enough work to keep my crew busy
• Occasionally having enough left over so I get a taste …

————-

Metrics:

• Cases – 4,100 over the last 5 years
• Awards – yes
• 175% increase in web site visits over the last year.

————-

• Cash flow – are we constantly liquid?
• Net Profit – are we making enough money?
• Ratios – How are we doing against other business of the same type?
• Customer Satisfaction – Do we consistently receive Customer Recommendations?
• Am I or Are we proud of what we did today?
• Have we planned so that we have something to look forward to?
• Did I get a good nights sleep last night?

————

By the amount of calls I get asking to write about my company ( without my requesting it:), my ROI, the mentions I get on social media, the amount of times I get listed on twitter ( so I know these people want to keep up with my posts).

————

Do these entrepreneurs reflect your thoughts on business success? Are you surprised that it is about so much more than just $$?

Bullying is Real

~A guest post by high school student and writer Rachel Turner.

Being a high school student, I know first hand what goes on when the teachers aren’t looking.

I’ve seen and been a part of the bullying that goes on every single day–whether the parents and teachers would like to believe it happens or not.

When one thinks about high school, the ideal image would be hanging out with your best friends, going to all the football games, getting all dolled up going to dances and having the best time of your life. However, it’s not like that for everyone. For some students high school is a scene right out of the movie Mean Girls.

Kids are eating in the bathroom alone, being pushed over tables and feeling like their voice doesn’t matter. Their voice does matter! Whatever your race, gender, religion–no one should be bullied for any reason.

Bullying needs to be dealt with right now and everyone can take a stand.

Speaking as someone who has been bullied first hand, and who knows what its like, it is very hard to speak up about what is going on when it is happening and how it affects your day-to-day life.

Bullying is as small as calling someone stupid. The result of constant bullying is much greater than a lot of people think. It’s not just crying and having hurt feelings–some people have gone as far as taking their own life because of the daily trauma.

When someone is bullied their confidence goes down, they don’t want to go to school, they don’t want to walk into the place they have to go every day to be put down and feel alone. No one should feel alone like that and we can all do something! We can speak up for the ones who are too afraid to speak up for themselves and help those who need support and love.

If you’re a student and you see bullying, you can stand up and stop it. Sitting back and watching it happen is just as bad as being the one doing the bullying. Stand up, even if the bullying isn’t happening to you because you could be the one person who speaks up for 500 children who are to afraid to do so.

Let’s all come together and stop this. It starts NOW, it starts with you.

What is your experience with bullying in your life or with your children? Do you agree that this is a national problem?

Finding that Perfect Client

Finding that perfect client ...

When you are marketing your business, the key to moving forward successfully is clarity … clarity in knowing:

• Who you serve best
• What you do best
• How you will find that perfect client, and
• Are you are willing to change direction to meet a market need

Honestly evaluate your company in light of these four areas so you can identify the right clients for your business and deliver outstanding results to them. So dig in and be honest with yourself …

1. Who do you serve best? Size of company, business sector, budget, goals and work style. These all factor in. Figure this out and go after those companies – it should be a natural fit – don’t try to force-fit, you will regret it every time.

2. What do you do best? Other companies do what you do, so analyze your key strengths and make those loud and clear in the marketplace. Do you provide Zappos-like customer service? Are you an extremely creative team? Do you get projects done quickly and on budget? Do you have more experience, knowledge or access to unique resources? Ask your clients — they will tell you where you excel and where you can improve. Build on your strengths and work on your weaknesses … with zeal.

3. How do you find that perfect client? Often through client referrals, friends and collaborators you enjoy working with. Ask, market and be authenticate in communicating how you work and again, know what you do well. Network with potential clients in ways that are natural and comfortable for you. Invest in new and traditional media to build relationships that can translate into business. Be out there and be bold.

4. Are you wiling to change direction to meet a market need? In your search for the perfect client, what will you do if you run across a new niche that you can address with your core strengths? Will you go after it? Decide upfront. If you go for it, don’t be discouraged if you spend some time and energy that doesn’t result in immediate business. You are planting seeds and patience is required for growth. Marketing is more art than science and you learn a little more with each marketing initiative and with each new client.

Have you figured out your ‘perfect client’ and how to reach them?

Client Stories and Why They Matter

Lori on a phone interview - gathering a client story.

As the team at Written Impact works on our new website, we have been gathering testimonials. There are certain ways I would describe WI: client-focused, creative and compelling storytellers. Lori, Julie and Matt would use both similar and different descriptions based on their individual perspectives.

However, what is very revealing is hearing our clients describe our business. They provide feedback I never would have thought of when they tell their unique experience of working with our team. For example, some clients talk about how our personalities mesh well and others say they have fun working with us.

A little more detailed than testimonials are client stories which we frequently create as sales documents, web copy or video for our clients. A customer story is short and speaks more to the benefits of the client relationship than the case study which is heavier in detail and speaks to features and ROI.

Client stories can also include ROI and features, but they are more about the intangibles … the relationship with the client, the customer service experience, the “personality” of the business and if your client would recommend you. An outside source interviewing your clients may discover some feedback that surprises you.

Working at Written Impact, I have learned that an effective client story contains some of the following elements:

• The challenge the client presents, the solution and why it matters
• The unique relationship between you and your client
• Intangibles: customer-service and personal relationships
• The benefits: how did you help the customer?
• Short-term solutions to long-term customer relationships
• A story that potential clients can relate to
• An approach that is simple, short and specific
• Quotes from your client
• Content that is easy to follow and graphics that are appealing
• General info about your business and easy-to-find contact info

No one knows how you do business better than your clients. Do you agree?

Measuring the Success of an Event

Post by Julie Naporano, Events Manager, Written Impact

I was sitting in a Board meeting a few weeks ago after planning an event for a non-profit. We discussed expenses, income, guests who attended, comments from Board members, and finally the final net $$ earned for the event. Then the question came up, “How do we measure the success of an event?”

This is a valid and obvious question … and it is also one of those questions that makes me take a deep breath because the answer is , “well it depends.” My answer is not meant as flippant, but determining event “success” requires a little strategic planning at the onset of each event to be truly measurable.

These are some questions to ask …

• What kind of event are you hosting?
• Is the event a fund raiser? If yes, then how much do you want to make?
• Are you introducing a new product or service? Or reintroducing your business with a new branding?
• How many guests do you hope attend?
• Are you trying to build awareness of your organization?
• Who is your audience? Who are you marketing to?
• What is the most important goal for your event?

Each event is unique to the needs of the client or host; this means that the event measurement, or ROI (return on investment) or ROO (return on objective) needs to be defined in order to measure the outcome.

• If the event is a fundraiser, then be clear on how much money you hope to earn.
• Set a budget and work within the guidelines of the budget
• Ask your event planner to work on details of obtaining possible donations, negotiating contracts, volunteers, and organizing internal committees
• If the event is more for awareness or a customer based gala or seminar, then define what will make the event successful. Examples: positive feedback from attendees, networking or a large number of attendees.

Next time the topic of measuring the success of an event comes up here at Written Impact, I will take a deep breath and refer to the checklist (that we put in place at the very beginning of planning) to make that determination.

How do you measure the success of your events? What have you learned by doing an event review afterward?

New Ideas from Poke the Box by Seth Godin

Just finished Seth Godin‘s new book Poke the Box and I would highly recommend it as you will be inspired to create something new, right now. A friend recommended the workbook to go with it — this is part of the Domino Project–a new way to think about publishing. Check it out.

A few takeaways for us to think about:

• Turn ideas into initiatives now. What is stopping you from moving an idea into a reality? Fear of failure? Root it out and let it go, make a plan and take action.
• Organize for joy: no cogs in the workplace. Each person should be empowered to create, connect and surprise with initiative.
• 3000 TED conferences must mean something. Why do the folks come from all professions and backgrounds to share ideas at the popular TED conferences? Because we are wired to create no matter what our ‘day’ job is–so make it happen.
• If you could build something new, what would it be? A relationship, a religion, a job, a tool, a legacy? Think about it and answer this question, seriously.
• Boundaries are in our heads. Live in a spirit of curiosity every single day.
• Stop waiting for a map, a fixed agenda, a plan. Everyone in an organization should reach out, stand up and create something new on a regular basis — whether the ideas are big or small.
• Celebrate failure. Instead of letting failure drag you down, let failure lead you to the next big idea that may lead to more failure or maybe success–who knows?

At Written Impact, we recently embraced the idea of combining Event planning with our marketing services. It was not in our plan. We are not sure where this will go, or if it will work, but we are giving it attention and effort. We are poking the box to find out.

What about you? What is your big idea? How will you put it into action? What is holding you back?

Engaging Online Communities Can Enhance Your Events

Since Julie joined the Written Impact team – we have been talking about how social media tools and events can benefit from each other. I believe the communities that already engage with your organization through social media tools can help encourage attendance, generate positive PR and share media the event.

If you are trying to get the word out about a first time event, or trying to increase attendance of an existing conference, fundraiser, etc., it is helpful if your business or organization already has an active online community they regularly engage through social media tools to help publicize the event. While there are many ways to send invites to your network and promote with tools just as Eventbrite, Anyvite or Twtvite, it is easiest to promote events through an already active and engaged online group.

Last year I helped plan the 2010 Central Ohio PaRtners Conference, a day-long conference for college students studying public relations and marketing. Our group had spent nearly a year building relationships with public relations professionals and students on Twitter, so when it came time to planning and promoting the event, we decided to use Twitter to engage speakers and attendees.

Because of the leg work we did building an online community ahead of time, we had a terrific group of engaged professionals to pull from who were all willing to volunteer their time to speak. We were also able to evaluate some of our successes from the positive conversation we saw happening on Twitter before, during and after our conference. Our connections on Twitter were telling their networks about the conference and helping us spread the word.

Capturing media and using social media to share photos and video during and after your event can be important to help enhance the experience and provides attendees with shareable content. Brainstorm creative ways to include user-generated media from the event that can easily be shared with others attendees to provide a personal touch – no matter how big or small or your event.

So, even if you have an event just once a year, hopefully you see the value in having an online community year-round to get the most out of that event. Also to help you, here are 10 Tips to Hosting Better Events with Social Media.

How else can an event be helped by an online community – or flip it – what can events do for your online community when you take those relationships offline?