Has your e-book publishing produced enough results to make it worth the effort?

[MEMc] Well…what a question…ha! All of these things are so tied into one another that it’s hard to say what does and doesn’t make a profit. All of my teacher e-books are not exactly big sellers, but they were already created as physical books, so having them now as e-books should only generate income, but they took awhile to update and convert…so it’s hard to say. I am getting ready to have the Top Ten Productivity Tips as an e-book and I’m hopeful that this one generates an income… Lots of my other products that are available electronically are probably not yet in the black given how much time and energy I put into creating them.  Sometimes I have to remind myself to “STOP IT!” as Bob Newhart would say. 

But here is the thing….there are a jillion reasons to have electronic products, including ones that are free (as you know, I have TONS that are free). People come to my site, download something (they give me their contact info since I use http://theshoppincartmegginrecommends.com) and then I can contact them in the future and they may buy something later. I begin to build relationships with people through my various products. I have several speaking engagements this fall and next spring that are related to people who have gotten my free stuff for YEARS and they are finally getting around to hiring me to come to their university. It’s so interesting how that happens…but it’s not a speedy process, especially in terms of money showing up in your bank account.

SO, I think part of what you will have to decide is how much time and energy you have, how much $ you need to generate and how quickly, and what the options are for doing that. Having electronic products are one of the ways to get your name out there, but there are many others, too.

There are definitely reasons to have “e-books,” and making money is one of them.  It can’t be the first reason – but it can be a major reason – especially as you become more and more well known and as you have a better reach into your market.

What “signs” you are HEEDING?

My guess is that there are many readers (and authors!) who have gotten speeding tickets in our lives. In essentially every case, we knew what the speed limit was – we saw the sign – but we didn’t heed the sign.

In the part of the country where I live (Reno), when there are high winds, they will put up signs to indicate that high profile vehicles likes semi’s and RVs should not be on certain roads. Most drivers heed those signs but the ones who don’t often get flipped over by the wind.

Seeing signs – i.e., noticing signs – and HEEDING signs are two different things. In this article, why don’t we explore a sign that you need to see and HEED, i.e., “lane closed.”

Lane Closed

Hmmm. Consider a few options related to this sign:

1. Is there a lane in your life that has currently been closed? Maybe a job, a project, a client, a company, a department, a college, an income stream, a relationship, a vehicle, a travel option, a way of living, a type of being?

2. Is the lane closure a permanent or a temporary one? Usually when we see these signs on the road it is related to a temporary closing but in life, some lanes are closed now and forever.

3. Take a few moments at this point to make note of one or more lane closings that you have encountered lately – and how it is affecting you. In particular, think about the net effect. You can notice both the downsides and the upsides to the lane closure – and see if you can arrive at the net effect of the change.

Welcome back…did you notice that I closed out that last prompt with the word “change”? A lane closure is a change and sometimes we just need a bit of warning that it’s going to change and then we’re fine with it. It’s the surprise lane closures and changes that give us more trouble.

So, in life, do we get a warning that a lane is going to be closed? Sometimes we do.

Sometimes you’ll see cones to guide you that something is about to happen. The bright orange cones are an indicator, at least in the United States,that we need to pay attention. Often when a lane is going to be closed, the orange cones will start to be placed in such a way that they slowly insinuate themselves over into our lane – thereby guiding us into the lane where we need to be since the lane with the cones in it is going to be closed up ahead.

Orange cones help us to focus on the change. We ignore them at our own peril (and often the peril of those around us if we are darting back into traffic with no regard for what is happening).

So in your business, what are your orange cones?

Unless you have been taking special care to make sure you have plenty of pockets (of time, energy, and space) to get your work done, you may be far less productive than you could be.  Consider the following five ideas for putting in pockets (related to work) when you are self-employed.

1. Evaluate the number of hours you work for yourself in a week and see if it is reasonable for your line of work. If not, hire help. Note: You are the only person who can determine what is reasonable. For some people, 40 hours per week is reasonable while for others, 80 hours is reasonable.

2. Do work that only you can do. This is a mantra that I repeat often. If you are doing work that someone else could do, then you are not working to your full potential.

3. Schedule planning time for your next project, client, sale or other task. Effective planning will help you put in the pockets that you need. The best idea is to determine the deadline for the project and then “back plan” so that you have scheduled time to work toward the goal of the project. And be sure to find a place for your planning or project files so you don’t squander your ‘pockets’ searching for paper.

4. Figure out how much “discretionary” time you have in a given day, i.e., time that is not scheduled for meetings, travel, appointments, etc. Then, only plan a “to-do” list for 50% of that discretionary time. This will give you some pockets (since our tasks usually take longer than we think they will AND we rarely have the amount of discretionary time that we forecasted).

5. Plan for interruptions. For most professionals, interruptions are part of the day. Phone calls, drop in visitors, unexpected opportunities, etc. can all interrupt our day. If you realize that this is going to happen, then you can just plan for them. It doesn’t mean you plan that at 10:20, you will have an interruption, but it does mean that you are not blindsided when your day has 1, 2, 3, or 10 interruptions. You just know that they will occur (and this is part of why you must pay attention to #4 tip above).

The self-employed person has a natural tendency to ignore the limits and even to flaunt the fact that s/he is ignoring them. Doing so is both to the individual’s and his/her business’s detriment to do so.  Planfully put in the pockets you need.  Remember, pockets are “the difference between calm and crazed.” Being calm is ever-so-much better than being crazed.

If you’re starting out as an entrepreneur or a freelancer or a project manager, the most important choice you’ll make is: what to do? As in the answer to the question, “what do you do?”

Some questions to help you get started:

1. Who are you trying to please?
2. Are you trying to make a living, make a difference, or leave a legacy?
3. How will the world be different when you’ve succeeded?
4. Is it more important to add new customers or to increase your interactions with existing ones?
5. Do you want a team? How big? (I know, that’s two questions)
6. Would you rather have an open-ended project that’s never done, or one where you hit natural end points? (How high is high enough?)
7. Are you prepared to actively sell your stuff, or are you expecting that buyers will walk in the door and ask for it?
8. Which: to invent a category or to be just like Bob/Sue, but better?
9. If you take someone else’s investment, are you prepared to sell out to pay it back?
10. Are you done personally growing, or is this project going to force you to change and develop yourself?
11. Choose: teach and lead and challenge your customers, or do what they ask…
12. How long can you wait before it feels as though you’re succeeding?
13. Is perfect important? (Do you feel the need to fail privately, not in public?)
14. Do you want your customers to know each other (a tribe) or is it better they be anonymous and separate?
15. How close to failure, wipe out and humiliation are you willing to fly? (And while we’re on the topic, how open to criticism are you willing to be?)
16. What does busy look like?

In my experience, people skip all of these questions and ask instead: “What can I do that will be sure to work?” The problem, of course, is that there is no sure, and even worse, that you and I have no agreement at all on what it means for something to work.

Note from Meggin:  These are worth posting – and Seth’s blog is worth subscribing to: 

 http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/06/16-questions-for-free-agents-.html

http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451b31569e20133ef215b62970b

Marketing is the process of creating awareness of and interest in your products and/or services – in those who can (and will) access them.

~ Meggin McIntosh

If you would like to learn ways to market so it matters, thereby increasing your impact (whether that means students in your classes, people buying your books, professionals hiring you for your organizing services, or any other endeavor in which you’re involved) then don’t miss this tele-workshop.  Click => http://meggin.com/MarketingThatMatters.php to register.

When you work for an organization, there is a certain look that everybody has for their business cards and stationery (whether it’s good or bad).  But when you are an entrepreneur, then you can have business cards and stationery that look however you want them to.  Regardless of whether you currently work within an organization and have a side business or a business that you are building for when you leave your ‘day job,’ you want to make sure you have your cards and stationery that are ready to convey the professionalism and personality of your work.  Here are some ideas to consider:

Think about the paper you are printing your card and stationery on.  This includes the weight, the colors you choose, the fonts used, and so forth. You want both your card stock and your stationery paper to be something with a little ‘heft,’ rather than something flimsy.  It needs to be of substantial quality, although it does not need to be heavy.   Particularly if you are printing your own cards right at the beginning, the stock won’t be very thick since most personal printers can’t handle that without jamming.

Have your materials proofed by MANY others.  Don’t trust yourself or even a professional proofreader.  Check everything and then have at least 5 other people check every detail.  It doesn’t look good (to say the least) if you have to cross out or write over the top of something on your card because it’s wrong.  I’ve seen misspelled words, letters omitted from domain names, phone numbers that were short one letter, and more.  Eek!  It could happen to any of us.

Get various bids and opinions.  Before you go ahead and spend hundreds (or thousands!) of dollars getting your business cards, stationery, and envelopes printed by a professional, do two things:  1) Have your job big on by more than one company and 2) Give samples out to people you don’t know.  Ask them what they think.  It might hurt your feelings (I have had that happen before, i.e., having gone through various renditions of my logo and overall business look, there were times when people would say, “I don’t really know what this is.” I thought, ‘What do you mean you don’t know what this is?’ Then later on, as it got more and more professional, I started getting a better and very different kind of response.  Note:  Don’t ask if you don’t want people to tell you, but it is worth asking if you are interested in the feedback.  You might save yourself a lot of money.

Managing the impression that others have of you takes focus and reflection.  One of the easiest ways is to start with good quality stationery and business cards.  

Often it’s just the simple ideas that help us give the right impression of ourselves and our businesses. And if you want additional ideas for moving your small business forward, be sure to consult other articles on this Life of E’s blog where we have topics ranging from money to productivity to speaking to writing to coaching to business set-up and more are featured there.

And, to make sure you are productive in your personal and professional life, you’ll want to access the resources at

**http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com

(c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm)

Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do via seminars, workshops, writing, coaching, & consulting. www.meggin.com

Do not wait until you have a fancy logo to get some cards and stationery.  This is often a procrastination technique and a way that people justify NOT getting their stationery done because they are thinking, “Well, I don’t have my logo yet.” 

The truth is, you need to have a business card. For a stand-in until you have something snazzy, you can go to Kinko’s, Office Max, or Office Depot (and the like) and buy the plain old cards you can run through your printer.  Get the ones that are ivory, cream or white cardstock and that are already scored for tearing into business cards. Put your name, contact information and so forth on there and print up a few.  Believe me, that is better than not having anything.

There is one networking group I belong to – eWomenNetwork - and I can’t tell you the number of times that people come to the event (which has as its whole mission for women to network with one another).  There will always be someone there who says, ”I don’t really have a card. Let me just write down my stuff on a piece of paper” and then she grabs some scrap of paper out of her purse and scribbles down her information.  This does not leave a great impression, unfortunately. 

Even just having a plain white business card gives you something to hand out and say, “I’m just waiting for my final ones, but this has all the important contact information you will need.”  The same holds true with the stationery: You do not have to have fancy stationery; you just have to have something (besides notebook paper) so that when you are sending letters, thank you notes, inquiries about a product, marketing letters, or any other type of professional correspondence, that has your name, contact information and so forth.

In tomorrow’s post, I’ll give you some additional tips to keep in mind, but I wanted to convey the ideas FIRST that you need to have something, long before you have something ‘perfect.’

Often it’s just the simple ideas that help us give the right impression of ourselves and our businesses. And if you want additional ideas for moving your small business forward, be sure to consult other articles on this Life of E’s blog where we have topics ranging from money to productivity to speaking to writing to coaching to business set-up and more are featured there.

And, to make sure you are productive in your personal and professional life, you’ll want to access the resources at

**http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com

(c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm)

Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do via seminars, workshops, writing, coaching, & consulting. www.meggin.com

Take a look:  http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/when-to-call-it-quits-in-your-business

Read these and think carefully about what you’re doing.  I’d be thrilled to have you share your comments on his blog or on mine.

Q:  My current company is my original brand. I have invested a lot of time/money/energy promoting this brand and it is doing fairly well. It is 100% of my income and I am spending around 75% of my time supporting and maintaining it (that is a 12-16 hour day/6-7 days a week). And the income is not enough to support this business and my personal expenses 100%. That is why I am still trying to build this business.

A:  I can imagine this…Hours wise, I’m right there with you, too.  Running your own small business is WAY more than a full-time job, at least frm my experience.  Also, you have invested a great deal in your brand and what you offer.  Recognizing that right now, this is where your income is coming from is important, as is knowing that you have to have to generate more income in order to live (and eventually not work this many hours because you’re hiring others to help you).

Q:  Because of people like you who have been successful taking their businesses on-line through teleseminars/webinars, mentoring groups, ebooks, etc. I am on this fast track of repurposing my knowledge. I designed a new business venture that requires a lot of my attention and time. It does not earn any money but sucks money daily.  I want to develop this new business which will generate income and my plan is for this entity to become the 75% and the other (my current business) 25%.

A:  This new venture is something you have been working on for the least few months.  It sounds like you are really ramping up to get this in front of many folks – and to generate significant income for yourself.  Having the goal in mind is the first step, and next is strategizing ways to get it there….

Q:  I am torn between paying the bills, getting new customers, keeping my existing customers happy and devoting my time to this new venture. I am torn between the multiple personalities and their needs. How can I make this transition without jeopardizing my current business? How can I keep everyone happy (personalities and customers) without killing myself?

A:  If only I had simple answers…which I don’t, but I’ll try to give you some thoughts on this.

1. Start to allocate your day to the different parts of your business. Set a timer and when 4 hours is up (or whatever time you’ve determined) then stop working on that part of the business and switch to the other. 

2. Figure out what parts you can delegate out to others. It’s amazing how inexpensively you can get someone to help you. Make a list of every single thing (personal and professional) that you need to accomplish. Then begin to think realistically if you are the ONLY person who can do that thing. If not, start to consider the alternatives. 

3. Realize that you will never keep everyone happy. If you can let that go, it helps. The main person you need to keep happy is yourself. If you are unhappy, stressed out of your head, and you’ve made yourself sick by working and worrying too much, then no one is helped or happy about that. Can you make yourself a priority? 

4. Figure out which of your customers are profitable and which ones aren’t. There are some low-level customers that you may need to let go/refer out/etc. You only have so much time and some of your clients are carrying their weight as far as paying you for your expertise and experience. Have you run an assessment to see who is ‘worth it’ as far as your time goes and who isn’t?

The most important thing I want to reiterate is to make yourself the priority and then line up the others after that.  Remember, you have an enormous service to offer people and you will attract those who belong to you with your energy and positive sense of yourself and your business.

And, to make sure you are productive in your personal and professional life, you’ll want to access the resources at

**http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com

(c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm)

Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do via seminars, workshops, writing, coaching, & consulting.

First, be careful not to make this more difficult than it needs to be. I use a fairly simple system that works great for me and may work for you, as well.

·      At the beginning of each year, I create 12 files, labeled (with a label maker or something other than my handwriting, which isn’t too legible) January – December. I put those in my accounting drawer (which is right next to my computer). I want it to be easily-accessible when I am using the folders or when my bookkeeper is here taking care of my accounting.  

·      Daily or whenever I have receipts that come in (when I make purchases at stores, when boxes are delivered from UPS with receipts inside, or when electronic receipts arrive, I put them all into my “To Be Processed” accounting folder. If it’s something I charged on one of my credit cards, then I put it in that folder. Within that folder, I have individually-labeled folders for my two main credit cards, along with a petty cash folder, etc. ‘To Be Processed” simply means that it needs to be put into my QuickBooks.  

·      Then, weekly, either my bookkeeper or I will process all of my receipts and input the information into QuickBooksPro. As soon as the information is put into QuickBooks, I move these receipts and other documentation into the current month’s receipts folder (Note: Once the final statement for the credit card comes in, I staple the corresponding receipts to that statement so it’s all together in the month’s receipt folder.  

·      Then, after the month has passed, I move the folder into one of my file cabinets that is across the room from my desk so I have access to it, but it’s not in my “prime real estate.”  

·      At the end of the year, I move all of the year’s monthly folders to my garage file cabinet (where it’s archived in case I need it) and then I start the process over with a new set of folders.

It’s not fancy, but it’s worked for my business for over 10 years (long before I even used QuickBooks. As much as I would hate to be audited, I would be ready with all my receipts, as needed.

Note:  To access a fabulous teleseminar taught by QuickBooks Pro Advisor Marie Gibson, just go to the ShoeBox101 page where you can register and receive the recording, handouts, and booklet.  Marie recommends a different format than the one I use (and one that has helped me immensely in just plain understanding accounting)…and so many folks who have taken the class have implemented her ideas to get themselves squared away for 2009.  You want to have your ‘books’ in order!