The Wax Blog

This article comes to us courtesy of Sydney-based Web Profits, a web marketing company down under in Australia . After the “freelance to fulltime post” I realized we have a strong group of readers who are already freelance or thinking about going solo.  This is some basic information, so please add your comments on things that might have been particularly helpful to you in running your freelance business.

If you’re a freelance entrepreneur, you may be running multiple streams of business, and your business operations may be quite complex. The greatest asset a freelance entrepreneur can have is a good reliable business setup. Everything from your booklet printing to your business financial plans has to be efficient, straightforward and easy to administer.

Many freelance entrepreneurs shoot themselves in the foot with bad business practices. They may be great salespeople, but they’re lousy managers and administrators. They present themselves and their business deals well, and then fall in a screaming heap in terms of relatively simple business operations.

Freelance entrepreneurs are by definition hyperactive. They usually have a lot of different business interests, and in some cases they quite literally use their phones and/or emails to do most of the actual work. The trouble is that an ad hoc business operation will usually hit a brick wall at some point.

Major contracts simply won’t do business on the basis of a phone call. Banks won’t lend money or extend lines of credit without seeing financial records, a business plan and evidence of good business practices. Creditors don’t take too kindly to a lack of documentation of finances, either. Equally problematic is the fact that these types of operations are by definition inefficient. Records disappear, and a tangle of problems is created simply because of the way business is done. The fact is that some basic business methods work a lot better, and much more reliably.

Setting up a basic business operation

The good news is that you don’t need a complex business structure. You do, however, need one that will do the job for you efficiently. You can use a checklist approach:

• Business plan- A basic business plan is set out like a mini-prospectus. It includes a description of your services, structure, operations and goals. The business plan is also useful as the information basis for credit applications, capital raisings, stock offers, etc.

• Corporate status, if any- You must specify if you’re operating as a corporation or another type of legal entity, like a sole proprietor. People need to know if they’re dealing with a person or a company.

• Financial records- Receipts, expenses, a cashbook, invoices, etc. It’s a good idea to get your tax accountant to help you set up your books and show you how to keep proper accounts. Please also note: These accounts are particularly important if you’re receiving fees, commissions or percentile returns on your entrepreneurial operations. Mistakes in financial administration can be extremely expensive.

• Promotional materials- This area includes everything from business card printing to online information systems and advertising, and effectively operates as your market image and profile. This is both a passive and active business system, and has to be kept up to date and looking good.

These are actually quite simple business mechanisms, and simple to operate. If you’re a one-person show, you can keep things focused on your core business operations with no trouble. Keep your business model simple, focus on keeping the business management elements simple, and the rest is easy.

I realized after 8 years in business I’ve seen some trends in how entrepreneurs kick off a new year. One thing I know I need to work on is calibrating the right sense of urgency in terms of all my goals and plans for 2011.  This seems to be an issue for many small business owners as well.  It’s not easy to keep everything in balance this time of year – not burning out too fast OR taking too long to plan. See if you can identify any of your own traits in these characterizations: (more…)

Without a good site strategy, it could be curtains for your PR campaign!

I can’t tell you how many times we’ve busted our butts to get media, especially bloggers, to consider a client only for them to tell me one of the following:

1. “Website took too long to load” or 2. “Couldn’t figure out what they do from their website” 3. “It’s all flash” or my favorite 4. “The website is down”

In public relations class we learned about the importance of understanding your ‘key publics’ – the audiences that include not only your customers but those that will heavily influence the success of your business. And that includes the media. Next step? Make sure all of your messaging is directed at least in part to ALL of your important key publics.

If you want exposure, the main way you’re going to get it is through media. The first place media will go is your website, but if they can’t find the information  they’re looking for, they’ll simply move on. So here’s a simple review list for your site – make sure you do this BEFORE you start promoting. Also, I’m providing an example of a company that gets it – the Natural Curtain Company. (more…)

A little over three weeks ago I was blazing down a hill in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, on the third of eight laps in an inline skating marathon. I remember thinking some not-repeatable thoughts as my left skate started to wobble, probably after hitting some negligible landmark like an acorn or twig. The resulting crash left me in the hospital (the WONDERFUL NY Methodist – can’t say enough great things about that place!) having surgery on my knee. Thankfully, there’s probably no permanent damage but I have been assigned to immobility for the longest time in my adult life, unable to bend the knee until the skin heals.

What does this have to do with my normally instructional, and maybe kind of boring, voice in this blog? Over the past month, I’ve learned some pretty cool things about my platform, new media and the kindness of supposed strangers. I think I’m going to be able to apply all these things in my work as I slowly recover. Here’s a list of just a few:

• My Twitter buddies expressed real concern and continue to check in on me while I’m getting better. I’ve only met one of them in person -  @segnavia who even brought me  a latte -  but the others – @writesourcing, @dogwalkblog, @laurihart @dcwired, just to name a few – really do care! I think this means that I’m engaged in what used to be a purely professional pursuit,  but what has now turned into a fulfilling daily experience, communicating with people I’ve never met all over the country.  (Alternatively, Facebook friends have not provided as much good cheer – interesting in that most of them I HAVE met in person.)

• Along the same vein, my personal voice seems to be more important than my professional one. Or maybe it’s the same as when I was starting out in sales – I was always told we like to buy from people we know. Perhaps I’ve been too standoffish on my blog and even on Facebook – maybe that’s why folks are not as engage or interested in ‘buying’ what I’m writing. I’m going to work harder to ‘show up’ in both those mediums in the same way I show up on Twitter

• Without as much energy, and in the beginning with a great deal of pain, I’ve had to really budget my time working and engaging in social media. Although I’m still catching up a bit, my work quality hasn’t really suffered. If  I can learn to take things more slowly – perhaps my  work will improve without my deadlines suffering.

And finally, this accident was fairly dramatic. From the crash, to the emergency surgery, to wondering if I’d need skin grafts and such there continue to be some major ups and downs with this thing. I think people love drama and my life usually has quite a bit of drama. There’s a lot of interesting, cool stuff that happens to me – and   I’m going to start sharing more in this blog and in my social media.

So stick around for more of my life, not just my professional advice,  in the future.  And here’s a teaser…eventually, I promise to tell you the stories about the Playboy bunny, Ralph Nader and my supermodel client phase. And MAYBE the one about David Hasselhof. But only after I tell @dogwalkblog first.

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This is the second post on Building an Actionable Social Media plan. Refer to the first one if you need a refresher on why we’re doing this.

When people or businesses start engaging in social media they often focus on goals or ROI. But in order to direct your content, you must first identify the business drivers behind your social media activities. If you think of your plan in terms of the 5W’s (who, what, where, when, why) then business drivers are the WHY. I like InvestorWords definition of a business driver which is “A factor that contributes to the growth of a particular business.”

Maybe you haven’t thought of this perspective…I know for me it’s an abstract concept. After all, in small business we’re much more real time and it’s usually more about cash flow than strategy, at least for me. I like to put drivers in three categories when I do plans: Primary, Relevant and Secondary.  You’ll find that unexpected benefits of social media may arise as the campaign continues. Also, there may be lack of impact in defined business drivers. The business drivers should be reviewed and revised based on ongoing activity and results and you may be surprised where social media makes the most impact. It’s different for every business I work with!

So to give you some ideas, first here’s a list of some business drivers for specific industries. Then I’ve got a list of some possible business drivers that are common for social media. Please add yours in the comment section, so we can get a good list going! (more…)