Women Unlimited Magazine Issue 1

Becauseyou’rehow to get paid what you are worth

embrace your inner pushiness

Top Business Tools to make your life easier

A new kind of network

worth it

Stand outand beproud:

Launch date May 25, 2011

NEW COVER. 1 09/03/2011 20:40

ad pages.indd 2 09/03/2011 19:32

Content

4omen UnlimitedW

Issue 1 Volume 1

2 Because you’re worth it: How to stop your customers complaining about price

Contributor: Amy Harrison, HarrisonAmy.com

4 Brand building for budding businessesContributor: Natalie Smith, Blaze Communications

6 Our top 10 essential business toolsContributor: Julie Hall, Women Unlimited

8 Why are women so bad at promoting themselves?Contributor: Diana Soltmann, Flagship Consulting

10 Make your email signature work for youContributor: Tamsin Fox-Davies. Enthuse Marketing

12 A new kind of network Contributor: Julie Hall, Women Unlimited

Editor in Chief: Julie Hall

Editor: Andrea Buckley

Creative Director: Sophie Harwin

Women Unlimited are a learning and support community for women entrepreneurs. Check out some of our inspiring events, SMART business club and practical workshops. This mini magazine is a taster of some of the useful articles that you will find on our website www.women-unlimited.co.uk.

Connect with us onTwitter: @women_unlimitedFacebook: www.facebook.com/womenunlimitedLinkedIn: http://linkd.in/women-unlimited

4

WHAT a wonderful month March has been. First we saw the

100 year anniversary of International Women’s Day. Then we held our own conference on March 14th filled with lots of inspiring women (and that was just the delegates!) and now we have announced our new network and private members area. I hope you like what you read and that you’ll have a chance to join us at one of our upcoming workshops, events or monthly meetings (just check out the website). See you soon!

Julie HallFounder and Editor in Chief

content2s.indd 2 09/03/2011 20:16

If you’re just starting out in business it can take a lot of confidence to decide what you’re worth. It can then take even

more confidence to tell your customers. If your customers are telling you that they can’t afford what you’re offering, it’s too easy to fall into the trap of “some work is better than no work” and be beaten down on price. However, what tends to happen is that once a client has accepted super low rates, it’s incredibly difficult to put those rates up for that person and you work for cut price for because you are afraid of losing them.

So how can you stop hearing “I just can’t afford that, can you do it for…?”

1. Write down your value to a customerWhen you’re thinking of pricing your service, think about how valuable what you do is to your ideal customer. for example, if you are a career coach, do you help people get unstuck so that they can find the job of their dreams and sky-rocket their earning potential? That is the value of what you are selling, and not simply an hour of your time.

Consider these questions when thinking about how valuable you are:

■ What are the ramifications to your customer of not using your service?■ Could your customer do what you do?If so, how long would it take them to do that and would they want to do it?■ What is your customer able to do after using your service that they couldn’t do before?

2. Don’t cut your price on requestIf you give a quotation to your customer and they come back asking for a cheaper quotation, don’t just cut the price. If you go back with a cheaper quotation for the same job, it makes them feel like the original price must have been inflated in the first place. Instead modify what you can do for a lower cost. Perhaps they get less consultation time, or only 3 web pages

How to stop your customers complaining about price

BeCause You’re worth IT:

2 www.women-unlimited.co.uk

| auTHor: amY HarrIson|

because your worth it.indd 2 09/03/2011 19:38

“What you offer will be more valuable

to some people over othersHow to stop your customers complaining about price

BeCause You’re worth IT: designed instead of 4. This shows that you are flexible, but serious about your worth.

3. Rethink your target marketIf you are getting a lot of resistance on price, it might be that you need to find a new customer

base to present your offer to. What you offer will be more valuable to some people

over others. for example, someone starting out in business wanting a website will not appreciate the

value of having a website re-design compared to someone who has had an online business for a couple of years and makes a steady income from the traffic that comes to their website. It might be that you need to revisit your customer profile and consider whether your target market includes

people who are willing to invest in themselves and their business and also have the

money to do so.You are worth

every penny. ■

www.women-unlimited.co.uk 3

because your worth it.indd 3 09/03/2011 19:38

“

When starting up a new business, hidden amongst all the daunting new tasks you’re suddenly

responsible for such as recruitment, taxation and funding proposals there is one very exciting, yet incredibly important, task ahead – creating your brand identity and company logo.

This is one area where you can really let your creative juices flow. There is nothing more exciting than when all the hard work you put into starting a new business is reflected back in the form of a logo. All of a sudden your business idea is no longer just an idea, but a real company ready to compete in its new marketplace.

But before you dive in at the deep end and start looking through font styles and colour options it’s important to take a moment to think about what you want your brand to say.

Step 1 - Identify your brand promiseA brand isn’t just a logo, it’s a promise between your company and its customer about what can be expected from the organisation. The clever bit is to identify the promises you want to make: a solicitor’s firm would want to promise a professional service, whereas a nursery may want to promise an understanding of children, a garden designer may hope to be perceived as creative, and a beautician to offer relaxation.

Think about your business and write down all the promises the company could make to its customers. Review the list and choose two or three key items which you feel best suit your target market.

Step 2 – Translate your brand promise into a logoOnce you have your key promises in mind it’s time to contact the professionals to produce a logo. A good design agency will take the time to get to know your company, to understand how you would like it to be presented and how to deliver the promises you want to make.

There are a wide variety of agencies out there for you to discover with a variety of pricing points, but it really is worthwhile asking an expert to produce your logo. Imagine passing a restaurant that is badly lit, with dirty windows and bin bags in the doorway. This visual impact will encourage you to make presumptions about the restaurant, just as your customers may make presumptions about your organisation from what they see: your logo. This shall be the face of the company for years to come and is definitely one area worth investing in.

Step 3 – Request a logo libraryUpon approval of your final logo make sure you ask for a ‘logo library’ from your designer which should contain the following files:

* RGB jpeg file – this will be used for onscreen use or in Microsoft Word documents. * Vector graphic eps file – this will be used within printed items, brochures, leaflets etc.

Step 4 – Be consistentnow that you have your logo and brand promises firmly in mind it’s important that every piece of communication you undertake uses the brand in the same way. For example, when writing copy for a leaflet, ensure its style makes the same promise as the logo. You would expect a solicitor to use very formal language

A brand isn’t

just a logo, it’s a

promise between

your company

and its customer

about what can

be expected from

the organisation

RAnd BUIldInG for budding businessesB


| AUThOR: nATAlIe SMITh |

brand building.indd 2 09/03/2011 19:39

formal language but the garden designer to sound down to earth. When choosing photography for a website or brochure, make sure they also reflect the promise: images for a children’s nursery should be colourful whereas a beautician may choose images with muted tones to reflect tranquillity.

Consider the brand promises you identified in step one and practise writing a short paragraph about your company keeping those promises in mind. don’t worry about writing beautiful, flowing prose, just play around with different types of words, styles and points of view until you find your brand’s voice.

Whenever you look at a magazine or go online, study images and examine the presumptions

you make about a business from the imagery used in their advertising or on their website. Apply this new skill to your own brand promises to identify styles of photography suitable for your brand.

Step 5 – Let your brand reputation growOnce you get used to thinking in this way, you’ll soon see how understanding and delivering your brand’s promises becomes key to almost everything your company does. As you grow, your brand’s reputation also grows and with these solid foundations in place, who knows how far you could go? Remember even Coca Cola, arguably the world’s most famous brand, was also just a business idea once upon a time! ■


brand building.indd 3 09/03/2011 20:31

10This is a list of my top 10 tools that

we use with Women Unlimited and springmedia. Genuinely, life would be

a lot more difficult without them. They are all FREE (gotta like free!) except Go To Webinar but if you are looking for a free tele-conference tool, Conference Genie is worth a look at.

Dropbox: i was recently introduced to dropbox when i needed to share some files with a client. it is a fantastically simple free tool which allows you to share files between team members and others by uploading your files to a central place ‘in the cloud’ via your computer. simple.www.dropbox.com

Hootsuite: is an absolute lifesaver. i am running multiple social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin and, through hootsuite, can keep them all up to date via one interface. it allows for one piece of content to be added to any or all accounts in one click. Easy.www.hootsuite.com

Google Analytics: if you don’t know what people are doing on your site you are flying blind. Google Analytics is my favourite tool to get a sense of how people are arriving on the site, the pages they like, the keywords they’re using and, if you’re using adwords, it tells you conversion rates. smart.www.google.com/analytics/

Eventbrite: Eventbrite is my event management tool of choice. it is free for free events and you only pay for each ticket paid for via the eventbrite system. The simplicity, ease,

“If you don’t

know what

people are

doing on your

site you are

flying blind

Our Top Essential Business tools

attendee management and reporting make the low cost absolutely and totally worth it. Value.www.eventbrite.com

Go to Webinar: We run webinars and conference calls with some of our workshops and this is the easiest and simplest way to do this. The audio and video quality is consistently good, the price only goes up incrementally (based on use) and it has many features which are really useful, like live chat and audience polling. Quality.www.gotowebinar.com

Wordpress: Women Unlimited would not exist without Wordpress. it is a blogging platform that has turned into a content management system and we now build all our client websites in it. it’s incredibly flexible, has fantastic designs, it’s intuitive and has a lot of amazing functionality. We love it! Flexible.www.wordpress.org

LinkedIn: Linkedin is our online business networking platform of choice. it’s a great way to connect with old friends and colleagues, meet new professional contacts, build relationships with suppliers and partners, find recruitment prospects AND build a community (check out the Women Unlimited Linkedin Group with over 1600 members!). Connections.www.linkedin.com


| AUThOR: JULiE hALL |

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Xmind: i’m not a list maker, but i do really like to organise my thinking and Xmind is how i do this. it’s a fantastic mind mapping tool which can be used to break down key ideas, structure your thoughts and free up your ideas. Organisation.www.xmind.net

Teamviewer: This is a screen

sharing tool and i use it A LOT to help out our clients and

our Wordpress

delegates with their websites. it allows us to share a screen and allows us both to make updates showing what we are doing. Clarity.www.teamviewer.com

Skype: skype is my watercooler, family video platform, mastermind platform, client management tool, team communication tool and file sharing tool. Life would be a lot more lonely and clumsy without skype. As a communication tool, it really is second to none. And the free price tag can’t be beat. Communication. www.skype.com ■


business tools.indd 3 09/03/2011 19:40

I often run media training workshops for women entrepreneurs and business women. I am always amazed and in awe

of the talent and ability of the women I meet. Their ideas, their drive and passion are second to none. They have passion, energy and endless devotion to their product or service. Yet when it comes to promoting themselves they are hopeless. ‘I am not very good at bigging myself up’ is the constant refrain or ‘I was always told it wasn’t nice to boast.’

It all comes back to how women are seen and see themselves. A successful woman is pushy whereas a successful man is ambitious. There seems to be an unspoken rule that a woman should never show the effort that goes into her life. Hence men perspire and women gently glow! Somehow the professional woman should be effortlessly attractive, slim without dieting, a mother without learning and most importantly successful without showing the strain.

The rule is if you want to be noticed you have to stand out and to stand out you have to do something different and tell people about it. You don’t just drift upwards on a warm breeze waving at people as you pass and hope they notice – because they won’t. The more women denigrate themselves the less people will want to buy products and services from them.

At the beginning of my session I will always compliment my delegates on something they have said in the press, something they are wearing or something they have done. Invariably the response will be to mute my compliment “Oh yes, that got into the Evening Standard by

accident”, “This old thing, I got it in Oxfam for 30p” or “Oh that, it was nothing”. No one pays attention to ‘this old thing’ or ‘nothing’. Imagine if the responses had been “Thank you, I was pleased with that piece because it really described the issues we are facing” or “Yes it is a great dress and I love it” or “It was a fantastic day and I was proud of what I achieved”.

And yet I can sense an almost physical reaction to behaving in this so called ‘pushy’ way. Pushiness in women conjures up beady eyes and a tight painted mouth. Pushy women are loud, tarty and sharp elbowed, have no scruples and don’t like other women. No woman would choose to describe themselves as pushy but to open the door you have to ‘push’ it open otherwise it will stay shut.

My advice to the women I work with is be proud of what you do and tell people about it. Don’t underplay your product or service because people want to buy the best and not something that sounds second rate. Use emotive words like outstanding, exciting, successful, brilliant, biggest and excellent. Make sure people at work know your successes and that the people you are selling to know them too. Success breeds success and research shows that if you put 100 people in a room they will always gravitate toward the person that stands out from the crowd. Make sure it is you. ■

promotingTHEMSElvES?

“If you want to

be noticed you

have to stand

out and to stand

out you have to

do something

different and tell

people about it


Why are women so bad at| AUTHOr: DIANA SOlTMANN |

women so badgreen.indd 2 09/03/2011 19:36

promotingTHEMSElvES?


Why are women so bad at

women so badgreen.indd 3 09/03/2011 19:36

About 80% of people reading this article use an email signature, but only 5% of those people will use it as a

marketing tool. this means that if you can create an email signature that actively helps you market your business; you will be stealing a march on your competitors in one easy step.

Just think your signature goes at the bottom of each and every email that you send out, so getting this right would give you a lot of extra impact, instantly.

Use your email signature to increase sales.A normal email signature looks something like this:

tamsin Fox-DaviesMarketing MentorEnthuse Marketingemail: [email protected]: 0207 127 4658

Maybe you will also have included a logo and a web address if you’re thinking ahead.

As it’s likely that the person you’re already emailing has your phone number, and they can get your email address by reading the ‘from’ field at the top of the email, this standard signature doesn’t really give a lot of extra information.

So what else should your email signature include?

As an example, here’s what one of my email signatures looks like:

Here’s why this signature works as a marketing tool:

■ All my basic contact info is there, in case it’s needed (including my mobile number).■ there are links to my three main social media profiles as I make a point of connecting through Facebook, twitter & Linkedin. this is one of my key communication channels.■ there’s an invitation to get something for free (my weekly newsletter), and I tell people specifically what to expect (free weekly marketing tip) and how they can get it (click here).■ My next event is listed with a booking

| AutHor: tAMSIn Fox-DAvIES |

AkE your EMAIL SIgnAturE work for you


M

email sig.indd 2 09/03/2011 19:42

AkE your EMAIL SIgnAturE work for you

“If you can create an email signature that

actively helps you market your business;

you will be stealing a march on your

competitors in one easy step

link and an event summary (this bit changes regularly).

So, even if the person reading the email doesn’t take any action straight away, they will know that:

■ I welcome communication through multiple channels.■ I am active in social media.■ I walk my talk and give away free marketing info every week, which also means I’m a prolific creator.■ that I run a range of events, so I am a versatile and experienced trainer.

not bad for one little email signature, is it?However, there’s more to come...

you could add any of the following items to your email signature for extra marketing impact:

■ Include one or more client testimonials.■ Links to your latest press cuttings.■ Direct people to your blog for your latest news and comments.■ Promote a special offer.■ Let people know that you’re recruiting.■ tell folks about the award you just entered, and request their vote.■ tell them about the award you just won.■ Direct readers to your portfolio or client case studies.■ Include a list of your highest profile clients.■ Send them to your youtube page.■ Make a request for survey responses.

there’s a whole lot more that could go in this list,

depending on your business model and the industry in which you operate, but the intention is always the same: to get people to notice more of the great things that you do and the results that you produce for people.

In this way, your potential customers will get an extra peek at how fabulous you are, and be more likely to choose your products and services AnD recommend you to others. It’s all about building up the ‘know, like and trust’ factor, and you can move this forward in one easy step.

So, get going with your new email signature now, and remember to add it to all your outgoing emails. ■


email sig.indd 3 09/03/2011 19:42

A

“

My first foray into entrepreneurship was not an easy one. 11 years ago,

I was enticed by a seemingly fantastic opportunity to start an executive search business with two other women. A venture that was doomed from the beginning. In hindsight, I guess all the warning signs were there, but my enthusiasm and excitement at the prospect of finally being my own boss made me close my eyes to the major discrepancies we had in management styles and values. So, three weeks after quitting my job and telling everyone I was going to be launching this new flashy executive search company, I was alone, unemployed and unsure about what to do next... cue lone ranger music.In, on his trusty steed, rode my old manager. We had a long (and occasionally difficult) chat about my options and the result of that discussion changed the course of my life forever. He pointed out that despite my recent setback, my reasons for starting out in business hadn’t changed. Neither had the skill sets that I had, nor the strength of my network. The only thing that had changed was that I had lost the security of starting a business with someone else. He offered me support, wisdom, solace and comfort; and from that place, a new entrepreneur was born.It can be difficult and lonely being an entrepreneur. It can be frustrating, exciting, challenging, isolating and scary. But having someone to sound out ideas with, share experiences with and learn and lean on can make a HUGE difference.So we have decided to launch a new kind of business network; a business network that is built on trust, learning and

sharing; a business network that is built on inspiration and motivation; a business network that is built on friendship and support. We will be launching on May 25th, 2011 at the British Library. It will be a monthly meeting which will bring women together to help them grow their business and achieve their goals. It will feature a business specialist or inspiring entrepreneur and the sole focus of the meeting will be to help you succeed in your business. you’ll be able to connect with other female entrepreneurs who are as passionate about their business as you are about yours and together you will grow and develop your business to achieve your goals.Connection. Collaboration. Inspiration. Growth. We promise you all this and more. you will have a chance to work on your business, not just in it. If you’d like to find out more about our new network and membership programme and come along to our launch event. Sign up at www.women-unlimited.co.uk/success and decide that you ARE going to achieve your business goals. ■

new kind of network...

Connection.

Collaboration.

Inspiration.

Growth.

Join us for our

launch on

May 25th

| AUTHor: jULIE HALL |


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Documents

Women Unlimited Magazine Issue 1