Standing Out

In life and in business you get what you pay for, right? If you believe that to be true, and you pay for nothing, what would you get?

Zero.

Correct. If you believe that you get what you pay for and then you turn around and pay for nothing you ultimately get nothing (there are always exceptions to the rule). In order to grow your business, you’ve got to sow seeds of time & money into it.

I believe that you have to put money into your business in order to get money out of it, but it seems that a lot of startups and entrepreneurs hold onto their wallets for dear life. They’ll spend money on gimmicks like memberships to this and that, but skimp on essentials like websites and business cards. Read my good friend Xan’s latest post - You have to spend money to make money - for his real life example of the situation.

As VAs, we fit into the entrepreneur group. We, like everyone else, have to put something into the business so that we can see the results.

No businesses, even those with extremely low overhead, succeed without sowing a little “seed.”

I put money into my business in the following ways and I have seen the benefits time and again:

• Business website hosted by a reputable, reliable web hosting company called Siteground (cost: $6.00/month - paid in advance)
• My own domain name (that’s the URL) (cost: included with my hosting package when I paid in advance)
• Upgraded monthly membership to Biznik, where I connect with other VAs, publish my blog and network with potential clients (cost: $10.00/month)
• Upgraded monthly subscription to Elance - IMPORTANT (cost: $19.95/month)
• E-books and other training material that I find useful, or that I can use as an inspiration for my own (cost: approx. $50.00/month)
• Business cards (cost: approx. $6.00, only for shipping - from VistaPrint - earn 25% off by using that link)
• Use of cell phone for business (cost: approx. $50.00/month)
• Use of Skype call-to-phone feature, so I can listen in on client teleclasses without using my cell phone (cost: $2.00/month)
• A bit of advertising in various places (cost: approx. $30.00/month)

There are of course many other ways in which I sow seed into the business and there are probably some items I’m forgetting here. The lesson is that you get what you pay for, or rather, you get out an amount that is directly proportionate to what you put in. Just remember, you reap what you sow!

–Tia

…to turn away a customer from a product or service for good.

Case in point: I was multitasking. Feeding my son & browsing the internet for futons simultaneously. I normally don’t read product reviews, but have started to do it more often, particularly when shopping for baby stuff. Anyway, I’m browsing this site, and locked my eyes on what appears to be a lovely, not-so-futon-looking futon, and clicked.

Up popped all the retailer’s info on the product. It was looking pretty good. I scrolled down and read review number 1 and review number 2. Both raved about the product and complained only about something minor that’s irrelevant to me anyway. But along came review number 3…

poor quality, 03/08/2008 By bdgsmom, Gastonia, NC Read all reviews by this reviewer Overall Rating: 1 out of 5 Product Attributes: Value for price paid: 2 out of 5 Meets Expectations: 1 out of 5 Features: 1 out of 5 Appearance: 2 out of 5

This futon is not comfortable! the seat is hard & the back is stiff and too upright for comfortable lounging. When we set it up, one of the legs broke. We would return it but it was the only piece that would fit up our irregular stairway

Recommends this product? No Age: 35 - 44 Gender: Female Has owned product for: 2 - 7 weeks Uses product: Every few days

Yikes! To be honest, I didn’t get past “too upright for comfortable lounging.” I immediately clicked away. It was then that I realized it only takes one. A single bad review made me turn away and never look back (except to paste it into this post). I will not purchase that futon and I don’t feel bad about that in the least. Customer satisfaction is critical and a product or manufacturer’s reputation is crucial!

I found the review very helpful, obviously, but I was much more intrigued that it took just that one review to change my mind.

Consider the eBay power-sellers. How damaging is it to have a 98.7% positive rating? I’m guessing it’s a huge deal! Why buy from a seller whose positive rating is only 98.7% when you can find 30 others with 100% positive ratings? I’ve only purchased from sellers with 100% reviews, and not even intentionally. There’s just something about that 100%.

Same deal with Elance, of which I am a part. I’m a provider with 100% positive feedback. If I ever get less than that, I’d honestly consider ditching that profile and starting again! Let’s be real. No one wants to hire something with only 90% positive feedback. That means someone didn’t like them so much that they felt the need to warn others!

We’re a culture ruined by the notion of perfection. Why do we expect perfection? We all know it isn’t possible. When the Graco swing my mom purchased for my son didn’t work, and we got a replacement and that didn’t work, and then the third didn’t work (no joke) I swore off Graco electronic products for good! We went and got a Fisher-Price one instead.

I know that I am not alone on this. We as consumers expect perfect. We expect it from our retailers, our school systems, our politicians, our doctors, and even our garbage men. We believe we are deserving of this because of the time and money we give. Whether it is right or wrong, it simply “is” and you must accept this as a marketer.

So pull out the PR (not kidding) and suck it up. And if you’re reading, Graco, I “expect” an apology!

Cheers!

Tia

In the pursuit of more & more business, make sure you bite off only what you can chew…and make sure it’s work you WANT to do. I’ve made the mistake, in the past, of accepting work I didn’t really want, and paying out the nose for it in time and effort.

It’s OK to decline an offer for work; however, if you commit to something, you have to see it through. Moral? Be choosy. Even in the “strugglin’” days.