Being a huge fan of teleseminars, both as a learner and as a business owner, each month I participate and host these high tech (but low tech) ways of learning and teaching. If you have not been integrating one or more aspects of telelearning and telecommunications as part of your strategy as an entrepreneur, then I would like to encourage you to do so. Implementing these seven suggestions will support your intention to connect with clients, customers, or others in the broader community.

• Interview key clients. Others will be interested in learning from them and the clients you choose to interview will be honored by your request to feature them.

• Have focus groups with various clients, customers, or other stakeholders. This is another great service you can provide, i.e., offering connections between and among the people with whom you work. By doing focus groups – virtually – you and everyone else is learning.

• Teach something that your clients need (and that will help show them your value). The teleseminar can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as a weekly series that lasts for years. It’s up to you. You also get to decide whether to offer these for free or whether to charge for them.

• Offer classes that your clients (and potential clients) will pay for. You are in business, right? And your knowledge is worth something to others. Figure out what your clients most need and offer teleseminars that provide that information. People will gladly pay and you will have additional revenue and a deepened connection with your clients.

• Interview guest experts that are related to your business’s core offerings. I know you know people who are experts in fields or specialties that are related to what your business does. Bring those special guests to your audience. It’s a magnificent way to be seen as connector and also (potentially) to have your guest announce your class to their contacts.

• Do follow-ups for new products or services you have offered. Depending on what you do, your customers may need additional follow-up to make sure that they remain faithful to the new method you’ve taught them, stay true to the new practice they have learned from you, or otherwise continue using the product they bought from you or implementing the strategy that they learned. You can offer teleseminars like this on a regular basis and either extend their learning or offer Q & A time for those who call in.

• Share best practices. Gosh, can everyone use more best practices? YES! And if you are seen as an industry leader and resource about best practices, then this strengthens your relationship with your clients. Consider sharing best practices related to your business that you have researched and/or you can have key clients and customers share their best practices.

Now, to get going, here are two more suggestions for you:

• Get a bridgeline using one of the many free bridgeline services and
• Set up an account with a service that records audio.

You don’t have to do all of these that are listed in this article! Just choose one that you aren’t currently doing and see what a difference it can make. If you have never done any kind of teleseminar, there are certainly resources to help you with that.

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.

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.

My response: 

I can imagine this…Hours wise, I’m right there with you, too…it’s WAY more than a full-time job. And 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 more in order to live (and eventually not work this many hours because you’re hiring others to help you).

Because of people like you Meggin who have been successful taking their businesses on-line through Teleseminars/webinars, Mentoring, 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.

My response:

I remember when we talked about this last fall…and it does sound like you are really ramping up to get this in front of many folks – and to generate significant income for yourself.

I am wanting to develop this new business which will generate income and it is my desire that this entity become the 75% and the others 25%.

My response:

Having the goal in mind is the first step…and then the strategies to get it there….I’m thinking you probably have taken this through the Obstacle Illusions process we talked about in the teleseminar? If not, that would be one clear suggestion I would make.

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?

My response (and clearly, these are MAJOR questions): 

If only I had simple answers…which I don’t, but I’ll try to give 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 can recommend is to make yourself the priority and then line up the others after that. Secondly, do the processes we talked about in the Obstacle Illusions class….

Hope this helps some. 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.